500 ml bottle. Very dark brown body, almost black with a nice, dense, lasting beige head. Aroma of dark, relatively mild roasted malt, coffee, citric hops and hint of yeast. Flavor has a really pleasant soft roasted malt, espresso coffee, dark chocolate, hint of liquorices, some citric fruit and a very balanced bitterness. Full body, long aftertaste. Very well hidden alcohol. A very nice and tasty one that’s surprisingly quaffable at the same time. Well done.

Bottle. It pours a dense, almost creamy, tan head of two-finger size. Both lasting and lacings producing. Not black in color, but pretty close. The aroma is on the dark side, as expected, with roasted malts, mocha, milk chocolate and some alcohol notes and a pleasant piney, citrus peel-like hoppyness. Mellow and pleasant. Really pleasant actually, even though I’m not in the mood for dark, heavy ales for the moment. The flavor continues what the aroma started, it’s oily and smooth on the palate, although a bit warming. Soft carbonation, and towards the end the bitterness adds another dimension to the flavor. As mentioned, I’m not in the mood to drink on the dark side these days, but I certainly enjoyed it anyway. 120322