Magic Hat Heart of Darkness Stout (-2006)

Formerly brewed at Magic Hat Brewing Company
Style: Sweet Stout
South Burlington, Vermont USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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12oz bottle via trade with slob! - Thanks Bert! - Pours dark brown with a slight tan head that stayed briefly. Aroma of chocolate, cocoa, and a whiff of coffee. Flavor is sweet with much chocolate, a bit of coffee, and some oatmeal. Palate is medium bodied and a tad to the watery side. Finishes with with a sweet chocolate aftertaste. Very drinkable and a nice compliment to the porterhouse steak for dinner.

Heart of Darkness, a great novel, in which a great movie was based upon. And now even better for a beer lover, a great beer. Magic Hat Heart of Darkness is an outstanding oatmeal stout. Don’t be afraid of the dark. This is a really great beer, oatmeal gives this beer a silky smooth mouth feel, like black velvet. This beer is also a ringwood beer, which means it picks up character from that distinctive ringwood yeast strain. I have been fortunate enough to have visited the brewery in South Burlington, VT, and I can tell you from first hand experience, this beer is fantastic on draught, as well as in bottles. Heart of Darkness pours to an ink black opaque color, with a nice, thick, tan head, and a good carbonation. The nose on this beer is very complex, dark chocolate malt aromas mingle with ringwood yeast earthiness. There is also some good hop aromatics present as well. The palate is rich, and delicious. More chocolate malt flavors, a touch of coffee, roasted malt flavors, and a silky smooth mouthfeel from the oatmeal. There is also a nice bit of diacetal which is "buttery" a by product of the ringwood yeast strain. This beer finishes with more dark malt character, and just a touch more earthiness, with a lingering hop bitterness. This really is an amazing beer. A very complex, rich, delicious oatmeal stout. There is a lot going on in this beer, you really can work on it, and pick up all those flavors. This beer is perfect as a night cap or would make an excellent desert beer. I would pair this with a rich and decadent triple chocolate cake, dark and milk chocolates, or perhaps fudge brownies with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Light brownish-red pour. whispy white head. Ooohh...lots of chocolate and cocoa aromas. Kind of like a fresh chocolate chip cookie. Some sweet chocolate flavors along with notes of oatmeal and fruit (currants?). Soft finish. Decent sweet stout. I’m a bad guy for forgetting to label who sent me this bottle, but whoever it was, thank you very much!!!!

A typical sweet stout with a dark brown body and tan head. Sweet chocolate and coffee dominate in the aroma and taste. Wish I could say more about it. Decent session beer.

Black opaque body with medium dark tan bubbly sticky head. Aroma is sweet and sugary with chocolate, cocoa bean background. Flavor is sweet/sour coffee, dark chocolate roast. Palate is smooth, a little thin and finishes clean.

Serviceable drinakble stout. A half a year past expiry, I don’t believe it made a difference. Mellower stout which was nice, also noticeable watery. Refreshing. On sweeter side, Chocolate malts, modestly bitterness in mid-sip. Dark colour, understated coffee and roast.

Pours a dark mahogany colour with a nice foamy head. Aromas of roasted malt, chocolate and coffee. Taste is sweet caramel, chocolate,some of that roasted malt and some bitter coffee to finish.

Pours a black color with no head. Resembles a flat coca cola. Aroma is fresh bittersweet chocolate,cocoa powder,roasted coffee and malts. Taste is fine bittersweet chocolate, almost like biting into chocolate chips. Roasted coffee,malts and cocoa are also present in the taste. Excellent stout.

Bottle: Nearly black, thin off-white spritzy head, falls quickly, spotty lacing.   Dry cocoa powder on the nose, slightly sour or tart as well.   Comes across as it might taste rather dry.   Somewhat sweet malty start, toasted malts, apple skin, slight coffee and cocoa.   Very smooth stout, not terribly big, but quite sessionable.   Body and mouthfeel are fairly moderate.   Sweet toasted malt finish, slightly lactic, as in Milk Stout.   Not big, but an easy drinking stout indeed.   Thanks Dan for the freebie!

Appears black with a 1 finger tan head that actually sticks around and slowly fades. Streaky lacing is left behind. Smell is of chocolate, oatmeal, caramel, and cream. Taste is of the same smells with a touch of butter and mild hops. Mouthfeel is chewy, slightly sweet & robust. A tad bit thin. Slight bit of bitter hops and slick butter resound.