Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Draught pint at the brewpub, with SuIIy on 4/8/06
Deep, near-coal brown beer, opaque with maroon tinges on the edges. Head rapidly fizzles away to a slight ring on the edge, little to no lacing left behind.
The nose is rather unexpressive, having notes of light fudge and dry raisins to sweeten things, while a moderate amount of roast is apparent on the end. Some light vanilla notes, fresh yeast doughiness and a touch of alcohol finish the rather weak aroma.
The flavor begins much more expressive, however, boasting of rich chocolate fudge double dipped in light toffee. A light prune-like note appears towards the middle, with some maple syrup and banana notes that are quite redolent of Zywiec porter. Though the distinction ends fairly rapidly due to some wateriness and light alcohol that seem to muddle the finish. Carbonation is low again, this time with good effect, helping to concentrate the malt sweetness. Some dark, burnt coffee and espresso notes lie in the finish, but light lactic notes take control and then are lost to a quick finish. Probably more chewy than it is watery, but it shouldnt be watery at all, so that is disconcerting. The chewiness does show a moderate boil time, but I think, it could stand longer.