From tap at the brewery. Pours dark brown to black with a lacing tan head. Dense coffeeish aroma. Chocolate too. Herbal and solid coffeeish flavour. Dry and slight spiced. Smooth yet and mild acidic roasted malt. Lingering roasted malty finish with a nice coffee base flavour.

Date: 12/01/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Tasting, Strong Ale Fest

black, fine tan head, drippy lace, dark chocolate and coffee aroma with a caramel sweetness that gives the chocolate a milky quality, rich chocolate flavor, lots of sweetness bring out more chocolate, touch of roasted for balance, hint of sour mash tartness,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: **/4

Draught Near no head; black beer. Pure freshly roasted coffee with a bit of sugar; moccha cookies (Café Crème) aroma. Sweet coffee & moccha, and only the sweetness and the warming betraying the alcoholload. Very slick, viscuous, and alcoholwarming. Good, impressive Imperial porter, with a respectable alcoholdash that doesn’t get too spiritlike.

Draught, Boulder Strong Ale Fest 2008. Head is mostly lasting. Body is dark brown to black. Aroma is moderately to heavily malty (roasted grain, coffee, caramel, chocolate, hazelnut), with a note of vanilla. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium body, watery/creamy texture, lively/soft carbonation, lightly alcoholic. Pretty lovely stuff other than the mouthfeel. Enormous malt nose that is brimming with a really sexy hazelnut coffee aroma (no stale grounds here!). Great flavor balance, intense. Mouthfeel is a little light, but it’s acceptable. Very well hidden alcohol. Great stuff overall.

Tap at the Liar’s Club: Nearly opaque with a small tan head and minimal lacing. The aroma profile displays bourbon, vanilla bean, hint of oak, milky chocolate, quick dash of smoke, some herbal and grassy hop vapours as well. Boy was I disappointed with the flavour combinations in this brew. There were the expected heavy malt and fruity notes at the beginning before a crashing volley of vanilla and oak ruined it for me. Really just too sweet and flat for what was found on the nose. A dash of espresso bitterness on the finish did little to improve my experience. The mouth feel is oily and sticky with a heavy alcohol burn. I am way against the grain here but I found this beer leaning too far towards the malt and not enough hop and coffee bitterness.