Bottle thanks to a trade! Pours a near black with a brown head that dissipates completely. Aroma has a good amount of of dark chocolate and a bit of oak and must. Flavor has dark chocolate with bitter roasted malts and undlerying notes of licorice and oak.

Bottle thanks to Dallas. Pours a dark brown color with a large beige head. A rich nose of cocoa, some alcohol and wood. A big flavor of roasted malts, nutty, oak, dry cocoa, heat, more woodiness. Really cool beer.

12oz bottle shared by Dallas
Clear dark mahogany with a medium sized beige head and good lacing. Aroma of roasted malts, coconut and nutty. Flavors of roasted malts, coconut, vanilla and woody
Nice

Deep dark brown coloured body with a hint of lighter brown glow when held up to a light and a thin, fast-dying tan head. Aroma of alcohol, wine, licorice, anise, light spices and tons of pit fruits and sugars. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong effervescence with an odd combination flavour of barley wine and finishing with more of an imperial stout depth. Aftertaste shows quite a bit of complexity with some pit fruits and alcohol warmth, but even more roasted malt, light coffee and a bit of burnt edges in the mix. Overall, a rather interesting and complex beer that works fairly well - nice to sample and well worth trying if you can find it! Beer #3 of my 4000rating extravaganza (of 9 total). I sampled this 37,5 cL bottle purchased from Total Wine in Tustin, California for US$8.99 on 02-May-2013 sampled at home in Washington on 13-May-2013. Bottled Winter 2012 (from side of bottle).

Bottle. Pours dark brown with tan head. Nose and taste of bourbon barrel, charred oak, roasted chocolate, smoke, vanilla, burnt coffee, burnt toast and smoked cherry wood. Medium body.

Pours dark brown, 1 finger coffee head, nice lacing. Smokey, caramel, cheap chocolate and burnt oak on the nose. Sort of a brownie taste, bourbon is very strong and overpowering, not smooth, a very boozy strong ale and very smokey.

Pours coffee black. It’s a very dark brown, lightening at the edges. Can’t really tell anything about clarity. No apparent murkiness, anyway. Small brown head. The bubbles dissipate relatively quickly. Lots of chocolate in the aroma along with a healthy dose of caramel malt and some pleasant roast. Good barrel character. I tend to like the more subdued, meshhed spirit aroma of partially barrel-aged beers. There’s some excellent vanilla and other bourbon notes. Lots of stone fruit bouncing around, as well. It blends into the stout and barrel flavors quite nicely, but there’s a background of plums, dates and molasses. A bit like a sweeter, more caramel than raisin quad. The sweet and fruity notes push the spirit flavor in the direction of quality, Jamaican rum. It smells like a blend of dark chocolate molten cake, bread pudding, bourbon and rum. Taste is pretty sweet, but the beer never gets cloying. There’s enough woodiness and roast bitterness to tame the sugar. Lots of caramel and fruit upfront. Fades into dark chocolate and roast. Then, settles into vanilla, warming booze, roast and a sorta minty hop flavor. Mouthfeel is smooth and full. This is probably my favorite Almanac beer, so far. It’s great to see them making strides with this beer and the two recent Farmer’s Reserve sours. I was getting a tad pessimistic about their beers, but I’m back on board with this one.

Draft @ Starbelly, San Francisco, CA. Pours a black color with a small off-white head. Has a slightly roasted malty chocolate woody oaky aroma. Roasted malty woody chocolate bourbon flavor. Has a roasted malty woody chocolate finish.

Draft. Black beer with a dark cream head. Rich malt and light cocoa aroma with light bourbon. Bourbon and vanilla flavor with rich malt and light brown sugar. Medium bodied. Bourbon and vanilla linger with rich malt.