Durham Diabolus

Brewed by Durham
Style: Imperial Stout
Durham, England

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle shared at Deanso’s crappy music tasting. Pours black with a beige head. Aroma of roasted malt, horse blanket, light chocolate and barnyard. Flavour is moderate sweet and sour, light bitter. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

Sampled from bottle @ Dean plays crappy music tasting. Opaque pitch black color, small light brown head. Smell sourness and horse blanket. Taste sourness and not nice at all. Sour fruits. Don’t like it.

Bottle @ ABCbeers, Dean Plays Crappy Music Tasting. Black pour, tan head. Aroma of balsamic vinegar, roasted malts, ash, wild yeast. Flavor is quite sour, cherries, bitter malts and some varnish. A bit strange brew, but well balanced.

Bottle. Black with a small head. Full bodied with a sour aftertaste. The sourness put me off, hence the score is lower than it might have been.

Bottle 330ml.

Clear dark brown black colour with a average, frothy to creamy, good lacing, mostly to fully lasting, beige to light brown head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, horse blanket, barnyard, leather, funky, wood. Flavour is moderate to heavy sweet, light to moderate acidic and bitter with a long duration, dark berry, sharp. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. IMO. Aroma was so great, but flavor was a bit more like a Imp. Stout that had gone wrong .. [20130126]

Bottle shared by Shaun,many thanks.We totally mirror previous review by ACD for this one as it is our thoughts exactly.Just to add this is a "Marmite" style of a drink,you either love it or hate it,we loved it.

33cl bottle (had a taste at the brewery a few days after release during the summer, but wanted to give the bottle a few months in the cellar before rating). Pours a luxurious jet black with thin off-white head - plenty of lacing. Aroma is pure gueuze funk - cider vinegar, citric tones, light barnyard, light leather - only a light hint of roasted malt and coffee; the yeast strain has really started to dominate the impy characteristics, which were much more pronounced last time I had it. Taste brings more of a roasted note to the table, with coffee and dark chocolate at the fore too; the impy character is short lasting however, as the gueuze yeast takes hold of the palate: citric sourness, funky notes, light leather - lovely and tart. Lingering green apple tartness alongside a touch of roasted malt. Wow. What a piece of brewing prowess. Never before have I tasted an imperial stout of 10% ABV that’s so light and refreshing; this is even better than I remember it being - I’m sure it’ll keep getting better too.

Bottle from Beermerchants.com. Colour is opaque very dark brown, thin off white head. Nose is sour green apples, farmyard, light pale grain malt and then there’s dark chocolate, roasted malt. Taste is sour, green apples, dark chocolate, caramel, roasted malt. It almost works. But probably just a little too leftfield to take off. Interesting but not really balanced overall.

Bottle thanks to Ken at the 0-65% tasting. Gusher! It pours very dark brown with a thick tan head. The nose is sweet apple, barnyard, floral, hay, nice lambic character, tart pear and a faint hint of roasted malt. The taste is initially tart, lemon, Granny Smith apple, wood, grapefruit, some acidity, sour watermelon and only a faint hint of roasted malt in the background with a dry finish. Medium body, moderate/lively carbonation and slightly sticky mouth-feel. Interesting, unique and well balanced. Very impressive indeed. Definitely feels more like a sour beer than an imperial stout. Bravo Durham!

Bottle at the 0-65% Tasting, London - thanks to Jack for bringing. A light gusher. Pours rich brown with a tan cream head. Smells like a geueze, not a dark beer - quite an impressive feat. Big sour flavor, some poo, mellow grassy bitterness, almost no dark beer character. Medium to full bodied with average carbonation and a soft, creamy mouthfeel. Clean finish with light manure, good sourness, light grass. Exceptional. Biggest surprise of the tasting. Well done, Durham.