Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8

Super dark, very oily rich brown and inky black coloured body with a thick-ish three centimetre tall rich brown head that fades fairly quickly, but also leaves an ugly lace on the sides and even the top of this one. Aroma of rich roasted and toasted malts with star anise, licorice, nutmeg, bread and a bunch of metallic pungency, with some alcohol here, of course. Medium to Full-bodied; Very rich malts, oatmeal and grain all here, with some star anise, licorice, malt, earth, nuts, pitted fruits and some vanilla all here with a slight kick of molasses and alcohol, but not as strong as I'd expect. Aftertaste is still rich from the malts, but some lactose, cream, vanilla and oddly - tobacco, help soften the blows of the spices and rich malts, with a slightly thinner than expected body at the end, but still packed with pungency. Overall, a nice beer for the style with a lot of dryness, spice, pungency, alcohol and sweetness with a decidedly Belgian kick that hits nicely, especially at the end. Great to sample as one from the sampler pack, and worthy of a purchase outright! I sampled this twelve ounce can, purchased as part of the 12-pack Christmas Sampler, from Costco in Arlington (Pentagon City), Virginia on 12-November-2021 for US$19,99/twelve pack, with a 'best by' date of 31-January-2022 and sampled at my house here in Washington on 22-December-2021.

Dark black body small foamy tan head. Spicy roasy aroma. Roast ash flavor. Med full body mod carb. 7/5/7/3/15 3.7

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

Holiday pack brew. Dark pour touch of brownish tinge in the darkness and a decent sized head. Nose is ash, chocolate, mint. Tastes of charcoal, chocolate, mint, orange, licorice, rootbeer.

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Can. Pours opaque dark brown with a large spongy tan head, roasted malt-mocha aroma, low carbonation, medium bitter dark chocolate-coffee taste with alcohol undertones, thin body, long medium bitter mocha finish. Very drinkable despite its potency.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Roast and coffee. Caramel, dark chocolate and musk, leather. Good balance and pretty dry and bitter on the finish. Black pour with good head and lacing. Can from mixed holiday pack.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8

This is the 8% version from the holiday variety pack. The aromas are kind of an odd blend of mint and roast with a little dark malt. It's o dd, for most things as I get older, I've learned to like more and more. But black patent malt is an exception, I've learned to like it less and less. When first poured the black patent showed up much stronger but later it becomes a mild roasty, cocoa nice drinking stout.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Can (best by 1/31/21) from Christmas pack from the Lazy Dog Beer Shoppe. Appearance is opaque black with no discernible sparkle, thin cap of light brown head with poor retention and no lacing. Aroma is toffee, mild rubber sneaker sole, chocolate. Taste is toffee, somewhat industrial quality, roasted earthy malts, mild orange and hint of licorice. Mouthfeel is medium side of light-to-medium bodied with smooth, thin texture, soft carbonation and finish as taste. Overall, if I'm being honest, quite disappointing. This is a cheapened version (8% vs. 10% that it used to be) and could it have something to do with being independent vs. part of a larger organization? The stouts used to be my favorite Clown Shoes and this one sadly disappoints--more like a scotch ale. Thin, weird. Undead Party Crasher this is not.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

12 oz. can shared by tfontana. Thanks Tom. Aroma is soft smoke, chocolate, roast. Flavor is the same with the addition of soft citrus peel. It is what the brewers say it is. Just mild.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Can from the 12 Beers of Christmas Pack - Day 10. Poured a nearly pitch black color with a medium sized tan head. Aroma was roasted malts, chocolate. Orange zesty nots. Light sweetness. Nice roast.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

12oz can. 8%. Thick specialty malts. The smoked tone is sort of odd and not that enjoyable here, or perhaps it is the orange peel that doesn't quite work. Seems rather unattenuated, too sweet. Not that impressive of a brew at all. I would assume the 10% version was better.