Red copper brown with a thin off white head. Sweet fruity and spicey vinous aroma. Good sweet malt with raisin notes and light torrefied coffee and alcohol burn in mouth. Jan. 2005.

Deep mostly opaque brown body, medium/thick cream head. Lots of raspberry in the aroma, with a bit of chocolate and roasted malt, but dominated by the fruit. Raspberry skin and sugarless pulp flavor, poorly balanced by cocoa and roasted malts, which barely cut the raspberry acidity and slight sourness of the body. Thin in body and poorly developed for a porter; this is instead perhaps best described as a "fruit beer" with dark malts. Would have been better with a strong chocolate malt backdrop to balance the raspberry. Alas...

2004 bottle from Heemer77, thanks! Stupendously thick, rich, dark pour. Looks almost like a nitrogen tap. Viscous, creamy and has a perfectly formed, long-lasting oatmeal colored head. Unfortunately, it seems to be rather filtered. Smells of light milk chocolate, sweet toffee, anise, hints of oily roast and some slight yeastiness. A dried out, dusty, almost ash-like note on the end of the nose, as well. Flavor begins with a balanced mix of sweet and dry. You’ve got more oily roast as noted from the nose, mixing with a medium sweet caramel/toffee-like flavor. Brown sugar, tons of creamy milky chocolate and then the coffee. It’s like a cup of dunkin donuts coffee, with a packet of sugar and some milk in it. Slightly watery, not terribly challenging, but still pretty good. Finishes with more brown sugar/brown malt appeal. A touch on the sweet side overall, but the lager element serves to keep the beer from getting very heavy and adds a touch of crisp yeastiness on the finish.

Bottle Pours a black with dark brown edges, a nice light tan head and seriously lasting lacing. Aromas are of dark roast malts coffee and chocolate. Flavors are much the same. Chocolate than coffee. Notes of black leather, (dont ask me how I know what black leather tastes like) and some smokey hitts as well Swwet enough that it is not too bitter and quite drinkable. Feel is very smooth. Slick even. After tastes lacks any unpleasant bitterness. All around a great "Black Beer"

Pours is a deep, dark red. Aroma is very hoppy and fruity. Flavor is malty and sweet but very dull and watery. The aroma is the best thing about this brew. Average at best.

Dated 3/25/03 tasted December 2004, its past its recommended 120 day drink by date, but shows little signs of age. At worst, its lost some carbonation, as this pour lightly carb’d with little to no head, odd for tripel. Appearance was also darker than expected with an almost pure amber color. Aroma highly caramelized and candyish with mild phenols. Flavor similar, starts very sweet leading to a lightly fuselly finish. As the beer warms the alcohol begins to overpower the sweeter malts. Fermentation profile is medium in phenols, not very fruity otherwise: pepper seems the dominant note. Perhaps age has increased the alcohol presence and converted the fruitier esters. No signs of oxidation but it may still be better when slightly fresher.

2004 bottle. Pours a clear deep orange-blood red tinged brown. Small disipating light tan head. Aroma of malt, bread, brown sugar, light yeast notes. Flavor is sweet and malty, with the malt body very big and with enough to really hang on to through the whole beer. It just stays creamy, smooth and flavorful, with plenty of chocolate, light yeast, some touches of butterscotch and light roast notes as well. Thick, yet drinkable. Perhaps a bit too sweet by the end of the bottle. But I applaud the relatively low use of hops here. Very low carbonation is a major plus.

A nice nearly authentic Vienna lager. Pale amber color, tight pitted head. Nice toasted almond aroma, toffeeish. Smooth, fairly clean, a little musty gunpowder hop finish. Festive. A good food beer, esp. pizza.

2004 bottle. Pour is medium orange with some deep yellows. Pretty colorful for a trippel (used to pale gold and the like). Small white head, that rapidly dissipates. Aroma of peach and banana esters, light hops and some muted wheat tones. Flavor is quite unique, I taste mainly a hard candy sweetness, with a hint of plastic phenols. It’s like sucking on a peach flavored hard candy. Lightly sticky texture, but fairly fluffy on the end. Medium body, very low yeast apparency, with some hops present. It seemed overly sweet, but the more I drank, it grew on me, the flavor was quite consistent and full. Alcohol noticeable, lightly spicy finish. Not tremendously to style.