 lb4lb (1440), Austin, Texas, USA
Apr 4, 2008
Big thanks to MiguelMandingo for sharing this bottle.
Pours black with a medium lived tan head that leaves some spotty lacing. Smell is amazing. Mollasses, brown sugar, graham cracker, cookie sweetenss held in check with some rich roastiness. Smells like The Abyss.
Taste is dark dry roast, dark chocolate and a hoppy finish hiding behind all the flavorful roast. Perhaps the mildest twinge of bourbony flavor, but it melds so well with the other flavors that I wouldn’t even know its a bourbon beer. A nice light dry oak characteristic in the end as well. Looks and smells like an imperial stout, and is rich and flavorful like one, except its body is not quite as thick, perhaps, and the hops shine, yet complement the beer more than in any Imperial Stout I’ve had. Easily one of my new favorites. Thanks again Mike!
TAR (2008), Boulder Co., Colorado, USA
Oct 5, 2008 Black with hues of chestnut. Tight and creamy cap of gray-tan foam. Sophisticated malt-driven aromas of chocolate wafers, malted milk balls, creamed coffee, caramelized malt, and scorched malt hulls. Light whiff of hops, red licorice, burnt toffee, plum, and raisin. Carbonation softly caresses the tongue. Bottle conditioned. Weighty layers of malt immediately unfold upon the palate as a balancing kiss of lustrous chocolate-covered plums and black cherry fruitiness shyly emerges. Sturdy, seemingly impenetrable malt body is partially lifted by a poignant bite of roasted malt hulls. Dab of coffee teases the palate as it wavers in and out of the flavorsome medley of lighter malt shades. The brightness of the dried plum and red licorice esters mirrors that of the restraint. Gooey base of melted fudge pillars the hefty maltiness while bitter notes of burnt cocoa and dark chocolate underscore the richness and echo the beautifully understated caramelized oak undertow. Alcohol is clean and virtually undetectable. Dazzling interplay between the metallic malt bite and subtle tannins which lightly tingle the palate. Despite the presence of tannins, the barrel extractives are in synch with the malt and esters. Well-developed cakey malt forms an alliance with a fudgelike tackiness before closing with a dryish cocoa, charcoal, and minty alcohol flourish. This is a finessed malt bomb. Quite exquisite.
nqualls (422), Tennessee, USA
Sep 28, 2008 Bottle. Poured a solid black color with a two finger brown head. Aroma of vanilla and roasted malt. Flavor was oak, vanilla, dark fruit and chocolate. Full body with soft carbonation.
beerheart (224), Erie, Colorado, USA
Sep 26, 2008 Courtesy of Hank. On a night that I served Westvleteren 8 and Leffe Brune, this was my fave. The aromas of vanilla and roasted malts were pleasing. The dark pour yielded flavors of ripe fruits, sherry, and bourbon. This should age tremendously. well.
Pompey (32), Longmont, Colorado, USA
Sep 25, 2008 Lovely pour, used motor oil black pour with a lovely chocolate colored head. Aroma of earth, dark malts, with some sweetness. Lots of hops just beneath the other flavors. What a blast of oily thick flavors from burned malts, sweetness, hops, followed by a long finish that is austere to dry at the tail end. There is an abundance of heavy dark rich just ripe stone fruits, wood, vegetal hops, and sherry/marsala. This is an imperial stout of world class. I am impressed and look forward to my next bottle.
MrEcted1 (140), Wheat Ridge, Colorado, USA
Sep 24, 2008 Very nice brew by Port. It’s classified as an American Strong Ale and on the bottle it considers itself unclassified, but in my opinion this is pretty much an imperial stout with even more sweetness. Has stout characteristics... chocolate, coffee, wood, dark fruits. Quite sweet. Very thick on the palate. Good beer but a bottle is all you need as it becomes a bit cloying.
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