Alchemist Knuckle Dragger

Draft at the brewpub - Poured a very black/brown with a medium tan head . Aroma was thick with dark roasted malts and a hint of dark fruit. Flavor was also mostly dark roasted malt, but much more of the fruitiness showed through... prunes, fig, cherries... really nice. An excellent brew...

Robe noire surmontée d’une mousse brune qui persiste. Arômes de café et de sucre. Saveurs de café, de malt chocolat, de sucre et de houblon amérisant.

Black body with a medium tan head. Smell of roasted malt and coffee. Taste is surprisingly fruity (prunes, figs) with some cacao and a medium bitterness. Obviously more yeasty than standard stouts. In a blind test without seeing the color I’m not sure I would have even called it a stout. Original and very drinkable. At the Vermont Brewers Fest 2006 they called it a Belgian Style Stout. Very good to accompany a Mexican Style Sushi.

Vermont Brewer’s Fest 2006, 2 draught samples. My first beer of the evening, and my last; it poured a very rich deep brown black with endlessly lasting dark head -- at first I thought nitro, but nope. Impressive. The first thing you notice in the aroma is fruit, lots of it....fresh slightly underripe cherries and blueberries at first, with dried fruits (fig) coming in later, all underlaid with a very lively fresh Belgian yeast, no mustiness here just fluffy fresh sourdough, chocolate coming through as well as vanilla.....the flavor is even more impressive, an insanely drinkable and luscious milk chocolate, caramel nougat, faint yeast and at the end just the right touch of robust, roasty coffee bitterness to keep things interesting....raisiny/vinous aspects are muted but elegantly entwined with the candy character....stupendous, amongst the two or three best yet from this fine brewer.

Draught pint at redbones. Pours a dark oily black color with a frothy dark brown head that leaves ample lacing. Nose is chocolate, vanilla, light doughy notes with some dark fruits and dark malts. Palate is nice and smooth, quite clean though a welcomed film residue is left on the molars. Flavor is rich chocolate fudge with some great belgian yeast notes, more of the dark fruits like raisins and prunes show themselves in spurts and the beer is greatly enjoyed.