10th Feb 2017: Forth beer on my first flight at Devilicious, Temecula California. Deep amber pour, almost brown: the head a tanned blanket of foam. Malty nose and taste with chocolate and vanilla flavours bursting through, some coffee notes too. Rich and filling. Loved it.

750 ml bottle into snifter, bottled on 10/26/2016. Pours slightly hazy deep ruby red/light copper/brown color with a 1-2 finger fairly dense and fluffy light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of caramel, brown sugar, toasted brown bread, raisin, cherry, plum, vanilla, cocoa, nutty coffee, cream, and rum; with light banana, pepper, clove, toffee, coconut, herbal, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/bready malt, cocoa/coffee/vanilla, and moderate fruity yeast notes; with solid strength. A little too fruity, but not overdone. Taste of big caramel, brown sugar, toasted brown bread, raisin, cherry, plum, vanilla, cocoa, nutty coffee, cream, and rum; with light banana, pepper, clove, toffee, coconut, herbal, and yeast/toasted earthiness. Slight herbal/roasted bitterness and yeast spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, toasted brown bread, raisin, cherry, plum, vanilla, cocoa, nutty coffee, cream, rum, light banana/clove, herbal, and yeast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, cocoa/coffee/vanilla, and light-moderate fruity yeast flavors; with a nice malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Slightly drying from bitter/spiciness. Light-medium carbonation and medium-full body; with very smooth, creamy, fairly silky, and slightly sticky/chalky mouthfeel that is nice. Minimal warming alcohol for 11.3%. Overall this is a very nice spiced Belgian strong dessert ale style. All around good complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, cocoa/coffee/vanilla, and light-moderate fruity yeast flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV. Just a little too fruity/yeasty than I wanted for the overall intent of the beer flavors; but it wasn’t overwhelming. A very enjoyable offering.

Tap. Orange color with tan head. Aroma is coffee, vanilla, plum. Taste is coffee, peppery, some plums, quite minty and aromatic. Medium carbonation. Very interesting, though probably not the best beer.

Poured from a 750 ml bottle. Aroma is malt forward with chocolate, dark caramel, and toffee. Faint roast and burnt sugar notes. Moderate dark fruit notes with lots of plum and raisin. Some light clove and anise phenolics. Light coffee and faint vanilla. Pours dark brown with a large, thick, pillowy, creamy, tan head that recedes to a thin film that lingers for a bit on the edges. Light lacing and medium legs. Flavor is moderately sweet with lots of chocolate, dark caramel, toffee and toasted bread. Light dark fruit notes with plum, raisin and prunes. Fairly chocolate forward with lighter coffee and vanilla notes. Medium bitterness. Faint phenolics. Some lactose flavor. Mouthfeel is medium to medium full bodied with medium carbonation. Low astringency and low, but present alcohol warmth. Overall, a better tasting beer than I was expecting. The aroma is full of Belgian esters and phenols so I was surprised when the flavor was sweet and malt forward. The coffee and vanilla is super light though and hard to pick up; this is especially the case for the vanilla. The lactose is present, but is also fairly light so the mouthfeel is not as big as one would expect from the flavor. Update (Jan 2020) - The rebrewed 375 ml bottle is significantly better. More prominent coffee notes and less of a Belgian yeast profile. The original version has also improved with lots of the fermentation profile mellowing out. Moving the score from a 3.4 to 3.6.

Keg at World of Beer Charlottesville. Clear dark red-brown. Aroma of toffee, caramel, booze, vanilla. The taste is toffee, berries, booze. Medium bodied, low carbonation, mild lingering heat.

Tap at Harry’s Hofbrau in RC. Notes of Belgian yeast and vanilla on the nose overtly, with coffee and slight dark fruit. Taste is similar, with a smoothness from the vanilla. Really enjoyable.

Bottle. Pours hazy chestnut, small fizzy beige head, dissipates quickly, minimal lacing. Aroma is heavy coffee, mocha, vanilla. Flavors is medium sweet, light bitter. Medium body. Interesting.

Draft. Deep amber brown color, medium tan head. Aroma of toffee and vanilla. Taste is sweet vanilla, milk chocolate, coffee. Sweet stuff.

Tap at Gambrinus. Pours a murky, deep molasses colored brown with a finger of beige head that dissipates quickly. Fresh ground espresso, roasted molasses and clove on the nose. Chewy brownies, more espresso and black forest cake notes. Cacao nib. Very chewy and rich. A great dessert beer. Hides the abv well too.