Half pint, cask, 4.5% abv, air pressure, at Euston Tap. Tiny, fawn-coloured layer, fragile lacing. Ruby shade to a black body. Smell of sweet chocolate malts. Milk chocolate with mild notes of lactose. Roasted bitterness to the ending. Alright (London, 31.07.2011).

500ml bottle. Pours black with a bubbly head. Aroma is roast malt and sweet coffee. Taste has sweet roast malts, coffee finish and some dark berries.

Cask@Cask Pub And Kitchen, London. Very deep ruby red colour, small beige head. Aroma is dark dry fruits, some mild toasted notes as well as mild ashy notes as well. Flavour is roasted malts, some syrup, sweet fruityness as well as some mild sweet malty notes.

1st rating, 22/3/11, rb7/4/4/2/8) 500ml bottle from Dunster Village Stores, Dunster, Somerset. Pours an enticing ruby black with a moderate beige head. Aroma of chocolate and coca-cola. Taste is a let-down - minerals and metals dominate, with the chocolate and roasted malt having to fight their way through. A hint of dry smokiness in the finished is overwhelmed by stickiness. A disappointment after a promising start. (2nd rating, 23/3/19, rb8/4/7/5/15 Bottle, gift from Mum & Dad - cheers! Brown-black with a cream head. Smooth vanilla and chocolate. Maybe a touch dusty, but love the mouthfeel. Can't believe I rated this so low on my previous taste, suspect that time the bottle had been sat in the corner of a village shop for too long. Really enjoyed it this time around. Overall rating is the average of all rates.

Cask at the Euston Tap. Dark brown pour with a light tan, foamy head. Nose is pretty tame, some mild, burnt wood and cocoa. Damn, flavor is quite sweet (though not cloying), with prominent lactic sugars and some mild roast. Medium in body with fine to average carbonation. Sweet, slightly sticky on the finish, some slight chocolate syrup and mild ash. Nice brew.

From cask at Euston Tap. Pours dark brown to black with a small tan head. Aroma is roasted malty and slight breadish. Lingering dark malty, caramelish and slight breadish. Roasted, sweet and smooth caramelish. Bitter and sweet malty finish.

(Cask at Gallows Real Ale Fest ’10) Poured almost black and clear with small, thin and brown head. Aroma contained coffee with milk and mildly liquorice. Palate was medium bodied and dry with low carbonation. Flavours were roastedness, coffee, ash and bitterness, Aftertaste was ashy and bitter.

Cask at NWAF 2009. A red-brown beer with a lazing tan head. The aroma has notes of sweet and roasted malt as well as caramel. The flavor is very sweet with notes of roasted malt and chocolate, leading to a dry roasted and lightly burnt finish. The mouthfeel is very smooth.

Cask at GBBF 2009. Black beer, lasting beige head. Slightly lactic, roasty beer, bit sweet, mot much dryness from malts or hops. Ture to the style, if too sweet for me. Good choc/lactic character.