3.3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
Sample at the brewpub. Chocolate-raspberry liqueur aroma emanates from the thick black faintly translucent nicely-topped body...slightly medicinal aroma, less in the body, fairly acidic and fruity, nice chocolate maltiness underlying, bitter finish.
2.3 AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 5/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 6/20
UPDATED: DEC 26, 2004 Opaque brown/black with a smallish tan head. Nose is very reminiscent of cherry Robitussin, as is the flavor--sweet cherries plus alcohol. Fortunately there’s no medicinal taste backing that up, but still, this is an exemplar of the overuse of fruit to dumb down beer to get the plebes a’ drinkin’ at brewpubs.
3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 14/20
Draft, at Flossmoor. <font color=red>There’s a <font color=green> wassail</font> in my mouth and everybody’s invited!</font> This was served with a shot of Stoli Razz and a raspberry floating in it, and I can see why. While there’s an oversized raspberry smell at the outset, the taste is pretty overwhelmed by the spices. A deep, dark brown body with a thin head that’s quickly gone except for a little lacing. The massive spice bill seems to include nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, maybe some ginger and juniper berry. After that, there’s not much room to taste anything else. When I finally went looking for the chocolate, it was mostly there for cocoa powder bitterness. A great beer to squeeze in between Mike’s barrel-aged award winners.
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