3.5 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Bottle pours deep brown/black with a dense beige head that leaves some lace around the glass. Aroma is primarily coffee with some underlying chocolate and roasted malt. Flavor shows the same with sweet molasses to balance the dry bitter roasted finish.
4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Pours a deep dark brown/black. Aroma of rich dark chocolate, molasses and coffee. Flavor is coffee with a dark chocolate to follow and a touch of sweet roasted grain and molasses to finish. Wow! This is good.
3.9 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
A perfect wake up beer!..loved the coffee aroma, nice chocolaty taste. I want to get this again..along with Expedition stout.
2.8 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 12/20
I might have gotten an old bottle or something, (no bottling date listed on the bottle), but this one was just a mess. Pretty much straight coffee ground aroma and flavor with nothing to back it up. It did look pretty though.
2.9 AROMA 5/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20
UPDATED: AUG 17, 2010 (12oz. bottle). Pours black with tan head. Powerful coffee aroma and vegetal (also very dry). Taste is bitter from the coffee-not much else going on. Medium bodied with astingent finish. Ok beer. This is a coffee stout that has been around for a long time and its hard to compete against the coffee stouts today-it lacks finesse. It’s better than I remember about 10 years ago, but not something I would seek out, especially when I have Kalamazoo stout available.
3.2 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
On tap at HopCat while in town for RBSG. Pours a ruby tinged brown black with a medium sized beige head. Spicy jalapeno, coffee, roast, and old grain. Medium bodied, but a bit empty, light chocolate. Hints of coffee and a long slow bitterness on the finish.
4.1 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 17/20
This octopus ink oozed jet black out of the bottle. The nose was loaded with expresso and chocolate. The taste followed suit with big expresso, chocolate, and roasted malt flavors. Not the best I’ve had, but still a good beer.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 17/20
Pours black, with a relatively thin, moderate brown head. Head is a bit frothy, but with little in the way of retention--dissipates quickly. Aroma is absolutely dominated by coffee, with a somewhat sour character. Some chocolate malts are detectable, but they’re definitely in the background. Taste is of coffee with a mainly tart, sweet-and-sour character. Some fruitiness, too--like cherries. Not much in the way of burnt malts, almost porter-like. Mouthfeel is a bit on the thin-side, but I wouldn’t say watery. Lively carbonation, but the effervescence is not overpowering. In sum, this beer is somewhat uncharacteristic of many coffee stouts because of its almost porter-like presentation, but a very fine beer nonetheless. If you’re a coffee lover who is disappointed with that coffee stouts that privilege burnt malts, then give this one a try. A grower, but I like it a lot. Bears a lot in common with the Bell’s Cherry Stout (which I love), but with a coffee kick. Another fine showing for Bell’s.
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