Subsidiaries
4.6/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
2001 bottle. a little bit too spicy for my liking. coulda gotten away with a more traditional ale style. Decent body on it, but nothing to write home about. wouldnt drink again.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Jul 2002
at 08:59
5.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5
2001-2002 draft. wow this is a lot of chocolate. a bit tangy though, and i couldnt get rid of this flavor that was on the nose. it reminded me somewhat of bells porter. i think one guy said it best with ’burnt rubber’, though id imagine it is just extremely dark chocolate notes. not a huge fan, though i can appreciate the beers great body. Much rather have a young’s.
2003-2004 bottle compliments of bucknaked. Pours an inky black, dark as all get out. No sediment at the bottom, but yet I cant see through this one against the light. Perhaps it got unsettled and dissolved. Good thick black-tan head. Flavor is heavily bittersweet, flavor of huge quantities of bakers chocolate, black malt and a sweeter malt flavor. Extremely rich. I will certainly give them points for full bodied flavor, but it’s just too rich with too little variation and complexity. Couldnt even finish one of these. Oily, roasty, bitter and decadent. Perhaps better sampled in a very small quantity out of a snifter. Funny how my rating from over 2 years ago is pretty on par with what I would rate it now.
2004-2005 bottle Roastier and less sour chocolate than I remember, which seems like a good thing. Smoother than I remember, with more milk chocolate and even roast, less bitter roast and dark chocolate assault. On the down side, for an Imperial Stout, this year’s batch is very light bodied to style.
2005-2006 bottle Intensely bitter, dry, lactic and vinously fruity again, with a lacking sweetness, too much black chocolate bitter/dryness. The texture while not watery, is at best average and lightly sticky. Not creamy, or lightly thick or anywhere near that. Never understood this one.
2006-2007 draught on 11/2/06. Heavy hop acidity, biting citrus and light resin open things up, followed by the characteristic bitter, dry, nearly resinous black chocolate and tar flavor. Astringent finish, oily and unbalanced. Still, it’s very flavorful and the carbonation was nice (though I attribute that to Redbones). Too much oily/resin/tar/ashiness. Bits of alcohol harry the finish. Still don’t get this beer.
2003-2004 bottle compliments of bucknaked. Pours an inky black, dark as all get out. No sediment at the bottom, but yet I cant see through this one against the light. Perhaps it got unsettled and dissolved. Good thick black-tan head. Flavor is heavily bittersweet, flavor of huge quantities of bakers chocolate, black malt and a sweeter malt flavor. Extremely rich. I will certainly give them points for full bodied flavor, but it’s just too rich with too little variation and complexity. Couldnt even finish one of these. Oily, roasty, bitter and decadent. Perhaps better sampled in a very small quantity out of a snifter. Funny how my rating from over 2 years ago is pretty on par with what I would rate it now.
2004-2005 bottle Roastier and less sour chocolate than I remember, which seems like a good thing. Smoother than I remember, with more milk chocolate and even roast, less bitter roast and dark chocolate assault. On the down side, for an Imperial Stout, this year’s batch is very light bodied to style.
2005-2006 bottle Intensely bitter, dry, lactic and vinously fruity again, with a lacking sweetness, too much black chocolate bitter/dryness. The texture while not watery, is at best average and lightly sticky. Not creamy, or lightly thick or anywhere near that. Never understood this one.
2006-2007 draught on 11/2/06. Heavy hop acidity, biting citrus and light resin open things up, followed by the characteristic bitter, dry, nearly resinous black chocolate and tar flavor. Astringent finish, oily and unbalanced. Still, it’s very flavorful and the carbonation was nice (though I attribute that to Redbones). Too much oily/resin/tar/ashiness. Bits of alcohol harry the finish. Still don’t get this beer.
Tried
from Draft
on 10 Jul 2002
at 08:08
3.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 4
Flavor 4
Texture 2
Overall 3.5
Bottled. Dusty and caramelly with lifeless crystal malt character half covered in piney hops. Finishes with salty cardboard. True to the original German style? Nothing could be more wrong.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Feb 2002
at 10:19
4.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 3
Texture 4
Overall 2.5
Nice hoppy aroma. Dry, peaty flavour. A disappointment......................
Tried
on 28 Jan 2002
at 06:20
8.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9.5
Fruity, full of flavours, a bit sweet. Long aftertaste......................
Tried
on 28 Jan 2002
at 06:16
8.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Full-bodied, heavily roasted flavour of dark chocolate......................
Tried
on 28 Jan 2002
at 06:13
8.3/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Dark black with creamy brownish head. Roasty chocolate aroma, softly malty, full bodied. Lots of salty liquorice and dark chocalte in the palate. Bitter finish. A thoroughly well made and tasty beer.
Tried
on 16 Jan 2002
at 02:36
8.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9.5
I heard that this one was well liked...I can see why.
If this were available locally, I'd indulge often. Full of
flavour and I think excellent example of a choco-stout.
If this were available locally, I'd indulge often. Full of
flavour and I think excellent example of a choco-stout.
Tried
from Can
on 30 Nov 2001
at 20:40
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
From Feb 2008
I got this bottle in a trade with fishdawg71. Thanks Geoff!
This pours from 12oz bottle a dark brown with reddish highlights and a nice 2 finger head of foam.
The smell has notes of roasted malt, sweet malt, some nutiness, and some fruit.
The taste on first sip and plenty of flavour here. Mild roasted malt along with some nutty tones followed by a nice earthy flavour and a bit of hop bitterness in the background. I even get a bit of chocolate. It's light bodied(at times) bodied and it finishes with a semi sweet twang but right at the vey end, it's somewhat watery. Still, that's not going to spoil it for me. This is a *good* Brown Ale and I'd drink it again.
I got this bottle in a trade with fishdawg71. Thanks Geoff!
This pours from 12oz bottle a dark brown with reddish highlights and a nice 2 finger head of foam.
The smell has notes of roasted malt, sweet malt, some nutiness, and some fruit.
The taste on first sip and plenty of flavour here. Mild roasted malt along with some nutty tones followed by a nice earthy flavour and a bit of hop bitterness in the background. I even get a bit of chocolate. It's light bodied(at times) bodied and it finishes with a semi sweet twang but right at the vey end, it's somewhat watery. Still, that's not going to spoil it for me. This is a *good* Brown Ale and I'd drink it again.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Nov 2001
at 20:38
5.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Crisp, toasty marzen somewhat overshadowed by the day's better examples.....
Tried
on 03 Sep 2001
at 12:01