caramel, toast, roasty, herbs, earthy, woody, black, minimal head, heavy cloying sweetness, medium bitterness, medium sourness, lightly sour, full body, thick feel, fizzy, long finish,

From a 75 cl bottle shared at home. Pours black with a tan head. Fruity malt aroma. Tangy notes of caramel and toffee. Loads of carbonation. Somewhat bitter finish. Nice.

750 ml bottle. 2012 vintage. Used a snifter. Fruity nose, with cherry, blackberry, chocolate, and warm Coca Cola aroma’s. Flavor is very malty with notes of fig, molasses, dark fruit, wheat, anise and the some licorice in the background. (I’m not a fan of licorice) Hides the ABV well. Medium to thick mouthfeel and average carbonation. Texture is effervescent. Medium body. Dry texture. Average carbonation. I’m convinced that Ommegang does NOT make anything bad but this one isn’t something I would revisit.

Sampled on draft at 3R6P this beer poured a black color with a medium sized foamy tan head that left good lacing. The aroma was cocoa, vanilla, cola and faint notes of wood and anise. The flavor was malty and toasty with notes of vanilla, cola, cherry and hints of anise and pepper. The finish was long and malty with lingering vanilla, cola and spice. Medium body. Interesting.

750mL bottle, pours a near-black with a medium beige head. Aroma of candied sugar, metallic notes, licorice and slight Belgian spices. Flavour of licorice, Belgian spices, burnt candied sugar and burnt caramel, with these latter two dominating the aftertaste. Medium complexity with champagne-like carbonation. Very well-made.

Tap at the Stags Head. Pours ruby with nice nose of cocoa and dark fruits. tastes of rich chocolate, figs, malt, rock candy, plums, and belgian yeast. nice indeed.

Arbitrary score 4/5 for Appearance, as nighttime conditions prevented correct assessment. Sourish-woody-yeasty nose, the last giving fruitish impressions as from peach or pineapple. Fruity in the taste, but much drier than the nose suggested, notes of peach and pear, but less outspoken estery than the nose; liquorice retronasal. Warming up, I get some unlikely off-flavours with a hint at diacetyl. Light for its ABV, hint at alcoholwarming. One to drink cold - warming up it gets sticky to cloying. Many thanks to ChrisA!

Location: 750 ml bottle from Colonial Wine and Spirits, 5/22/12

Aroma: The nose has early alcohol notes, leading to spice, dark fruits (raisin, plum), yeast, and chocolate.
Appearance: This one pours a dark brown color with just a hint of orange shinning through, a mid-sized, foamy, long lasting, beige head, and what would be some decently heavy lacing (if the head ever faded).
Flavor: The taste is mid sweet, but not quite as sweet as the nose would have suggested to me that it would be The components are quite similar to the nose. It ends with a mildly bitter and a light acidity as well.
Palate: It's medium-plus (but not quite full) bodied, with a lively carbonation, and light-mid alcohol warmth.
Overall Impression: Even though I am usually just a few hours (and one state) away from Ommegang, when I saw this beer in the stores down in Arkansas I couldn't resist picking one up. I'm glad I did. This one turned out to be rather interesting, and rather complex. While it wasn't perfect, this was another nice one from Ommegang.

Draft. Dark mahogony beer with a dark cream head. Dark fruit and light yeast aroma. Dark fruit and yeasty flavor with light earthiness. Medium bodied. dark fruit and yeast lingers with light earth and light malt.

Candied plum and currant nose. Mahogany, thick tan head, no lace. Charcoal and currant initially, but candied plums burst in suddenly. Faint maraschino cherries also present toward the end. Finishes far too warm for my taste. Medium body.. I had expected more body, but I thought this was an imperial stout, which clearly it is not. Reminiscent of St. Bernardus’ Christmas Ale. It isn’t quite as good, but it’s a more than suitable surrogate.