New Belgium 1554 Enlightened Black Ale

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

Bottle courtesy of Dubbercody, thanks again! Dark brown pour with a tan head. Aroma of sweet malt, light smoke and brown sugar. FLavors held some more sweet malt with light smoke elements and a bit of coffee. Medium body...sweet throughout witha dry/sweet finish.

Aroma: Coffee, Chocolate and some spicy/floral hop notes in the background. Some yeasty notes as the beer warms up. Appearance: Deep deeeeeep brown with amber highlights pours with a medium tan head which settles down to a thin film while leaving nice lace on the glass Flavor: Coffee (Espresso), malty slightly spicy and touch of chocolate Palate: Medium light body, semi dry with a residual and slightly roasty.... very nicely balanced Overall: Contradiction... looks black, pours deep brown but lighter than it looks... (A Belgian Schwarzbier :0)) Definite MUST Try yum!

Roasted/Black Malt Aroma, Poured with a small tan head. Low head retention. Roasted malt flavor with a fair amount of chocolate. Perceived hop bitterness is low as most seems to come from the dark roasted grains. Balance is to very much to the malt. Body is Medium to Medium low. Overall it’s a enjoyable beer.

This is one of my top beers. When I first had it, I drank it while eating a nice steak. To this day, I believe that the best way to experience 1554 is with a steak. It has this almost cinnamon quality to it that makes the drinker hunger for more. 1554 is definitely a beer to be respected and could definitely give you a run for your money if you drank the entire 6 pack in one sitting. This beer, as shown by the 86th percentile rating, is a beer that diserves consideration and is not something that should be seen as something merely to get you drunk. Awesome.

Black. Aroma of roasted malt and coffee. Tastes of the same with an underlying sweetness. The flavor and malt profiles are less pronounced than in other stouts. This results in a subtle refreshing stout.

(Note: This bottle was labeled "1554 Enlightened Black Ale") I poured this ale into a standard pint glass, producing a larg frothy head, which required me to complete the pour in a few stages. The head was beige, with good lacing and lasted throughout the experience. The body of the ale was clear with a dark brown color, with red highlights. 1554 had a light dark chocolate aroma that intensified as the ale warmed to room temperature. The dark chocolate aroma is currently lingering in my moustache and is very plesant (yet another reason for facial hair!) This ale was an easy drinking mixture, with very light acidity in its initial tasting and a short bitter finish. The ale was full bodied, with a creamy texture and soft carbonation, with a slight metallic aftertaste on the sides of the tongue. This was a fine ale with at great lingering aroma. If you like hints of chocolate in your beers, this is an ale worth checking out.

Ruby with a tan head. Sweet and earthy malt aroma with a bready flavor. A really god beer.

New Belgium 1554 (bottle), a deep, dark brown with a substantial off-white head, remains one of the best widely distributed beers in America. It smells of dark fruit, coffee and roasted nuts, tastes sweetly of chocolate and caramel, and maintains a few of the characteristics of a true Belgian brown ale. 1554 is one of the first beers outside of the BMC mold that I truly enjoyed years ago, and I still love the stuff.