750ml bottle from Pick’s Liquors poured into a snifter. This is an old one. The back of the bottle says drink before 4/2009 and also says it’s only 5.5% abv. It was given to me by the owners when we found it cleaning out a very old storage closet. Here goes nothing... Pours a dark black color with a nice amount of dark tan head. Dissipates slightly quickly but leaves awesome lacing. Aroma is very malty. Caramel, chocolate and coffee. Also a very strong alcohol scent. Smells more and more like chocolate as it warms. Seems to get sweeter too. Like a cool glass of nesquick. Taste starts out medium sweet but ends medium bitter. It’s like bitter dark chocolate and coffee. Very good! Medium bodied with a somewhat thin texture. Fizzy carbonation and a slightly long, somewhat bitter finish. Overall, it’s pretty darn good. Definitely something I would like to have again, but I would like to try a fresh one. I think the only problem I would have is paying 15 bucks for a 750. It’s good, but it’s not that good. I’d rather drink one of the Southern Tier Blackwater bottles for half the price.

11/28/2010 Bought a SA 12 pack variety pack for the recent Thanksgiving holiday for the non craft drinkers and this was left over. Pours a clear deep dark brown with faint ruby highlight on the edges. Minuscule tan head disappears almost immediately but leaves a ring around the top of the beer. Smells like a full glass of Hershey’s chocolate syrup mixed with a faint hint of wet dog. Taste is malty sweet with again lots of chocolate syrup. Slight bit of dark fruit and a hint of minerals in the taste as well. Sweet chocolate chewy mouthfeel, oily mouthfeel and a moderate level of carbonation. I remember not being to fond of this when I overpaid for a bigger bottle, this reasonably priced bottle doesn’t make it much better. Its really kind of one dimensional, I get lots of chocolate and little else.

Pours a dark brown with nice beige head. The head is semi-think with large bubbles and disperses somewhat slowly. Nice chocolate blending with malt on the nose. Malt comes through at the end of the aroma. The mouthfeel is thick, and the taste has an initial burst of chocolate. Finishes with the malt more forward (like the nose) but has a very short finish. The chocolate has a bittersweet taste to it in mid-palate. Some roasted bitterness on the finish as well gives it a sense of being disjointed.

Fudge and cocoa nose, not strong. Clear mahogany, medium yellow head. Distinct chocolate syrup flavor. Medium body. No alcohol noticeable, but the content really isn’t that high. Pretty much a one trick pont, but a nice dunkel bock with flavor.

Bottle. It’s a clear, very dark brown beer with a rather small beige head. Meaty nose with some chocolate and dried fruits, a light oxidation and a hint of alcohol. Sweet, chocolate flavor with some meatyness and oxidation. Slightly roasted and with some dried fruits. Full body. Slightly roasted chocolate finish with dried fruits. A tasteful beer that drinks easily too. 101015

Bottle. Dark brown colour with a beige head. Aroma is alcohol, caramel, chocolate, moulasse, malt. Flavour is alcohol, hop, caramel, cocoa, moulasse, chocolate, malt. Nice beer.

This bock poured a deep black colour with a nice brown, creamy head. To the nose there are scents of cocoa, hay, dough and cream. First sip was smooth and creamy with a nice, soft mouthfeel. Flavours include roasted malts, cocoa and caramel. Finish is choco-roasty with the cocoa flavour lingering.

12 oz. bottle. Pours black with a thin brown head. The aroma is up-front chocolate, coffee and roast malts. There are notes of caramel, bread, dark fruits, and light spices. The taste is very sweet, with only a little bitterness. The palate is huge and syrupy, but goes down smooth with a slight malty clinging finish. Overall, a smooth and flavorful beer.

ok.. they used to sell this in a larger 25oz bottle.. I got a 12 oz bottle in a Winter Classic sampler. I don’t think it’s the exact same brew. WTH?? This version is REALLY good! Up front you get a nice chocolate milk taste. Not bitter or to sweet at all. It’s not to complex, very straight forward, and that’s want I like about. I found that after I finished the first one, I was reaching in the fridge for another. Good drinkability, which to me, means a lot.

12oz bottle. Opaque brown-black with a thin, oily beige head. Sweet chocolate syrup aroma, with some faint underlying pungency. The chocolate flavor is syrupy thick and dominates. Medium bodied, pretty light on the palate, but the sticky, artficial chocolate tastes are sort of odd. One dimensional, needs some balance. Underwhelming and not something you’d really want to session.