8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
16 ounce can courtesy of daknole. Thanks! Pours a dark brown color with a large brown head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma of rich coffee along with sweet milk chocolate, cocoa and a bit of roast. Taste is coffee with cream, roasted malts, nuts and a fruity, faintly hoppy finish. Smooth, creamy, medium bodied. Very quaffable. Nice beer.
Tried
from Can
on 14 Dec 2009
at 14:23
8.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Big thanks to mashmaster for that can. Looks not spectacular, the beer in the glass a bit darker than exspected, nice small head. Very hoppy-flowery aroma. Beer starts hoppy-fresh, flowery grasy. Very complex hoppy notes, not too dry. Modest bitter in the background. Also a bit fruity. Well balanced finish, very drinkable. A great beer!
Tried
from Can
on 10 Dec 2009
at 22:29
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 8.5
Can from allendodd. The Surly enabler. Pours opaque brown/black with a foamy 4-finger foamy tan head that didn’t stand up for long. Aroma is strong coffee. Maybe a chocolate undernote. Medium pluls body with mild carbonation. Flavor is coffee. Coffee. Coffee. Eventually a touch of chocolate. This is a strongly flavored ale. Finishes dryish and coffee. A mind altering experience.
Tried
from Can
on 27 Nov 2009
at 19:11
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
16 oz can from Daknole. Pours dark brown with tan head. Aromas of toasted malts and cocoa. Roasted malts, coffee and chcolate flavors with a slightly bitter finish. Medium body with moderate carbonation. A very good brown ale.
Tried
from Can
on 26 Nov 2009
at 18:03
8.5/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 9
Bavarian Lodge; Surly Darkness tapping! I’ve done this backwards: had the barrel aged version before the main bottle. Anyway, in the 12 oz. snifter goblet, it seems suitably black. Deep brown head shows some staying power. Smooth nose of dark malts with little distraction. Taste starts with some coffee and chocolate. If this had been my first RIS instead of Goose Island BCS years ago, it would have been the same revelatory experience. I find this has a ton of flavor, making the BA version seem like overkill. I’ve got a lot of Imperial Stouts in my cellar, but there’s something to be said for having them fresh. Still a lot of hops and unfermented malt here, too. And a lot of attitude.
Tried
from Draft
on 14 Nov 2009
at 21:45
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Handbottle shared by daknole. Pours orange color with minimal white head. Lots of grapefruit and pine hops aroma. Bitter hop flavors of pine and grapefruit rind with a little sweetness. Medium body with minimal carbonation and a resinous mouthfeel.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Nov 2009
at 18:33
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8.5
12 oz draft snifter, Bavarian Lodge. Reddish amber color, clingy, rough IPA type head. Majpr citrus and pine hop smell, even though the glass seems kind of cold. Hops in the taste are… Simcoe? The 3 C’s? Even their website won’t say. Whatever, they expectedly bold, a bit catty, but mostly pine cones and grapefruit. Resiny coating is a little thinner than other fresh IPAs, and the green hops character appears only halfway down. There is some malty backbone, even some sweetness, but it’s very respectful of hop dominance. If you like to taste hops in your burps afterward, this is ideal.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Nov 2009
at 07:18
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle, RBNAG 2009 in Vatlandsvåg. Pitch black colour, low brown head. Complex aroma, chocolate, coffee, soy sauce, prunes. Full and rich flavour, loads of malty sweetness, also some fruitiness, loads of chocolate and caramel, notes of coffee.
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Nov 2009
at 17:10
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Location: 16 oz can via trade with NickD717, 11/10/09
Aroma: The coffee is predominant in the nose, along with some roasted malts, vanilla, and chocolate
Appearance: Pours a dark red-brown color with a decent amount of tan head, and quite a bit of lace
Flavor: The taste is quite similar to the nose, much of the same characteristics, again quite dominated by the coffee malts
Palate: Solidly drinkable mouthfeel, fairly thick and creamy with a decent amount of body
Overall Impression: This was a solid beer. Not only my first rating from the brewery, but my first from the great state of Minnesota. Overall, it made for a decent beer, but I just didn't get that much beyond the roasted coffee.
Aroma: The coffee is predominant in the nose, along with some roasted malts, vanilla, and chocolate
Appearance: Pours a dark red-brown color with a decent amount of tan head, and quite a bit of lace
Flavor: The taste is quite similar to the nose, much of the same characteristics, again quite dominated by the coffee malts
Palate: Solidly drinkable mouthfeel, fairly thick and creamy with a decent amount of body
Overall Impression: This was a solid beer. Not only my first rating from the brewery, but my first from the great state of Minnesota. Overall, it made for a decent beer, but I just didn't get that much beyond the roasted coffee.
Tried
from Can
on 10 Nov 2009
at 18:17
8.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 9
Bottle from Guerde. Thanks a bunch Andy. Marcus really enjoyed this. Pours really dark black/brown with little head. Aroma suggests celery, and chocolate. lots of dark malt. Full bodied with mild carbonation. Goes from choclate to caramel in a split second. Super smooth. So many flavor variations: chocolate, cherry, coffee, treacle, and incredibly not harsh. Goes extremely well with Chimay GrandCru cheese.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Nov 2009
at 16:21