6.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Cask at Mug’s Split Thy Skull - dark brown, nearly black pour, with a thick off-white head - lightly woody aroma, with some roasty notes, a rather prominent spice profile, and carmelized brown sugar - somewhat sweet up front, with the roasted flavors one expects from the style - this is quickly undercut by a strong, spicy hop profile, and a touch of tartness - a little thin on the palate - I was expecting a lot more from this brewery, but it’s still nice.
Tried
from Cask
on 10 Mar 2007
at 18:54
5.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
Cask at Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Dark ruby. Aroma of cinnamon and ginger. Sweet and medium bodied rounded mouthfeel with evident ginger flavour. Initially the flavour is nicely balanced between malt and ginger, but eventually the ginger starts to stick to my tongue and throat, and creates an unpleasant burning sensation. Served in a nip glass it might work, but with this much burning ginger that’s about what I can take.
Tried
from Cask
on 08 Mar 2007
at 01:07
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Cask condtioned handpull Evening Star, Brighton. Chestnut colour with thin beige head. Malty in mouth. Herby dry malt aroma. Good dry malt in mouth. Slightly astringent hop finish. Great in mouth, the malt is great, lovely flavour and then arresting hop finish. I really rather like it.
Tried
from Cask
on 06 Mar 2007
at 07:15
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
Light amber in colour , with a light hop aroma, bitter with hint of grapefruit. long bitter linger. TK 2: 2.5->3.5 light amber ... light fruit nose ... and lots of american style hoppyness... much better than id prev rated it.
Tried
from Can
on 05 Mar 2007
at 11:07
5.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 4
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle, deep red black with athin head , dark roat maly with coffee tones and a richness to it
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Mar 2007
at 11:06
6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Cask@Criterion, Leicester. Reddish amber beer with a light head. The aroma is fruity hopped and the flavour is vinous, roasted and very bitter caramel. Overall an OK rich beer.
Tried
from Cask
on 03 Mar 2007
at 05:14
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Cask at Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Amber colour. Hoppy aroma of hay and orange. Sweet with softly malt covered in salt and layers of English hops. Lingering really bitter finish. Good!
Tried
from Cask
on 27 Feb 2007
at 16:55
8.4/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottled. Transparently black, thick beige creamy head. Rich roasty coffee aroma. Dry, soft and rounded with lots of coffee and licorice. Salty bitter finish. Excellent combination of soft gentle malt and poerful espresso tones.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Feb 2007
at 02:32
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Cask conditioned at Merton Beer Festival 16-02-07. Poured a golden colour and with a thin bubbly head and looking crystal clear. This beer really was a little belter punching far above it’s weight it was a real star and the first to run out at the festival by a good few hours. The aroma was excellent and bettered only by the Crouch Vale Amarillo, with a wonderful fresh zesty fruit and hoppiness. The taste delivered far more punch and flavour than you really should expect from a beer with such a low gravity, with a wonderful juicy fruitiness with grapefruit flavours dominating and a lovely hoppy sign off. This really was a great beer and at this strength a good session beer, top marks to Dark Star again for squeezing so much out of such a relatively low abv beer.
Tried
from Cask
on 19 Feb 2007
at 03:01
8.1/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
500 ml brown bottle, courtesy of Cardinal pub, Stavanger. ABV is 4.2%. Black colour, decent brown head. Distinct aroma of fresh coffee, hints of liquorice and dark chocolate, maybe some prunes, old leather and cigarbox too (but not as noticeable as in the cask version). Coffee in the flavour too (as expected), but not overdone, the beer is quite balanced and fairly smooth to drink. A moderate sweetness carries notes of dark chocolate, with a hint of prunes. Bitter finish and aftertaste, both from the roasted malts, the espresso coffee and Challenger hops. The cask version was maybe a tad better, but the bottled version is still excellent!
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Feb 2007
at 13:09