Murrays Heart of Darkness Oak Aged

Brewed by Murrays Craft Brewing Co.
Style: Imperial Stout
Bob’s Farm, NSW, Australia

Serve in Snifter

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330ml bottle. Matt black pour, dense beige head with a green-yellow sheen showing excellent retention and lacing. Dark chocolate, vanilla, figs and plums on the nose with a light alcoholic presence. Palate is rich and smooth with a largely bitter malty flavour profile finishing with a substantial dryness and pleasant alcoholic warmth. It doesn’t have the creamy nutty and coffee elements typical of a dessert stout but this is not a dessert stout and all the better for it.

Pours with a thick, firm head. Great colour, nice and dark. Smells of coffee cocoa, a little oaky, and some yeast. Complex tasting, feels great in the mouth.

Bottle at Murray’s at Manly. Pours black and viscous with an offwhite head. Smells estery, with some high fruity notes, plenty of phenols, oak. Tastes of a medium sweetness, medium-light bitterness, lots of late chocolate malt, wood. Some peppery fruit notes at the end. Picks up more roasted malt and chocolates as it warms. Medium-full body, soft carbonation, oily texture. Its interesting, but the aroma leaves something to be desired.

Dark brownish black with a small chocolate head. Aroma is plum, fig, oak, licorice, brandy. Taste is coffee, oak, chocolate, vanilla. A liitle astringent on the body with a dry, woody and slightly bitter/burnt finish. I think this was left on the wood a bit long, perhaps some bottle aging will mellow it out and restore some balance.

Pours a black with minimum beige head. Smell like dark forest chocolate cake, with hints of raisin, mission figs and the sweetness of dates. Hints of red fruit and subtle coffee. Full body. Starts with a sharp carbonation/crisp flavor, followed by a snap of fig, before going into a semi-sweet chocolate flavor. After which there is a fudge and date flavor with a slight bitterness to lighten the sugar in your platte. Quite a complex beer. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Bottled, thanks baggio! Black, faint head. Oaky nose with some raspberry. Mid sweet, plenty of licorice, near full body. Aniseed and oak. The oak seem to have toned down the rich chocolaty flavours, all in favour of oak. Salty, mildly warming finish.

Bottle at Papsø - Thanks. Black - offwhite edges. Burned, fruity, mentol, fruity, oakey, english licorice, oiley notes, dryness, high licorice, light medicine, herbal notes, high malty, zulu, light tarmac.

Bottle at Papsø. Dark brown coloured with a medium sized beige head. Roasted aroma of caramel, alcohol, marzipan and liquorice. Roasted flavour of caramel, liquorice, hops and alcohol. Roasted and hoppy finish.

Bottle. Black beer with a small light brown head. Aroma with notes of roasted malts, preserved fruits, licorice, subdued oak. Taste is sweet, only lightly oaked, nicely balancing the lingering bitter finish. Big bodied. Better and more smooth than the "average" version....

Bottled. A pitch black beer with a thin dark brown head. The aroma has notes of alcohol, wood, brettanomyces, and roasted malt. The flavor is sweet with notes of roasted malt, soy sauce, bread, and a bit of brettanomyces, leading to a lightly tart finish.