7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
(Bottle 35,5 cl) Comes close to being pitch-black, completely opaque. Small, light brown head. Nose full of burned malt, flavours full of burned malt and lots of bitterness from the burned malt. Surprisingly light-bodied - almost a bit watery - with a very dry finish. Has some vinous touches. 170705
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Jul 2005
at 05:09
5.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 4.5
2004 bottle from SuIIy, consumed on 7/1/2005. Hazy/unfiltered mix of orange-caramel-amber-toffee in the body. Tons of sediment left in the bottle. Small eggshell colored head is retained at cover. The nose expresses sticky caramal and toffee, highly bitter, resiny high-alpha hops, like colombus or something. It’s all here, pine, resin, sap, intense grapefruit. But other than your basic caramel-toffee malt, I can’t find much malt complexity; just too much hops. Upon first sip, I’m somewhat taken aback by the huge bitterness and it is quite sharp and in your face, but it takes a few more sips for the sappy-resinous liquid to really coat your mouth and clog up your taste receptors. Plenty of caramel malt, really sticky mouthfeel. HUGE resin-burn from the hops and alcohol. Intensely bitter and unbalanced. I do like the big, sticky mouthfeel, but it’s just another overdone, crude hops experiment. What does this prove? That they can make an unbalanced DIPA. Wow, color me unimpressed. Alcohol burn on end is very evident, with a hint of earthiness coming from somewhere. Very low carbonation, almost too low. Full body, but the malt can’t keep this much bitterness in check. Oh well, it wasnt as ridiculous as Devil Dancer, but it’s getting there.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jul 2005
at 10:59
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Thanks to heemer77 for bring this one to Noogfest! Very solid IIPA. Deep amber color with an off white head that spews forth lots of citrus/pine hop aroma. Lots of body to support the flavors that are bitter on the ends and some caramel malt in the middle. I liked this one.
Tried
on 23 Jun 2005
at 07:12
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
Quite black in colour. Boozy, roasty aroma. Very rich character - grabs your attention and holds it hostage. Big, thick, chewy flavours. Good quality, but doesn’t get exceptional at any point - just big
Tried
on 07 Apr 2005
at 11:22
7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
A black beer with a disappearing brown head. The aroma is sweet malty with notes of chocolate. The flavor is sweet roasted with hints of blueberries before a dry roasted end sets in. This is not a fruitbeer, but rather a dry stout - a lovely beer.
Tried
on 02 Apr 2005
at 03:56
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
On tap at Dark Horse. Hazy copper-orange body, medium off-white or light cream head. Big grapefruity, sugary aroma with plenty of breads and caramels backing up the substantial hops. Grapefruit rind and pulp dominated the flavor, in addition to sweet caramels. Intense, resiny, and a touch piney yet clean and drinkable at the same time. The high ABV didn’t show too strongly in the flavor. Certainly not unique, but I found little to fault. One pint’s enough, however!
Tried
from Draft
on 06 Mar 2005
at 16:13
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Labeled as Dark Horse "750 ml" Imperial Stout, undoubtedly a reference to the slang term "Fifth" as this is the fifth in the brewery’s series of stouts. Deep murky charcoal/molasses brown body with a thin deep brown head forming shortly after the pour, soon subsiding. Aroma had me thinking about their Cream Stout with chocolate, molasses, lactose, and vanilla along with strong roasted malts. Rather sweet. Flavor began with delicate but strong chocolate and molasses, soon taking a 180 degree turn towards a big, dry, roasty bitter finish. As the beer warmed it took on a Hershey’s chocolate syrup character, getting overly sweet, with notes of soy developing as well. I can’t get past the rough finish, though- charred malts, bitter hops, and harsh alcohol all contribute to a less-than-satisfying aftertaste. I applaud the effort but I think they should have strayed from their basic stout recipes (used for their other four stouts) and gone in a different direction for an Imperial Stout, which in my mind should focus on two or three outstanding elements instead of a jumbled juxtaposition of flavors. That said, this will be interesting after it’s been aged for awhile.
Tried
from Can
on 02 Jan 2005
at 16:54
7.2/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle Pours a very dark black with redish brown edges and a small tan head. Spotty lacing. Aromas are strongly of sweet blueberry. Like pancake syrup. Obvious up front Blueberry. Flavors are more of a typical imperial stout with only slight blueberry flavors. Works well though as a stout with blueberry hints. A fairly bitter smokey flavor in general with a quite bitter trailer. Interesting, nice place to visit....
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Dec 2004
at 22:23
7.2/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Pitch, PITCH black in colour-like used motor oil. Small brown head that fades very fast. Crazy looking beer-but nice! Aroma of pure blueberry muffins, light chocolate, roasted malt and a small amount of sugars. Medium-bodied; Sharp roasted malt taste up front with blueberries and chocolate lingering behind. Aftertaste shows trailing bitterness from the roasted malt with a light blueberry flavour, a small coffee nod and a stronger dark chocolate (around ~70% cacao) taste. Overall, a decent beer-great to try and neat to look at! I sampled this twelve ounce beer purchased from Merchant’s in Dearborn, Michigan on 14-November-2004, after about a year or so of holding on to it.
Tried
on 14 Nov 2004
at 19:28
6.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Cloudy orange tinted amber/copper coloured body with a non-existant off-white head. Aroma of fresh tart apricots, malt, caster sugar, low a.a. hops and some coriander seeds. Heavy-bodied; Strong sweet flavour with full spices and a good malt backbone. Apricots, curacao and corainder seed all noticeable in the taste; No wheat, bubble gum or hops however. Aftertaste pleasant to an extent, no harsh aftertaste nor offensive flavours. Overall, a good beer, but lacks those amazing characteristics that would make it an astounding beer. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased at Merchant’s in Dearborn, Michigan (by my mom) on 16-October-2004 on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Tried
from Bottle
on 28 Oct 2004
at 21:25