New Belgium 1554 Enlightened Black Ale

	Percentile
	88
	overall

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Traditional Ale
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution
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Ratings	Average	Score	ABV	Style Pctl	Serve in
1098	3.51/5.0	3.51/5.0	5.6%	91.6	Dimpled mug, English pint, Stein, Yard

Commercial Description:
Born of a flood and centuries-old Belgian text, 1554 Enlightened Black Ale uses a light lager yeast strain and dark chocolaty malts to redefine what dark beer can be. In 1997, a Fort Collins flood destroyed the original recipe our researcher, Phil Benstein, found in the library. So Phil and brewmaster, Peter Bouckaert, traveled to Belgium to retrieve this unique style lost to the ages. Their first challenge was deciphering antiquated script and outdated units of measurement, but trial and error (and many months of in-house sampling) culminated in 1554, a highly quaffable dark beer with a moderate body and mouthfeel.

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mpreston (10), Garland, Texas, USA

3.7	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.7	7/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	14/20

Oct 1, 2008

Bottle. Dark brown almost black color. Chocolate hints at first then caramel malty finish. easy to drink, very good.

Sleeper (76), Washington, USA

3.3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.3	6/10	3/5	6/10	4/5	14/20

Oct 1, 2008

Pours with a tan head and cola color. Smells of roasted malt. Taste is a little hops on the front with a chocolate bitterness. This is very drinkable and feels medium bodied. I’d drink this again.

cmillward (429), Orlando, Florida, USA

3.5	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.5	8/10	3/5	6/10	3/5	15/20

Sep 28, 2008

Bomber, pours a cola colored body with a fair sized fuzzy tan head. The aroma was more impressive than the flavor, but very good overall. Smells of chocolate, some roastiness, nice malts, slightly fruity. Caramel slightly roast malt flavor with some fruitiness. Med-mouthfeel, fairly lush and smooth.

Pershing (147), Garland, Texas, USA

3.3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.3	5/10	3/5	7/10	3/5	15/20

Sep 26, 2008

Pours black with a small head. Smoky burnt aroma with a thin body. The finish was slightly dry.

sebletitje (1903), Tampa, Florida, USA

4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4	8/10	3/5	8/10	5/5	16/20

Sep 24, 2008

Bottle courtesy of Tony @ OTH. Pours dark ruby / amber. Aroma of dark fruits, light coffee malts. Taste is very sweet, dark fruits, light chocolate notes, some floral hops. Very sweet beer with some smokey notes, creamy roastiness. This is one excellent beer with great balance of hops and malts. Highly drinkable.

jcwattsrugger (5223), Florida and, New Jersey, USA

3.5	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.5	6/10	3/5	7/10	4/5	15/20

Sep 22, 2008

12oz bottle-pours a light tan ring for a head and mahogany color. Aroma is medium/dark malt-molasses, bready, then cocoa, yeast, slight cherry. Taste is medium/dark malt-molasses/cocoa, cherry, charred wood, slight spice hops bite (hallertau/continental?). smooth. Thanks to Russ Powell.

nuplastikk (1167), Madison, Wisconsin, USA

4.4	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.4	8/10	4/5	9/10	5/5	18/20

Sep 22, 2008

12oz bottle. Deep brown-black opaquenesss, with some stained glass red around the edges. Roasty chocolate and malt characteritics, with a delicate sour edge to it. Creamy and rich, but with a watery easy to drink finish. Encompassing almost all the ranges of dark beer taste, this one is a true classic.

SSSteve (2056), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

3.7	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.7	8/10	5/5	7/10	3/5	14/20

Sep 21, 2008

a dark brown almost black beer with ruby highlights under a small creamy beige head. aroma is very dark with sweet milk chocolate, roasted coffee, nuts and caramel. flavor is very similar. medium bodied with moderate carbonation. similar to a porter or stout. pretty tasty.

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