Beer #8 of 17 (8 beers on either side of #8000 plus the magic 8000th itself) Deep, pitch black coloured body with a jet black and oily glow and a nice, two to three centimetre tall rich brown head that fades relatively quickly. Aroma of rich chocolate, roasted coffee, tons of lactose, oatmeal, cream, toffee, caramelised sugar and oh yeah, tons of rich and sour cherries - very nice in the nose with a lot of frobust smells and a lot of complexity for sure. Medium to Full-bodied; Super rich chocolate malt bite at first with some roasted coffee notes (full beans) with a light camraliesed sugar and toffee flavour with perhaps even molasses in as well, but then comes the tart and soured cherries that hit towards the end and do wonders in terms of balance and tempering the deep, roasted notes with only some light sugars and the sour cherries finishing it off. Aftertaste shows the robust chocolate, earthy and sweet notes from the malts with a light hit of coffee and some noticeable vanilla flavours, but the sour cherries finish it off nicely and give an amazing complexity towards the end that hits very, especially on top of a style that is usually hard to make an imprint on (aside from other deep flavours). Overall, it's hard to say that this one could have been done any better as there really is no astringency, alcohol or pungent bites (it's only been aged almost two years by me), but the soured, tart cherries and the large malt profile with caramelised sugars, roasted notes and some chocolate/coffee/oats around make this even harder to fathom. A great beer, and despite the not-so-high scores, I'm glad I saved this as beer #7999 - although I would have been completely fine as this as #8000, especially as a Michigander. This was the eighth beer of my 8000th celebration and it's hard to imagine it getting better from here, but hopefully it will! I sampled this twelve ounce bottle, purchased from Greenville Beer Exchange in Greenville, South Carolina on 31-May-2018 for US$3,24 sampled at my house in Washington on 22-April-2020, as Beer #8 (of 17) of the 8000th Beer Celebration!