4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Cask. Pours opaque with a small, fizzy brown head with light lacing. Aroma is heavy roast and coffee malt with fragrant star anise,earthy hops and dark fruits. Flavor is coffee, roast malt, dark fruits, vanilla, star anise/licorice, light hops and bitterness with a sweet finish. Full body, medium warmth and carbonation.
3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 2/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Cask at Churchkey for NYE. Pours deep ruby to brune looking black with tan bubbles. Poor cask conditioning. Nose is big star anise/black licorice with mild spicy coffee. Taste follows suit. Nice stuff- oily, thicker palate. Clean feeling with a ton of black licorice. So if you like licorice, this one is pretty much a licorice bomb. If you don’t like that flavor, then stay away. Coffee character is essentially lost beneath all the anise. Only problem is that the amount of star anise is verging on medicinal.
3.8 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
Draft. Almost black, brown large bubble head. Aroma of the licorice candy that my grandmother used to keep on her living room coffee table. Taste is espresso con Sambuca. Interesting but overwhelming.
3.8 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Tap at Churchkey. Poured a dark, black color with relatively bubbly tan head. Aroma was roasted malts, heavy coffee notes and *blam* anise, black licorice notes. Flavor is very heavy on the licorice, with some roasted coffee notes. Very good, though I may tire of this one if I had more than a 4-10 ounce sample.
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