From a 1 Pt 6 Fl Oz bottle on 4/10/2012. Pours a clear reddy amber with a big head which disappears quickly. Has a surprisingly slight malty aroma with some fruit notes. This one is quite sweet with caramel and fruit (which must be the pomegranate), with some medium, lingering hops. But it presents as malty more than anything else. This is a reasonably enjoyable sweet, biggish, fruity brew, but fails to hit any real heights.

Bottle. Dark brown, creamy cappucino head. Spicy aroma, slight sour note, cocoa, cinnamon. Milk chocolate and spices, liquid praline. Nice enough at first if you get into a dessert mood. Fairly sweet, mellow full body. Vanilla, light hoppy finish. Gets too candyish and sweet after a while.

Bottle, many thanks to Theydon_Bois at ChrisO. It pours very, very dark brown, with a thin beige head. The nose is caramel, sweet coffee, over-ripe blueberry, blackberry and dark fruit. The taste is sugary latte, roasted malt, coffee, some underlyign alcohol warmth, caramel, molasses and chocolate, with a sweet finish. Medium-full body and fine-moderate carbonation and slightly sticky mouth-feel. Not really my sort of thing....too sweet.

From a 355ml bottle on 26 September 2012. Pours a clear deep golden with a medium fine head. The aroma features caramel malt and some fruity hops. The flavour is bursting with caramel, toffee and butterscotch maltiness, which is balanced by a reasonably firm hop bitterness (the dry hopping is noticeable). A quite a distinctive and flavoursome ale.

Doing a side by side tasting with the Terrapin version. Appearance - T: dark caramel color with thin tan head. S: a little darker brown than the Terrapin version with a larger tan head. Aroma - T: mostly chocolate, vanilla and toasted malts with some caramel and cinnamon. S: similar aromas to the Terrapin but with cinnamon being more dominant. Flavor: T: toasted malts, chocolate and caramel with some vanilla, cinnamon and nuttiness. S: cinnamon, toasted malts and chocolate with some vanilla and nuttiness. Mouthfeel - T: medium body with average carbonation. S: medium body with softer carbonation and creamier mouthfeel than the Terrapin. Overall I liked the Terrapin version better.

(tap) clear brown colour with a small brown head; faint aroma of stewed fruit; light smokey and fruity flavour, watery palate; bit strange, not bad

22 ounce bottle into tulip glass, no bottle dating. Pours crystal clear very dark reddish brown color with a nice 2 finger fairly dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Decent spotty lacing clings to the glass. Aromas of vanilla, caramel, toffee, milk chocolate, cinnamon, roasted malt, nuttiness, and light herbal. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity. Taste of toffee, vanilla, caramel, toast, cinnamon, chocolate, roasted malt, clove, and light pepper. Lingering notes of vanilla, toffee, chocolate, toast, cinnamon, and light pepper on the finish for a bit. Nice balance and complexity of flavors with a good amount of robustness. No cloying sweetness at all after the finish. Flavor was not as robust as I expected for 8%. Medium carbonation and body; with a fairly creamy and slick mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with almost no warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a very good imperial brown ale. Nice flavor balance and complexity; very smooth to drink with no cloying sweetness. Seemed a bit weak for 8%, but was still very enjoyable.

Bottle as shown. Pours a very dark brown with medium creamy beige head leaving good sticky lacing along the glass. The aroma is a strong cinnamon, toast, and dark fruits. Thin mouthfeel with a rich chocolate malt with cocoa, vanilla, and light spice. Alcohol hidden well with a nice light bitter finish. A good spice from Shmaltz.

Bottle 22fl.oz.Clear medium amber orange yellow colour with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly to fully lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, caramel, moderate to heavy hoppy, pine, spruce, orange - citrus, fruity. Flavour is moderate to heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20120616]

Bomber from Total Wine in Sacramento, CA. Pours dark brown with garnet glints and a 2 finger creamy/fluffy beige head. Primary aroma is chocolate. Full bodied. Flavor is chocolate, a good dose of cinnamon, and a suggestion of something else - which might be vanilla, but there’s so much cinnamon I’d be willing to consider chile. It’s very flavorful. Finishes very spicy in a cinnamon bark way.Quite an ale!