5.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
Super deep and dark brown coloured body with a dense, three to four centimetre tall pure deep brown head that stays afloat for quite a while. Aroma of anise, pure black licorice, deep roasted oatmeal, almost burnt, with a lot of caramelised sugars, some light mushrooms and meatiness and ending with a touch of pungency from permanent marker - yum! Full-bodied; Deep robust roasted malt, oatmeal and some specialty grains in the mix with a deep pungent bitterness from the malts, but also from the alcohol and caramelised/burnt sugars, that finishes with some licorice and star anise flavours. Aftertaste shows the roasted malt, a lot of pungency and astringent flavours, some peanuts and more oatmeal and ending with a lot of alcohol warmth. Overall, a quite strong and underwhelming beer that shows way too much burnt malts and oatmeal with a lot of astringent and pungent flavours and not enough softer, more complex notes - there was no oak, vanilla, caster sugar or pitted fruits noticeable at all. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from BevMo! in Vacaville, California on 10-March-2019 for US$9,49 sampled in my hotel room in Fairfield, California on 13-March-2019.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Mar 2019
at 17:20