Batch 9,000 Ale

Pitch black draft at Maduro. Chocolate tones and harsh, brutal alcohol. Sweet and sugary, doesn’t really do the best job of covering up the ABV. Cocoa notes, light vanilla. Once you are braced this is a pretty nice beer. Mellows as it approaches room temperature. Bottle- Ruggedly sweet aroma. Hard alcohol notes, bourbon, cognac. Thin, oily non-head. Lacking any subtlety, this one is big and brutal. I have no problems with drinking a Belgian 750 by myself, but I think this is a splitter all the way. The brewers licorice is an interesting touch, it melds with the big, pungently fruity alcohol and chocolate malt quite well. Benefits from airing out and approaching cellar temperature. An interesting enough beer, but a little harsh.

Pours dark brown with light brown head. Aroma is very much like a barleywine, not much roast. Lots of caramel and molasses with some alcohol. Very sweet dark fruit, molasses and caramel flavors with some hoppiness and roastiness. Full body with mild carbonation.

12 oz bottle. Poured an extremely dark brown color with a small thin dark tan head. Aroma was dark fruits, notes of licorice, dark malts. Flavor was licorice, dark fruits, brown sugar. Alcohol burn. Sticking one in the cellar.

Bottle (3/26/09): Dark brown pour with a massive brown head. Plenty of carbonation here. Nose is sweet and potent. Dark fruits, molasses, roast, licorice, and high octane. First sip is really unlike any imperial stout I can remember... very sweet, molasses, raison, figs, licorice. No roasty presence at all. Very warming. Thin body, but it does leave a nice coat. At first, I wanted to rate it higher (for whatever reason), but there are just to many other beers that are better and that I’d rather drink than this at it sits right now. I agree with the many ratings that suggest cellaring this for a bit. 6/4/6/3/10 = 2.9
Update 12/12/10:Very dark brown pour with a modest ring of creamy tan head. Nose is very sweet with molasses, caramel, and seemingly like maple syrup. First sip is a very creamy mouthful, filled with a pleasing amount of sweetness (less than the nose suggests). Molasses, brown sugar, licorice, and faint bittersweetness. Seems like some faded citrus hops too. Still a bit cloyingly sweet. New rating of 7/3/6/3/12 = 3.1

Bottle. Deep brown/black body with ruby highlights on the edges. Minimal tan head, quickly diminishing. Interesting and complex aroma of earthy flowers, molasses, dark chocolate, nuts, toasted grain, herbs, dough, cherry, licorice, nutmeg and pepper. The flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic and lightly bitter. It finishes moderately to heavily sweet, lightly to moderately bitter and lightly acidic. Medium to full body with a thick, creamy texture that turns sticky. Soft carbonation. There is a great divide in this beer between the great aroma and overly sweet flavor which is all you notice when you first take a sip. The sweetness, close to cloying, gives way to tastes of alcohol, licorice and toasted malts in the finish, especially the alcohol which is too hot.