Swingtop from BevMo. Deep ruby color with a few bubbles - no head. Aroma of darker caramel and dark fruits. Medium body with mild, almost creamy, carbonation. Flavor is light roasted caramel - but dark. The dark fruit is not heavy, kind of like a little prune or raisin. Finish is somewhat sweet, but there is a certain astringency. Actually quite fruity after awhile.

Pours dark brown with off white head. Aroma is malty, light roasted and hoppy. Taste, malty, some light caramel notes and sugar with hops in the background. There is light yeasty/hoppy taste that leaves an almost spicy feel. Light chocolate, leaves a thick mouthfeel.

Pours mahogany into a stem glass Offwhite head quickly recedes leaving no lacing. Sweet dark caramel and black currants upfront with a lasting slightly smokey sweet finish.

500ml bottle, 1300th rating - Pours clear dark amber with a two finger light tan head. The aroma is of sweet caramel malt and a touch of dark fruit along with some alcohol. The flavor is similar with those sweet malts leading the way. I’m tasting the alcohol rather more than I expected as 7.2% isn’t all that high. There’s some hops buried in there somewhere but I think it’s the alcohol more than anything that takes the edge off the sweet malt and leads to the fairly dry finish. Some toasty molasses lingers on the palate for awhile.

Courtesy of fishingnet. Pours dark brown with nice tan head. The aroma is mild with a variety of sweet dark malts mixed with plums and dates. The taste is roasty malts, faint chocolate malts mixing with the odd dark fruity esters. There’s also a mild tartness and spiciness to boot.

50cl swingtop bottle - pours a dark red/brown, with good clarity, and a large, fizzy head that disappears completely, leaving a beer that looks like a glass of back cherry soda - bizarre aroma that takes some getting used to, but becomes quite nice - aroma of melon, cherries, flowers, wintery spices, rum-soaked raisins - the flavor is quite similar, with sweet chocolate covered cherries most prevalent - the rum/raisin character is far in the back - some bittering spices try to keep the sweetness from getting out of control, and do a decent job of it - actually, it completely obliterates it after a while, leaving a semi-dry, spiciness, and strong alcohol warmth where the sweet, fruity character used to be - a kind of copper/metallic character develops in the finish, but is very faint - starts strong and then continues to go downhill to the very end.

Pour is a almost black with a nice sized tan head. Aroma is some caramel malts but very faint and hidden. Flavor is some molasses and dark fruit with a touch of wood smoke. Finish is a bit watery and there is a bit of alcohol burn. Everything is low key in this beer and that is just about enough to put it only in the good category.