3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20Bomber. Pours black as motor oil with a cap of mocha foam and lacing. Aroma is highlighted by roasted malt, dark chocolate and espresso with a bit of caramel. The taste opens up with aggressive bittersweet chocolate and dark roast coffee flavors followed by notes of licorice, anise, pine resin and herbal hops bitterness. The body is moderately thick and syrupy with soft carbonation while the bitter, roasty finish brings a mild booze kick. Overall, an enjoyably bittersweet chocolate coffee bomb.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 16/20
22 oz bottle from the brewpub. Pours inky dark brown with medium thick creamy mocha head. Aroma of dark chocolate, charred malt, and oak. Taste is bitter roasty malt, rich dark chocolate, and a smooth sweet finish. A bit boozy but not overpowering at all. Doesn’t sound like this was barrel aged, not much of those flavors. Rich and solid, though distant from top competition in this category like Abyss, Speedway, or Ten Fidy. Still, love to see a local take on this classic style. Hope it appears every year.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Ink black body with wispy tan head. Chocolate milk, dark roast malt, light roast coffee aromas. Rich, smooth mouthfeel. Sugary sweet chocolate flavors with a dark roasted malt, and hoppy bitterness to balance--good stout.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle: Yep, thats black! Large batter like head, beige, very sticky. This one so far looks the part. Heavy malty nose, roasty, very barnish, slight pasture, definite soy, with a huge dose of graham cracker. I will say three things stand out on the tongue, barnish, pasture, and soy. Well, if you included roasted malts then 4. Has an underlying note of dark chocolate and foo foo coffee, but its overshadowed by its huge dankness, barnish mustiness, and semi-sweetened soy. I will say, its one smooth sucker tho, goes down easy. The 9.9% ABV is well hidden. Body and mouthfeel are moderate to full. Dank, musty finish. Has a bakers chocolate aspect about it, dry and a little bitter. This one was decent, but really needed some chocolate sweetness to really make it shine.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bomber. Poured very deep brown with a short, spotty dark tan head. The aroma picked up a blend of generic black malts and rich chocolate, with green hops and alcohol warmth around.. roasty and enticing. The flavor found toasted black and chocolate malts again, with dry-roasted coffee and peppery alcohol around.. finished roasty and warm, with fairly high bitterness.. maybe a little too tangy and sharp right at the end, but I enjoyed it. Heavier-bodied, moderately-roasty, and quite bitter on the palate.. this came across as a good, big stout without a whole lot of "specialty" character to it. I’d have another.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Dark black in color, thin tan head. Awesome aroma and flavor. Super flavorful Imperial stout big malt and lingering hops flavor. Good coffee flavors linger also. Very good beer.
3.9 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
Bomber from Malt & Vine. Always missing deadlines - so this one is popping open 5 days late! Pours really, really black with a dark tan smear. Aroma is dark malt and a lot of coffee and rather herbal bitterness. Who knew bitterness could be smelled? Very full bodied. Flavor is dark chocolate, treacle, coffee and may a touch of star anise. Like this is a very solid brew - solid in the physical sense. It has a lot of malt, but there’s a lot of bitter, so I’m seeing this as balanced. BUT there’s a lot of dryness and bitterness in the finish. :)
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Nose of big dark roast, patent malt acrid, bitter chocolate, floral hops, and alcohol. Pours black with a tan head with a bit of staying power. Flavors of dark bitter roast, acrid patent malt, floral hops, bitter resinous notes, dark chocolate, some sweet caramel notes underneath the roast and burnt notes. ALcohol notes in finish, warming, a touch thin. An imperial stout.
3.2 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 12/20
UPDATED: JAN 15, 2013 Bomber from Airways in Nov ’12 and again on 1 Jan ’13 (later comments parenthesised). Deep brown-black pour with a short tan head leaving minimal lace. Nose is chocolate with a bit of booze (some soy aroma). Medium-heavy body with light carbonation and a slick, oily mouth feel that is quite welcome. Chocolate, licorice, pine, espresso and vanilla (soy and some off flavors). Finish is more of the same, but the resinous bitterness and a soy umami emerge to dry it up. The aftertaste is coffee all the way. A lovely brew, but maybe not for this non-coffee drinker - a bit too much coffee bitterness for me. A bottle has gone in the cellar, will follow up as needed (I cellared the more full bottle, but now I have concerns about oxidation. Bought yet another bottle to try again down the road).
3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
pours a thick jet black, oil like, with a meager brown head that vanishes, and almost no lacing.
smell is of dark chocolate and roasted espresso beans.
taste is creamy, dark chocolate, some nuts, and strong coffee. ends smooth, a little bitterness, and long lasting coffee aftertaste.
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