Chocolate Rain
(has 11 batches)

From a bottle at Bluejacket during Travlr’s 10,000th beer rating celebration. Pours a cloudy dark brown with a slight tan head. Aroma of chocolate and plums. Sweet flavors of dark fruits. Boozy finish with lots of hot alcohol burn.

750 ml bottle into snifter, bottled on 2/16/2017. Pours hazy nearly opaque dark brown color with a 1 finger foamy light khaki head with very poor retention, that reduces to nothing very quickly. No lacing, some clinging alcohol legs, and streaming carbonation. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toffee, fudge, brownie batter, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, and brown bread; with light notes of coffee, roasted nuts, molasses, licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, leather and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness. Increasing booze in the aromas as it warms, but not too overwhelming. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, vanilla, and bourbon barrel notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toffee, fudge, brownie batter, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, and brown bread; with light notes of coffee, roasted nuts, molasses, licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, smoke, leather and yeast/oak earthiness. Light herbal/roast bitterness and bourbon/oak tannin spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, caramel, brown sugar, vanilla, toffee, fudge, brownie batter, bourbon, coconut, toasted oak, brown bread, coffee, roasted nuts, dark fruits, leather, and yeast/roast/toast/oak earthiness on the finish for a while. Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, vanilla, and bourbon barrel flavors; with a great roasted bitter/sweet and bourbon/oak/alcohol spiciness balance; with no cloying sweetness after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering and bourbon/oak/alcohol spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; with a very creamy/slick, and lightly syrupy/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is great. A bit rough on barrel tannins and spicy alcohol. Light-moderate increasing warmth of 19.6%, with mild lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is an incredible barrel aged flavored imperial stout. All around fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malts, cocoa, vanilla, and bourbon barrel flavors; pretty smooth and easy to sip on slowly for the massive ABV as it warms, with the mellowly bitter/tannic/drying finish. Fantastic balance of rich malts, vanilla, cocoa nibs, and bourbon barrel presence/integration. Not nearly as mind blowing as I remember from 2014 review. This is just ridiculously massive for a beer. A highly enjoyable offering otherwise, matches up with the rest of the Black Tuesday variants as expected.

Capped 750 from The Bruery. Pours very dark brown with a transient dark tan head. Aroma of vanilla, chocolate and a little alcohol. Near full bodied. The alcohol is certainly noticeable, but it’s not a problem. Little heat in the gullet. Flavor is sort of chocolate treacle with lots of vanilla. And lots of chocolate. Every once in a quaff I think there’s some sort of fruit lurking in it. Finishes neither dry nor bitter - except from chocolate and dark malt. That didn’t make a lot of sense! Trying again: It’s not dry, but it is also somewhat bitter. The alcohol may be cutting the treacle aspect somewhat. Very tasty. Likely very deadly.

Bottled @ Zeebra #2, small sample. Dark color, short frothy head. Leaves drops of viscosity along the glass. Thick roasted malts, chocolate. Super sweet in taste, vanilla, mocha, milk chocolate. Alcohol hardly noticeable. Wonderful beer.

750 ml bottle (2014 release, 18.5% ABV, bottled 12/4/2013) from Preservation Society Q1 poured into a Belgian snifter. Big thanks to my friend Ed for being my shipping trustee. Pours a dark brownish black with half a finger or less of tan head. Head recedes into a ring fairly quickly. Aromas of sweet bourbon, oak, milk chocolate, vanilla, caramel, toffee, dark fruit, some alcohol. Tasting notes of bourbon, milk and dark chocolate, vanilla, caramel, toffee, dark fruit, coconut, subtle booze. Full body with a warm and mostly dry finish. Low carbonation, thick mouthfeel. For 18.5% ABV, the alcohol is very nicely masked. Would love to try Black Tuesday but this could very well be my favorite barrel aged imperial stout.