Black Sun Stout

A pitch black beer with a brown head. The aroma is very hoppy combined with light notes of malt. The flavor is sweet and dominated by roasted malt, but also with light notes of wood.

(Bottle 65 cl) Pours completely black and opaque with a small, beige head. Quite a refined aroma of fruity aroma hops. Fairly good body with lightly sweet, hard roasted malt. Pleasant and complex malt composition with notes of chocolate. Some lovely, lightly citrusy hops create a balance close to perfection. 030606

Thick and dark with inviting tan head. Strong aroma of citrusy hops — grapefruit, orange and lemon — and sweet chocolate with notes of coffee bean. The flavor is dominated by the hops — the orange, grapefruit and bitterness. Your taste buds have to work a little harder to get at the undercurrent of sweet malts, but it’s there. Caramel, chocolate and vanilla. The thin to medium body is well carbonated and the mouthfeel is juicier than other dry stouts I have had. Clean throughout with a lingering taste of citrus. Heck, if dAchouffe can throw citrusy hops at a tripel, why can’t 3F hop up a dry stout? The combination of IPA and tripel works better for me. Still, Black Sun is unique and enjoyable though there is something disjointed about the bittering hops dominating the sweet chocolate.

Thanks to CaptainCougar for getting this one for me. A creamy black head tops this black bodied brew. Coffee and chocolate dominate the aroma. Hops remain in the background with a strong presence, but the roast malts play the loud notes here. Smooth and creamy with a long bitter finish.

Bomber bottle, enjoyed on St. Pat’s Day. Ah, Floyds’ usual big grassy fresh hops smell is the first thing I get when I pop ’er open. Deep black body in my shaker glass, with a half inch of brown foam the dwindles to a ring of lace. Now there’s a roasty coffee aroma, with a bit of cocoa. Taste is very stoutish: dry, and roasty-astringent. Goes a little overboard for me, without a balancing smoothneess. Very nice, but $8 a bottle? I’m not sure.

Thanks to OhioDad for the bomber - nice black pour with lasting off-white head - very woody, hoppy nose, making me wary that this will be overhopped for a stout - however, the hops don’t overpower the mild caramel sweetness and dry roastiness of the flavor - instead, they add a very woody flavor that compliments the dryness very well - a hint of dried fruits in the finish - very nice stuff.

2005 bomber from Rooftoprogue, drunk on 12/31/05. Pours a dark brownish-black, transluscent-to-transparent, with tan edges and an initially large tan head. Begins like a typical dry stout, appearance-wise, but the head, while it never diminishes completely, does recede rather quickly to cover with no lacing. Would like to have seen better head retention, especially on a dry stout, but hey, that’s the price you pay for fake carbonation and filtration. The aroma is bursting with fuzzy hops. Green, mossy, quite floral and just really interesting. Almost like an herbal-spiciness with touches of conifer in the background. I didnt get any smoke out of the nose, but there is a light espresso, salty roast and hint of vanilla creaminess. The hops are really aromatic, rather dominating the nose, but hey, at least it’s a dry stout you can smell! The flavor begins with an equal burst of fuzzy, green, leafy hops, quite flavorful and dry, with some minty-pine notes, hickory nuts and notes of orange zest. Behind the hops is a distinct coffee note, that is nowhere near overdone and adds bits of vanilla and creamy malt. The hops recede and leave in place a brace of caramel malt sweetness, ending on a roasted bitterness, well-controlled and lacking any acrid/acidic notes. With continued drinking and warming, the hops remain strong in the flavor, never too bitter, with more chocolate and a light playfulness of cherries and dates, though overshadowed greatly by the vanilla and coffee notes. Everything seems well-placed, with the ingredients being easily identified and staggered for effect. The texture is lightly creamy, the malts soft on the palate, and the carbonation, while a bit prickly at times, does not seem to disrupt the body significantly. The sweetness is certainly there, not in force, but I don’t find the body thin or lacking. A unique interpretation of the style (would not expect anything less from 3Fs), carefully constructed with no alcohol apparency. Thanks so much Rob!