6.1

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Bomber (2013) drunk 4/19/14
Dark, though not opaque, deep ebony with some magenta highlights on the edges and a small beige head with moderate to low retention.
Not a whole lot to be gleaned from the nose...I get some black pepper, moderate booziness and spicy vanilla notes, all coming with a good deal of work. Maybe a touch of chocolate-peanut brittle? With more warming, it does offer up a little more sweet maltiness (chocolate, raisins, more vanilla) but the complexities seem to be rather lacking here.
The flavor is not holding back on the peppers and immediately the heat hits the back of your throat drying things quite well, and compounded by the crackery like biscuit and dark malts. Not overly sweet, thankfully, though there is a persistent vanilla-cream like flavor that dosent quite stand up to the chocolate and pepper. The sweetness is fleeting, leaving in its place not as much of a dry, malty flavor, so much as a dearth of real flavor. Aside from the pepper and chocolate, the malt seems stretched very thin. Mouthfeel straddles the line from being somewhat soft, to a touch watery, while the booziness is mostly in check here. Again, more of a novelty spice/herb/vegetable beer, though the lighter/waterier body and lighter maltiness actually make it somewhat drinkable, if you like chili beers. Finishes with some chalkiness/blandness that I’m unsure the source of.