Beaver (595), Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| 2.3 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 5/10 | 3/5 | 5/10 | 2/5 | 8/20 | Dec 31, 2008 12 oz bottle. Pours a brownish black with a fizzy tan head that quickly goes to a thin collar.
The aroma is sweet sugary alcohol with some dark fruits and a little burnt grains.
The flavor is sweet molasses, chocolate malts and cola with a hot bitter alcohol finish. The alcohol is pretty well hidden for 18%, but is still very unbalanced. The mouthfeel is medium bodied and watery with almost no carbonation.
Overall, I didn’t care for this. It’s pretty overrated in every way - it’s a watery treacly alcoholic mess. I do wonder if it would get much better with age on it. Travlr (727), Washington, Washington DC, USA
| 4.3 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 5/5 | 17/20 | Dec 27, 2008 Very black, light tan head. Aroma of bitter dark chocolate and dark roasted coffee, but not overwhelming. Balanced flavor with malt, chocolate, coffee and decent bitter finish. Alcohol not apparent until you stand up. martin21 (155), Quebec city, Quebec, Canada
| 5 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 10/10 | 5/5 | 10/10 | 5/5 | 20/20 | Dec 27, 2008 Deguster au Mondial de la biere. Biere noire au collet fugace. Le rotie et le bruler frappe, suivi du cafe et chocolat. Puis ensuite vient l alcool, avec des touches whiskey/bourbon. Cerises et autre esters peuvent etre detecter. Impressionnante.
Tasted at the Mondial de la Biere. Black beer with fading head. Strong roasted and burnt character followed with coffee and chocolate. Alcohol hits after with some whiskey/bourbon notes. Black cherries and other dark fruits esters can be detected. Very impressive beer! j12601 (1215), Poughkeepsie, New York, USA
| 4.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 17/20 | Dec 26, 2008 While I have had this before, I saved actually drinking one for a review until my 100th rating. So here it goes. Bottle. 2008 offering. Pours an opaque black, darker than just about any other beer I have ever seen. Small soft mocha colored head which vanishes rather quickly leaving a little bit of lacing on the sides. Aroma is almost hard to pick apart there are so many things going on. Lots of roasted malt, with hints of roasting coffee and bakers cocoa. This is followed up by a good bit of alcohol on the nose, but not nearly the amount one would expect with a beer coming in over 20 percent abv, and some nice raisiny port notes. Body is medium thick with a good deal of malty sweetness that seems to rise as the alcohol notes that comprise the back end of the finish begin gently warming the entire palette. I have a few more of these in storage, which will certainly get shared with friends. This is excellent, but definitely a beer that needs to be shared, as it is quite the daunting task to finish one alone. MountainBrew (2), Erie, Colorado, USA does not count | 4.1 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 4/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 17/20 | Dec 26, 2008 2008/yellow-green cap. Pours black and bubbly; 30 second, 1 finger, light brown head. Smells of sweet port wine and alcohol. Feels of warm alcohol and a slight thickness abound. Medium to light in carbonation, with very little lace left behind. Layers of flavor beginning with sugar coated dried plum/date/fig and cherry (dark fruits). Chocolate seems to make a brief appearance after the fruits, with a "Porty/alcohol" happy ending. My first dogfish; very nice treat! DalzAle (483), Eden Prairie, Minnesota, USA
| 4.2 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 8/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 17/20 | Dec 24, 2008 Pour was dark brown and low in carbonation. Aroma was very interesting, smells of port, raisins and alcohol. Flavor was extremely complex, sweetness of raspberries and oak with a very pleasant warming alcohol finish. A very excellent DFH offering. CheersMate1 (787), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
| 3.6 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 7/10 | 3/5 | 7/10 | 3/5 | 16/20 | Dec 24, 2008 Finally I am able to taste this gem. I have been waiting a long time. Very strong alcohol aroma. Very black with little head. There is no chocolate head. The appearance is not as great as other imperial stouts. This one is focusing on the ABV, obviously. There is that slight imperial stout aroma i.e. chocolate/coffee and malt. Taste is alcoholic. The backround is the imperial stout taste. Thin taste due to the alcohol. This beer is not reasonable as far as an imperial stout. Just loaded with alcohol. This stout is great, but the alcohol takes over. That stout taste is in the backround, but the malts/coffee/chocolate and ash are all overshadowed by the alcohol. kennydiaz (185), staten island, New York, USA
| 4.4 | Aroma | Appearance | Flavor | Palate | Overall | | 9/10 | 5/5 | 8/10 | 4/5 | 18/20 | Dec 22, 2008 POURS DARK ALMOST BLACK WITH VERY LITTLE CARBONATION. NICE STRONG TASTE IT VERY COMPLEX ONE OF THE WORLDS BEST. I WISH I COULD AFFORD A CASE BUT AT $7.99 EACH BEER ITS NICE FOR THAT SPECIAL HOLIDAY.
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