3.8
AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
adamjackson (1491) – Canaan, New Hampshire, USA – AUG 26, 2013
Traded a Blabaer 750ML 2011 for this tiny bottle. Enjoyed at 50 Degrees F and allowed to warm up slowly. This is a 2009 vintage at 9.5%. Full macho American pour into my large stemmed De Dolle Glass.
A – Pours oily, totally black out of the bottle into the glass. A 2 finger coffee colored head forms and fades over the course of 90 seconds to a thin ring and minor sea-foam consistent bubbles. The stickiness of the head is resilient as it swirls around in the glass. Pitch black, not oily but pretty damn black in the glass.
S – Nose is interesting. I get almost a mix of espresso creamy latte with lactose and fresh roasted coffee mixed with the sweet booziness of rum barrels. There is a hint of vanilla beans and dark chocolate.
T – Interesting. This may be the most roasted beer I’ve ever had like a mix between roasted coffee and roasted oak over a fire. Not campfire smokiness but just very roasted. There’s a huge chocolate presence at the start, the middle is latte with vanilla added and the finish is this roast bomb with an almost astringent booziness like what you get after drinking cheap cough medicine. In the back of my throat I get a grain alcohol like taste like swallowing freezing cold vodka but the burn is always the same.
M – Velvety and sort of fudge like but you know the feeling you’re left with after eating chocolate covered espresso beans? that’s pretty much what this feels like but in liquid form.
O – I’m overall pretty disappointed in this beer. Tickers GOTTA tick but I really don’t feel that this is worth either the hype or the trade bait. There’s too much roasted notes, way too boozy for a 9.5% beer and the astringency never goes away. It’s a great stout but certainly one that I’ll pass on at the next bottle share should it show its face.
