Draught at Meadhall, 12/17/15.
After how much I enjoyed Scratch #83, I was very excited to try what seems to be the second coming. Shows a deep, inky blackness, probably opaque, with a tan head atop that slowly fades to cover.
Huge bittersweet chocolate in the nose, with dry vanilla, light cola, burnt toffee and a heavy, almost phenolic anise-like character. Light alcohol sharpness and just a lot of dry and vinous notes piled on to one another.
Massively bitter in the mouth, with intensely drying roast, black licorice, pine resin, baker’s chocolate and sharply dry vanilla, salt and soy. Dries out the palate immediately and the lightly chewy malts are powerless to balance. Wow, what the hell happened here? I mean, I like my beer as dry as the next guy, but this is absurd. Just a bludgeoning of dry/bitter elements, with some booze thrown in too. Horribly unbalanced to the point of being undrinkable. Choked down a few ounces and had the bartender take the rest of it away.....Looks like Tec and I had the same experience. Not sure what everyone else had...
Earlier Rating: 1/28/2014 Total Score: 4.1
12oz bottle from Kramer, thanks Jason! Drunk on 1/28/14
Dark tan head tops a deep magenta tinged mahogany body. Transluscent around the edges. Head is initially large and creamy, receding to cover and lasting.
A huge wine-like aroma wafts out of the glass as I was pouring, making me wonder if this was wine-barrel aged....Nope, just amazingly vinous! It fades somewhat, or rather, a sweet chocolatiness catches up to it, combining to produce notes of dark fruit and espresso. Some light tobacco/ashiness and very little booziness, with a medium-high to high strength of aroma.
Flavor is right up there with the aroma. I believe this beer is about a year old and it’s in a great place right now. Hops have faded to just a juicy, lightly citric bitterness in the background, not really getting in the way of the bitter roasted barley. Maltiness provides just enough balance without sweetening the beer too much, and plentiful ashiness, vanilla, prunes and dark chocolate dance on the finish. Light carbonation, medium bodied, somewhat watery, which is good for drinkability, but not really something I’m looking for in this style.
Very much like Expedition indeed, I agree. Not quite the body/mouthfeel of that one (this is quite a bit more watery), and without the overall elegance of the best bottles of Expedition (a bit too much alcohol and burnt chocolate notes) but the fact that it’s in that wheelhouse is pretty impressive.