on nitro-pours a retaining light tan head that laces and black color. Aroma is dark malt-cocoa powder, peat, roasty, secondary acidic hops. Taste is dark malt-chocolate, peat, roasty, faint acidic hops. Minimum carbonation.

on tap-pours a dissipating off white head and amber color. Aroma is mild citrus/pine, medium malt. Taste is citrus/pine-bitter hops first, then balanced by medium malt-caramel. Medium body. OK carbonation. Improves when moves to cellar temperature. Dry finish.

on tap-pours a big retaining white head that laces and pale yellow color. Aroma is wheat/grain, secondary/faint citrus lemon. Taste is crisp, wheat/grain, secondary citrus lemon/grassy/spicy hops. OK carbonation. Not an over the top Imperial Pilsner, nice.

On tap at brewery. Pours clear deep copper with lasting off white head. The aroma is an inviting load of dark fruity esters. I get grapes, cherries and sweet plums. I also smell melanoidin malts, mild roasty malts and some pine hops. The taste experience starts very viscous as the fluid ushers in mild fruitiness cut by roasty malt, mild pine hop bitterness and faint citrus hops. The fruitiness is a punch bowl full of cherries and dark grapes that become more raisin and prune like toward midway. I get a representation of fruit, roasted malts and hops into the after taste. It isn’t too hoppy or fruity for the style. I’d love to re-rate it with some age on it . . . maybe a year or so.

May, 09. A year and a half later this beer is getting pretty darn amazing. I have been getting a rich river of caramel coming forward that wasn’t there before. The mild fruity esters are blending together and mixing with the roasted malts. Wow!

On tap at brewpub. Pours dark dark brown but coming up short of stout like jet black with tan head. The aroma is mild with roasted malts and burnt malts. The taste begins with highly roasted malts and a hint of malt astringency that helps create a bigger roasty malt punch. At the same point in time the burnt malts run through the flavor creating a tasty mix along with a slight malt sweetness. The beer ends roast, burnt and on the dry side. The burnt malts really linger into the after taste.

Pint on tap at brewery that pours a hazy copper with orange edges and thin white head. Mild aroma with some malt sweetness mixed with a punch of grapefruit hops. The taste is certainly an IPA. A mild malt sweetness starts things out for a moment until a fresh bitter grapefruit hoppiness kicks in. Nice hop experience with the tingling bitterness mixing with an upwelling of mild roasted malt sweetness.

Consumed via draft @ brewery on June 23, 2007. Pours gold with a slight haze and thin bright white head. The aroma has some yeasty fruitiness and hints of bubble gum while still pretty cold. Taste starts pretty much sugary sweet with seemingly no honey influence. Then there’s a hint of fruit like lemon citrus-ness. That flavor begins to mix with the sweetness to make it more sweet lemon-like fruitiness along with a growing yeastiness. There’s a lingering sugar sweetness and slight lemon tartness into the after taste.

Re-rate

On tap @ Brewery. Pours deep and dark with thin light brown head. Nice aroma, not too light like a lot of stouts. I smell lots of coffee, burnt malts, hints of smoke and sweet molasses. The flavor has lots of burnt to charred malts along with a healthy dose of coffee. Beyond midway some sweeter molasses type notes join to balance the dry burnt malts, coffee and dark chocolate. Nice flavor that keeps it interesting.

Re-rate

On tap @ brewery. Pours classic clear copper with nice off white head. It has a light sweet malt aroma. There is an even maltiness in the flavor that balances the dry roasted malts with sweet caramelized malts. They serve these brews too cold making it tough to pick out much more in the flavor. There was a faint hoppiness there somewhere but really tough to describe.