Beer #13 (of 19) of my 9000th Beer Celebration [9 beers on both sides of #9000th itself] Huge Gusher once first opened that resulted in at least half of the beer not making it into my glass - crazy, but I'm also happy that the bottle didn't explode somehow during my cellaring. Deep rich brown and almost opaque black coloured body with a thick (of course), rich brown head that fades dramatically quickly, considering that half is in my sink, and leaves only a single centimetre after a few seconds. Aroma of tobacco, roated malts, molasses, caramelised sugars, deep toffee, leather, cherries, lactose and a ton of alcohol and deep, burnt coffee (think starbucks) notes. Medium-bodied; Assertive malty flavours at first with oatmeal, rye and some specialty grains, but then a few seconds later, this fades dramatically and leaves a thinnish profile with some metallic and earthy notes, but a dry and robust quality that is cleanser-like and showing some pitted fruits, molasses and nuts, but nothing too pungent, perhaps some leather as well. Aftertaste shows the rich malts first and foremost with some noticeable grains and dryness, but the sweetness doesn't come until a few minutes later with a light molasses and caramelised sugar flavour that ends with bitterness. Overall, a strong and robust beer with a lot of bitterness, mainly from the malts, but also from the earthy and nutty qualities with the sugars giving some support, but not much, compared to others in the style. Nice to try after so long, but considering the gushing and the remaining yeast/sediment here, one shouldn't store it as long as I did, unless it's in the fridge, but who has space for that, especially considering that it probably isn't worth the space, given that it's not that great of a beer. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle, purchased from Wegman's in Alexandria, Virginia on 03-May-2016 for US$1,67, sampled more than five years later at my house here in Washington for Beer #13 (of 19) of my 9000th beer celebration [9 beers on both sides of #9000th itself].

Bottle: Poured pitch black with light brown head. Aroma is smokey. Taste comes on smoke with malts and bark.

12oz bottle. At $4 for a bottle, this was the most affordable beer of the lineup available in the store, which had like 10 different varieties. Also, I only found these beers in one store in MD so far, weird. Popped the cap and it started to gush slowly. Poured out about four ounces and no more gushing. Dark brown color, almost black. Big brown head fades quickly. I was pleasantly surprised that this isn’t a "BIG" beer, no strong roasted malts, no burning alcohol, or tooth aching sweetness. But, on the other hand, there isn’t much to it. Wet leafy dark malts, low hoppiness, and not much else. Actually, having a difficult time believing this is 10%. Also, there is a light tartness bordering on sourness that makes me think this has a slight, with potential to grow, infection. Which explains the light gushing. I got the rum barrel as well but I doubt either will convince me to give anything else from this brewery a shot for the cost.

Bottle. July 4th and Hanna’s first full day at home. Pours black tan head. Nose/taste of maple syrup, molasses, chocolate, oak and touch of salt in finish. Medium body.

Draft at Pizzeria Paradiso - Old Town Alexandria. Poured a practically pitch black color, wispy off-white head. Aroma was lots of roasted dark malts, some bitter dark chocolate character. Flavor was about the same, lots of roast upfront. Light syrup and molasses.

From a 33 cl bottle, number 0729 of 1200. Pours black with a tan head. Malty nose. Flavors of licorice, tobacco and shoe polish. Slight off note in the finish. Not what I expected.

12.7 oz bottle poured into a teku glass. A collaboration with DJ/Producer Dieselboy. Bottle #37/1200. Black with 1.5 fingers of beige head. Aromas of chocolate, roast, some dark fruit, caramel. Tastes of dark chocolate, roasty notes, tobacco, some red wine. Medium body with a dry finish.