35.8cl corked and caged bottle pours deep darkness with a big tall three inch light mocha colored head of foam. The modest aroma offers up mineral notes, blunted dark roasted malts, burnt malts and then a touch of dark fruity esters. The taste has dark roasted malts heading into some chocolate and mineral notes that are punctuated by above average carbonation. It then gains flavors like a bit of sweet dark fruity esters and then yeasty Belgian candi sugar into the finish.

Bottle. Pours clear yellow with a medium white head and little lacing. Aroma is wheat, apple, spicy, cinammon. Flavor is very spiced, prominent wheat notes, perhaps a bit of cherry. Lightly sweet, no bitterness. A little too spiced for me, but interesting nonetheless.

375 mL bottle. First of all, guess I should have thought a bit when I saw the bubbling as it warmed up. Anyway, cork blew off and left a mark in the ceiling as I was untwisting the cage, then the requisite foaming onto the floor (and fortunately not my keyboard). Pours black with a foamy (obviously) tan head. Creamy cocoa aroma leaning toward vanilla, coffee hint. Coffee and cocoa with a definite tartness. It’s still pretty decent, even if it’s not supposed to be like this.

Bottle @ home. Hazy yellow appearance with a well carbonated white head. Spicy coriander, quite carbonated, orange citrusy, light Chardonnay aroma. Spritzy, lemon citrusy, yeasty, zesty carbonated flavor. Pretty tasty shit.

Bottle @ Dan’s house. Cork shot off like a mother fucker. Hazy, light orange appearance with a white head. White grape, pear, spritzy wheat malty, somewhat spicy aroma. Tangy, bready yeasty, peach/pear, tangy vinous, apple flavor. High carbonation. Ok but pretty weird.

Bottle @ Dan’s house. Holy shit, my boy Ernie thinks this is the best shit eva, I’m excited. Pours a touch hazy, yellow appearance with a nice fluffy white head. A touch yeasty, rich lemon, straw grainy, light potpourri, baking flour, pretty hoppy aroma. Fairly dry, bright lemon, herbal/dandelion, somewhat rough grainy, nice pils flavor. This is quite nice.

Bottle @ Dan’s house. Some asshole bought ever fucking bottle in the Denver metro area, but I did find a stash in Foco at $5.29. Pours a hazy, orange appearance with a creamy, foamy head. Spicy herbal, straw grainy, lemon/tangerine, grassy aroma. Somewhat tangy, bready, husky grainy, light lemon/grapefruity, a touch vinous flavor. Easy drinking and fairly priced but I’ve had better. No need to hide my secret stash in Foco. They’re at Aggie Liquor, Mikey.

First, a note on the price - I bought this 375ml bottle for 4.99 - so, this means the 750 price would be 10 bucks - 10 bucks - in Colorado - for a barrel-aged imperial stout from FUCKING NEW ZEALAND - in contrast, I can’t even get a BA impy stout made in the same CITY I LIVE IN for less than 20 bucks - anyway - the cork shot out of this sucker before I even got the cage off - scared the hell out of me - so, highly carbonated - I had to let it sit and "gas out" for about ten minutes before I could pour it - understandably, it pours with a huge, frothy, lasting head - probably the best retention I’ve seen on something so high in ABV - nose has a ton of Pinot notes - a lot of oak and tart raspberry acidity - this works quite nicely with the deep bittersweet baker’s chocolate aromas of the malt - light sourness - the carbonation is a bit rough, even after prolonged time in the glass - strong flavors of black raspberry, cherry, oak, tannins - the acidity is a bit high, but is somehow a bit more bearable due to the light sour character of the beer - strong baker’s chocolate and moderate char on the tail end - a light dry mineral note - bittersweet finish - an interesting brew, with a fair amount of complexity, but the acidity and high carbonation keep me from enjoying it as much as I could - still quite like it, though.

Bottle from Belmont Station. Pours light amber with a 3 finger creamy/bubbly off-white head. Burning citrus aroma. Med body. Flavor is grapefruit rind and tropical fruit over a low key caramel backdrop. It’s very hoppy, very fruity, and it finishes quite bitter. Just excellent.