pantani (1894), Salinas, California, USA Nov 3, 2009 Black with a thin off white/cream head. Aroma is berries, lightly roasty, caramel, light smoke. Taste is roasty with a blackberry, marionberry background accenting followed by light smoke, and light caramel. DarkSong (101), Dacula, Georgia, USA Oct 24, 2009 11.2 oz bottle. Pours dark back with a medium sized quickly shrinking tan head. It has a strong but pleasant aroma of malt and berries. It tastes of dark chocolate and has a very nice roasted taste along with a bit of a smoky taste and a fairly faint berry taste. I really enjoyed this beer a great deal. Pawola22 (676), Kansas City, Missouri, USA Oct 12, 2009 11.2oz bottle. Pours a deep brown body with a finger-width, light brown head that dissipates slowly and leaves a pretty thick lacing on the surface and a medium lacing on the glass. Aroma is porter-like up front with a nice roasted malt, peppery smoke, and a pleasant milky chocolate. Some blackberries (elderberries, I guess) and a creamy lactic acidity as well. Flavor is a deep roast, light coffee up front with a sweet chocolate, berry, licorice balancing this out. Surprisingly roasty, which I really like. Some milky berries and roasted malt acidity accompanies this towards the end when it dries with a peppery berry, chocolate sweetness, licorice, deep roast aftertaste that lingers for quite awhile. Lighter bodied, soft, and silky smooth. Overall, a smokey and roasty, sweet chocolate berry beer that I really enjoyed. Very balanced with plenty of bold, porter-like taste to it. Nice one. BeerChaser0078 (280), Melbourne, Australia Sep 30, 2009 Bottle. Pours extremely dark ruby, almost black, with a small light tan head that doesn’t last long. Aroma is of aniseed, roasted malt, pepper, berries and cloves. Flavour is similar to the aroma but is pared down a little; there is malt, chocolate, pepper, liquorice and a hint of the berries, but it is all well integrated and the individual flavours are all fairly subtle. The elderberry is definitely noticeable, but if it weren’t for the labelling, it would be possible to mistake it for a combination of flavours from the other ingredients. Still, a very nice beer and another great traditional Scottish ale. emacgee (1859), Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA Sep 29, 2009 Pours a clean dark brown with a generous creamy mocha tan head. Nose is sweet and berry like, some light coffee roast, sweet chocolate. Flavor is sweet chocolate, light roasty, berries. Not bad. Light roast on the palate. Wiseblood (658), Clarksville, Tennessee, USA Sep 28, 2009 Dark purple-brown with a small head. Smells of currants, roasted malts and semi-sweet fruit. Starts out like a creamy caramel porter or a sweet stout, but finishes with a unique berry tone. Sweet and malty, slightly smoky with some licorice. Chewy with good balance and a fruity aftertaste. Interesting and good. douglas88 (1555), Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Sep 17, 2009 Another tasty Scottish beer. Bought at the Boise Co-op. Pours a dark brown/purple color with a medium beige head. The aroma is huge malts, some berries and chocolates. The flavor is similar; a smooth rich malt presence, fruity and semi sweet, some berries and a ton of earthy richness. Toasted malts and caramel. Very fun and drinkable. daknole (2800), Plantation, Florida, USA Sep 2, 2009 Bottle. Dark pour with a beige head. Fruity aroma with some blackberry/blueberry notes. Lots of malt in the aroma. Flavor has berries, raisins, caramel malt, toasted malt and a hint of bitterness. Interesting beer.
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