awiseman01 (318), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA Oct 16, 2008 Bottle. Truly remarkable. Pours pitch black with deep brown thin head. Aroma of dark fruits, plums, figs, raisins, and some alcohol. Taste is a complexion treat. Amazing dark stout flavor, with dark fruits mentioned, and a mouthfeel of scotch. Simply amazing. Never wanted the smell to go away. What a treat! KnN (715), Greenbelt, Maryland, USA Oct 12, 2008 Updated: Jun 21, 20092007 bottle. Poured a super deep brown color with a tan head. Aroma is sweet fruit, malt and alcohol and not much else. The alcohol is intense. The first sip made me cringe it was so strong. The flavor is super sweet and really boozy. I can appreciate what this beer was trying to be, but the alcohol got in the way and really destroyed anything subtle that may have been hiding here. glad I split a 12oz bottle three ways. A whole bottle of this would have been way to much. (Original Rating 2.5)
2005 Bottle. I got an aged vintage bottle of this stuff at the Dogfish head brewpub in Rehobeth beach. Oh my, what a difference a few years of aging makes to this bad boy. The harsh alcohol notes have all but disappeared leaving behind all the wonderful rich complexity that this beer has to offer. Deep chocolate and roasted malts, dark fruit, some port-likie notes on the nose. This beer was amazing. As it warmed the alcohol presence let itself be known a bit, but never became overwhelming. I always thought it was a bit of a gimmick when the Brewery told you to take a bottle of their beer and bury it in your backyard for a couple of years, but this beer is the perfect example of that just might be a good idea. NewBelgium5 (61), , Pennsylvania, USA Oct 11, 2008 Pours dark brown and has an aroma of a homemade wine, very fruity but with an obvious alcohol smell. Small sips yielded a more alcoholic taste while larger sips gave a more complex dark coffee stout flavor. Went down much smoother than anticipated and the alcohol is very nicely hidden. BelgianBeerGal (1277), Sabbatical in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Oct 11, 2008 2007 bottle. Super dark brown pour with a thin tan ring. HUGE aroma of coffee, alcohol, soy sauce, molassas and rummed fruit. Big flavour of dark coffee with cream and sugar added. Definitely something to drink slowly and savor in small sips. Unique stout being this hot. Good but not really my favourite in the style. KornDogg (171), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA Oct 8, 2008 2007 bottle. Got it for $10 which was the cheapest I could find around Pittsburgh at THE BEER STORE... Sharp Edge wanted $18...
Beautiful, Midnight Black color... strong alcohol aroma.. a little sweet with a strong coffee flavor... some said you would need to sip it slowly, I however thought the alcohol flavor was hidden nicely... so good I wish I would have bought 2 bottles to enjoy... gameface23 (131), Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA Oct 7, 2008 Updated: Oct 8, 20082007 bottle. Pitch black pour with a small-sized khaki head. Very alcoholic aroma. Smells like port wine, very sweet molasses, coffee and strong malted barley. With 18% alcohol, it would be hard to hide it, but it was like Dogfish didn’t even try to. Taste was similar: like a fortified wine. I would’ve enjoyed this more if the price wasn’t so steep ($8.95 for 12 oz). lithy (1600), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA Oct 6, 2008 Rating #200. Bottled on 10/10/06 I believe, hard to read the date stamp, but green capped. Half of the bottle into the snifter yields a completely opaque black body with a modest tan head that disappears quickly to a lasting ring but a swirl will revive some carbonation temporarily. The nose is potent alcohol that is trying to hide behind a powerful sweetness with smaller notes of roasted malt and molasses. Not quite as viscous as I expected but certainly a thick syrupy coating brew. Very very sweet, but not offensively so. Goes down with a slight burn and notes of roasted malt, licorice, chocolate, sweet dark fruits, some soy sauce and vanilla. Very port like and vinuous. And very good though likely not for everyone. To me another winner from DFH. My other bottle is being put away for a few more years. Imaena (259), Portland, Maine, USA Oct 4, 2008 Bottle. I only got a small sample out of the bottle after my partner dumped a good portion of it in a chili by accident. It was a pretty serious catastrophe. Sweet fruits and and chocolate in the nose. Heavy body and thick viscous mouth feel. Unique as it should be at the price point.
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