Rogue Dead Guy Ale

Dead Guy Ale is brewed in the style known as maibock. See the following link for an explanation of  the bock and maibock styles:
https://ill-gottenbooty.blogspot.com/2011/02/bock.html

Dead Guy Ale pours a coppery-amber color with a frothy white head. My first impression of the taste is that it reminds me of some of the better Belgian ales. There's a hint of pineapple and a bit of caramel. It's fairly hoppy at 40 IBUs, which is about what you'd expect for this style. Since it's somewhat springlike out today, I find it appropriate to be sampling a bock, a style that's typically associated with Spring. It's not overly complex and there's not a lot going on beneath the surface, but it's a good choice if you like hoppy brews, but not so hoppy that it takes the enamel off your teeth.

Cosmic Eye Brewing - Your Friend Death Imperial Stout

"This beer contains NO: vanilla, marshmallows, cookies, breakfast cereals, coffee, chocolate donuts, chilis, milk, sugar, or syrups. It does contain water, hops, yeast, oats and a whole bunch of dark malt. As always we kept the ABV in check so you can drink an entire beer yourself and still function. Yay!"
~ ~ Quote from the back of the can

As the quote above indicates, there is nothing in this beer that wouldn't pass the German beer purity laws (maybe the oats, not sure). I'm perfectly okay with added flavorings in moderation, but the truly great beer experience lives in a beer that derives all its flavor from...the beer. Your Friend Death is brewed in one of the traditional styles: the Imperial Stout. The Imperial Stout was an English ale that was brewed for the Tsar of Russia - he had taken a liking to the working man's stouts and porters and had asked to have some shipped to Mother Russia. In those days of no preservatives, beers were prepped for long journeys in two ways: by brewing it either with a lot of hops (like the India Pale Ale) or a lot of alcohol. Russian Imperial Stout had a high ABV to help it make the trek to St. Petersburg. Modern brewers have taken to using the adjective "imperial" to indicate a higher-than-usual alcohol content.

Your Friend Death pours a tarry black with a robust tan head. The 8.1% ABV isn't what's classified sessionable, but still low enough so that you'll retain your senses after one or two. The bitterness is fairly intense, at 66 IBUs, but it's not the kind of hoppiness that will peel paint or take the enamel off your teeth, just a nice edge that complements the silky smooth maltiness. Despite there being no added flavorings, there are appreciable coffee, chocolate and vanilla notes. The mouthfeel is creamy and thick. Really, this is everything an imperial stout should be. 9.75 on the IGB scale.

New Belgium Honey Orange Tripel

Traditionally  the four varieties of Belgian Abbey Ales are abbey ales, dubbels, tripels and quardrupels or grand crus. Legendarily the regular ales were for the common people, the dubbels went to the local nobility, the tripels to the bishop and the quads they kept for themselves. I'm pretty partial to quads myself, especially the bourbon barrel-aged variety, but today I'm drinking a tripel.

As is usual for a tripel, New Belgium's Honey Orange Tripel pours a bright golden hue with a healthy snow-white head. The honey makes it a bit sweeter than I consider optimal, but doesn't detract from the taste. The orange peel gives it a nice tang. The 25 IBUs put it in the middle of hop bitterness territory. It clocks in at 10% ABV, as the brew warms up, the alcohol heat becomes more evident. Honey Orange Tripel is at once a light summery ale, yet packs a punch, and still has that elegance that you'd expect from a high-end offering.

If it weren't for the cloying sweetness, I'd give this a solid 10, but it will have to be a 9.25 on the IGB scale.

Boulevard Chocolate Ale

Ordinarily, any beer that has chocolate in any form added to it is a stout or a porter, not so with Boulevard Chocolate Ale. The base beer seems to be an amber ale, medium hoppiness (24 IBUs). They describe it as a "strong ale", and the ABV is  8.7%. The hue is coppery, with a two-finger amber head. There's definitely some chocolate in the taste profile, but it isn't overpowering as you get in some ales that add chocolate. In addition to the obvious chocolate there are subtle notes of caramel, toasted bread and oddly enough, some blueberry and floral notes. Despite the added flavoring, the overall beeriness comes through, pushing the additions to the side. Boulevard does it again! 7.5 on the IGB scale.