It has been a long time since I've had this, but back in the 90s I found it a sweet, relatively run-of-the-mill BW with a herbal accent.

Today, it has a cloudy-murky appearance, and an amber-tan colour. There wasn't much of a head to start with but it's gone quickly. Lots of bubbles on the side of the glass, especially for such a sizeable beer. The aroma is sweet and malty. It's only been 9 months and you can smell already how sherryish this would be if I'd let it age. There's some breadcrusty richness to the malts, and all sorts of caramel. Hops are fairly background in the aroma, lending just a hint of herbal accent, and even that it almost lost in a slightly footy yeast character.
On the palate, it's thick, a little oily, and a little sticky. There is a slight carbonic prickle but just enough to drag this across the palate kicking and screaming. This is big chewy. My impressions from bygone years were pretty much on - this is a very standard BW. It definitely harkens to the formative years of the style in America, where big and chewy was all you needed to get respect. But these days, I like a little flair in my BW, and this doesn't really do that. It's very sweet, with just a shade of hop bitterness. But the malts are not dynamic, just more of that caramel/earth/sherry thing. I've had a lot of BWs like this. I still get that herbal accent, though maybe more sage whereas 10 years ago I thought juniper. It's not enough, though. At the end, the alcohol goes to the bash with the intense sugariness, with that dull earthy quality underneath. It's an uninspiring dynamic

Can from Total Wine in Vacaville, CA. Pours clear, bright gold with a huge creamy/foamy white head that laced. Aroma of corn. Med body. Flavor is corn and pale malt. Lighty sweet. Hardly bitter. But it has substance. I think it would go well with tamales or similar.

Can from The Davis Beer Shoppe. Pours light clear copper with a large foamy near-tan head. Aroma is pine/citrus. Med plus body. Flavor is pine/citrus with SNPA level of malt in support. Malty, and not exactly dry or undry. More than moderately bitter. Light impact from heat. I'm thinking Imperial SNPA, but that's just me. Good ale.

Can from The Davis Beer Shoppe. Pours gold with a large foamy white head. Aroma of peach and Persian melon. Med body. Fairly towards dry. Moderately bitter. Flavor is peach, citrus, Persian melon, and something with prickles that could be either passionfruit or pineapple. Something suggesting grapefruit pith in the finish. Pale, lightly roasty, malt in support. Refreshing.

Early rating from Beer Buddy app

bottle at james... dark black... thin tan lacing... soft sweet caramel.. dark chocolate.. soft roast.. rich chocolate roast malts., dark malts. light crystal

Bottle thanks to cgarvieuk. Appearance - opaque mat black with a crema head. Nose - roasty and meaty. Light smoke. Taste - brown sugar, tar and liquorice. Light smoke. Palate - medium bodied with a roasty finish. Overall - good.