Bottle from Beer Geek. Copper amber color with a slight white head. Aroma of sweetish malt with a little grassy hop. Medium body with fizzy/creamy carbonation. Flavor is mild caramel/toffee, florality, light stone fruit, and mild bitter. Not your standard American lager. Really quite tasty. It could almost pass for ale. No higher encomium can be allotted.

16oz bottle. Dark, murky but still a little transparent, brown. Smooth, simple and malty. Not unlike a lot of authentic Scottish Ales. Delicate hop balance, but overall it’s sweet and quite drinkable. Impressive medium bodied mouthfeel for a beer of it’s strength. Quite nice, I’d like to try it on draft.

Re-rate 7/23/11: Bottle. Beer of the month club. Almost opaque black color with a medium beige head. Nice roasted malt aroma with toasted bread, caramel, some nutty chocolate and some coffee. Sweetish flavor with roasted malt, caramel, coffee notes and a bitter herbal and roasty finish. Medium-bodied. A very good Schwarzbier. 7/4/7/3/14=3.5

(11/8/08) Draught at a vegan restaurant called "Horizon" in Philadelphia. Dark brown color. Aroma of malt, some toastiness/roastiness, caramel, some chocolate and light nutty notes. Sweet flavor with toasted malt, caramel and mild noble hops bitterness in the finish. Medium-bodied. A well-made tasty Schwarzbier. 7/4/7/3/14=3.5

16oz bottle. Black with stained-glass colored edges. Minimal white head. Sweet, almost sugary. Brown sugar, caramel, light smoke. Minimal hops covered up, and way in the background. Overall a pretty good Schwarz. Fresh, and enough balanced dark malt flavor to keep it interesting.

16oz bottle. IPA2 version. Semi-transparent orange-brown color. Full bodied caramel flavor collides with syrupy hops. Actually quite nice, a pleasant surprise. Mellow carbonation works well with the high ABV and solid hopping. Malty finish.

Completely pitch black coloured body with a muddy look and a nice dark brown head atop - pretty nice! Aroma of super roasted (burnt) malt, coffee (a la starbucks - again, burnt), caramel, toffee and a bit of deep macadamia nuts. Full-bodied; Suprisingly light grape taste up front, then masked almost entirely with the burnt malt tastes soon after, touched by a tiny bit of honey and caramel. Aftertaste is definitely bittered out by malt, molasses, figs and a touch of licorice. Overall, an overpowering, strong and agressive imperial stout - not my favourite, but showing character and impressionable. I sampled this bottle, aged about two years, purchased in December 2006 from Oliver’s Beverage in Albany, New York, sampled on 10-January-2009 at home in Washington. The bottle was 65 cL with a golden wax seal (that cracked a bit into the bottle)with a small notecard attached.

16oz bottle. Deep, dark, red brown color with no real head. Sweet malty aroma, touch of alcohol in it. Rich, sweet, and creamy, with only an inkling of hops in the initial mouthfeel. Sweet chocolate malt aftertaste. Develops some decent Bocky yeast tastes as it warms. Nothing exceptional, but does have redeemable qualities.

Bouteille 500ml (2006), courtoisie de Blankboy. De couleur rouge-brune et légèrement voilée. Nez malté de caramel toffee légèrement boisé (bois humide, notes de fût de chêne) et aux notes rôties, fruité (raisins vineux, notes de pommes) avec des petites notes de sucre brun, léger de houblon herbeux et avec des notes dalcool liquoreux. Moyennement ronde en bouche avec un pétillement bas et une texture très légèrement sirupeuse. Goût fruité (raisins sucrés vineux, notes de pommes rouges, traces de cerises et de prunes vieillies) accompagné dun léger goût boisé (fût de chêne, présent en arrière-goût durant toute la gorgée) lors de lentrée en bouche auquel se rajoute un goût malté de caramel toffee assez sucré, légèrement rôti et aux notes terreuses ainsi quavec des notes de pain. Parallèlement, lon retrouve un léger goût dalcool liquoreux (brandy) et un peu réchauffant jusquen finale, où se rajoute un léger goût de houblon herbeux avec des traces de noix asséchantes. Post-goût moyen-long et aux notes sèches, léger-moyen amer dalcool doux, de rôti, de houblon herbeux (notes terreuses) avec un goût fruité (moût de raisins) et des notes boisées.

16oz bottle. Filtered orange tan color. Malty and sweet, with minimal hop balance. Pretty straightforward stuff, a cut above macro-swill. Smooth and medium bodied, with some amber malt tastes. Drinkable and sessionable, but nothing that Id seek out.