 muzzlehatch (4425), Burlington, Vermont, USA
May 8, 2006 Updated: Jun 17, 2006
500 ml bottle courtesy of Goldorak (May 2006), consumed from a Chouffe tulip at cellar temperature. The pour is gorgeous, a supple dark tan creamy-puffy head topping the translucent ruby-brick body, leaving thick gouts of lacing as it slowly decays.....awesomely evocative aroma of raisins and molasses, Scotch whisky, caramel, port, stunningly deep maltiness, so rich and decadent that you can’t bear to stop long enough to sip; caky best-quality chocolate brownies provide more hedonism than should be allowed....and when you finally do take the plunge, you are greeted by a palette of flavors and sensations just as strong and complex: deep sweet/burnt caramel, toasted oak chips, awesomely smooth, aged whisky-vanilla sweetness with faint hints of hoppy bitterness surrounding it all, and light alcoholic burning giving it a lovely warming, invigorating effect....sour cherries appear briefly late in the velvety soft, chewy rich miasma of liqueurish aftertaste.....if I have any problem, it is only that the burnt/charred qualities are a might too strong at the finish, causing a touch of harshness, and as Stephen mentioned, it could use a bit more smokiness (though there is a touch). Transcendent masterpiece, my new standard-bearer for the style (sorry JP Grays) and the beer to beat for 2006.
WorldofBeers (1), Québec,, Quebec, Canada
does not count  Jul 29, 2008 This is simply the best beer i have ever drinked.... a pefect mix between a prestine scotch ale with slight caramel taste and a very bitter beer ( about 60 IBU ).This beer takes 6 months to ferment so it can only distribute soo much wich explains somewhat the cost of this golden-reddish delight. A must for beer lovers !!
Stine (1320), St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Jul 21, 2008 The notorious "new" batch. Cold clean red. Chocolate soda fountain, root beer candy, wet earth, alcohol aroma. Raspberries in vanilla. Sugary, damp, and distantly salty. Salted rye bread. Raw.
Coarse wooden chocolate flavor. Not rich and bold like an earthy, semisweet, mostly real cocoa chocolate, but dry and sugary like an extract syrup. The fruit character is bitter and tannic, like the skin of a plum or a dried date. Smooth, velvety almond sweetness in a rich and sharp spirit-like texture, with plenty of mapley woodiness. Still unpolished. No subtlety in the delivery.
Medium-full palate is softly carbonated and surprisingly not sticky. Tinny mineral bitterness precedes a lasting, dry rubbing of alcohol and caramelized almonds in the finish. Rather frustrating. Its redeeming qualities are ever present, but suffocated, and what might be most annoying is that there isn’t some obvious flaw lending the weight. It just never quite arrives. Dany was right. Thanks man!
Taktik_MTL (1892), Montréal-Nord, Quebec, Canada
Jun 16, 2008 Bouteille de 341 ml achetée à la Saucisserie BDF (Bois-des-Filion, QC). Arôme: Odeur de caramel et de raisins. Apparence: La couleur est brune rougâtre avec une faible densité de bulle. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de caramel et de petits fruits. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture minérale.Forte effervescence en bouche. Présence de caramel en arrière goût. (Rating #1748)
acrdz (4248), Pennsylvania, USA
Jun 11, 2008 Shared by kmweaver. Pours a clear but dark caramel copper color with a tan head. Viscous and oily legs cling to the glass and give off a sort of green hue. Nose is toffee liqueur and caramel malt, along with toasted bread and light notes of chocolate (chocolate liqueur). Tannic flavor, coarse and toast-heavy, medium level of alcohol noticed. Toffee and bread tend to dominate, along with quieter notes of maple and brown sugar and wood. Amaretto finish (semi-sweet) is nice.
kmweaver (1948), Takoma Park, Maryland, USA
Jun 10, 2008 341mL bottle, newest batch (I believe), courtesy of Glouglouburp. Thanks, Dany! Pours a bright, clear and viscous golden-amber color; light tan head with fine-bubbled lacing. Some nuttiness, dried red fruits, candy sugar, and even a touch of alcohol coming through in the aroma; slightly scattered, candied nose. Medium-to-full mouthfeel: chewy caramel, dried red fruits, candy sugar, and some alcoholic edges showing through; reasonably tasty, but I’d love to taste this next to the original, better(?) versions of this beer. Still, tasty stuff. Medium finish: sticky red fruits, candy sugar, caramel / nougat, and just a touch of mineral bitterness.
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