Sample at Beer Works Fenway: Pours a dark chestnut color with a medium beige head that burns off steadily. Spotty lacing. Aroma of malts and nuts. Medium, smooth body with chocolate, malt and nut flavors. Slight hops do not do enough to counter the sweetness. The finish is sweet and lingering malt. Average all around.

Draught pint at BW Fenway on 5/12/07
Should be noted that this is a slightly lower gravity version (during the Red Sox season, the beers have a higher proportion of water). With that in mind, I was a bit hesitant to try some of these low gravity dark beers, which can really suffer from wateriness/lack of malt richness. And honestly, I think I could detect a fair bit of wateriness present, but I’m quite sure the actual beer aspect was delicious. Some nuttiness, nips of roast and sticky caramel with light bakers chocolate hints on the finish. Fairly low carbonation, with a very high attenuation and low hopping rate. No alcohol noted. Large, light-tan head is impressive, as is the retention and rings of lace left down the glass. Very sessionable stuff and quite flawless to-boot. Little bit of beaniness/nuttiness carries through from the chocolate malt and seems to expose itself too much so. Some more base malt would help cover it up, but it’s understandable, given the fact that they are purposely watering it down.