Sledge Jr (2716), Omaha, Nebraska, USA Feb 26, 2007 At the 2007 Big Beer, Belgians, & Barleywines Festival in Vail. OUCH!!! My god. This is as black as my soul. The brown head is dramatically perched atop this abyss. Here’s how freakin’ awesome this beer is: it kicks ass at a big beer festival where all the other beers usually kick ass. This is like a coffee/molasses/vanilla Jello shot. On wheels. Flying down a dead-end street at 90 miles an hour. I got a slight bit of soy, but mostly a killer roasted tobacco blast of alcohol followed by a sweet creamy wave of malt smoothness. Lord have mercy.
timsilvia32 (211), born in Michigan, North Carolina, USA Sep 7, 2008 "Batch 2" Black pour with a deep brown head and ruby accents around. Dark fruit, roast/burnt malt, alcohol aromas. There is a lot in this one, really attacks the taste buds. Some roast malt and coffee, bakers chocolate. More plum and port wine, with some barrel like characteristics. Long lingering with some alcohol burn in the finish. Split the first bottle, not sure I could drink an entire one myself. An impressive offering from Avery, of which I’ve been pleased with many of lately. Flyer (108), Hartland, Wisconsin, USA Sep 7, 2008 Brown-tinged black pour with a thick, coffee-froth colored head. Prunes and anise on the nose. Flavors of dates and prunes and some burnt oak, followed by chocolate, cherry, and the as-advertised "double espresso finish." Sweeter even than liqueur. A sipping beer in the most literal sense. More than 2-3 ounces would be too much, and more than 1-2 times a month would lbe too often. In that context, excellent. cmillward (170), Orlando, Florida, USA Sep 6, 2008 Bottle, batch 1. Sampled summer 2008, thanks boboski.
Pours pitch black with a brown head which quickly fades away. On the nose, caramel, butterscotch, dark fruits, chocolate and some sherry notes. In the flavor, chocolate, caramel, butterscotch, figs, dates, raisins, quite sweet, alcohol is evident. Quite strong, but high on flavor! A little cloying and heavy in the mouth. FROTHINGSLOSH (1488), GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania, USA Sep 1, 2008 Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer poured thick, black and oily with a medium sized dark brown head. The aroma was sweet bourbon, roasty malts and floral hops. Very complex on the nose but a bit of the alcohol shows through. The flavor was richly complex and intense with notes of port wine, cherry, licorice, roasty malts and honey. There is an incredibly intense and long finish of port and licorice. The flavors practically sear themselves on to your tongue. Almost too intense. Remarkable! CaptBier (252), Birmingham, Alabama, USA Aug 31, 2008 A pitch black beer with no head. The aroma is very sweet with primary notes of coffee, but also with light notes of vanilla and alcohol. The flavor is very sweet with a powerful presence of alcohol (no wonder), which burns the mouth slightly, the flavor also contains quite strong chocolate notes and lesser notes of wood, leading to a dry end. A very complex beer.
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