Drank straight from the bottle. Smelled malty and roasty. Tasted about the same, maybe nutty, sweet like brown sugar. Finishes dry.

Bottle. Pours a dark brown, with a fluffy off-white head that pours thin, but never really goes away either. Lots of lacing. Nose is roasty, with a slightly dry element that hinted at roasted pecan shells, if that makes sense. Breadcrusty, a bit of bitterness from the roasty elements. Taste is bone dry up front, bit of acidity, light roasty malt. Around mid palate, the flavor really opens up, with a dry breadcrusty roastiness pairing with a bit of the bready sweetness coming from the amber, with a dry hoppiness coming through also. Finish is more roasty breadcrust, with a slight acidity that lingers also. Medium bodied, with a creamy carbonation. Really a nice beer for what it is.

12 ounce bottle. One of six beers in the Saranac Sampler Adirondack Trail Mix six-pack. Drunk in Arlington, Virginia. Saranac Black & Tan poured root beer brown with an orange-red aura. It was accompanied by an ivory head. The main aromas and flavors were dark chocolate, roasted malts, and wet bark of an alder tree. Would I drink it again? Likely. Elements of both lager and stout kept trying to peek through, although the stout seemed more successful. This may even explain why RateBeer lists it as a stout.

Wasn’t as bad as I was expecting. Chocolate malt in the nose with some nuttiness. Flavor of roasted malt with a decent finish. Not bad, but I’ll never get it again.

Opaque dark brown, with small fizzy head. Diacetyl to the max, buttery nose, like butter spread thick on brown bread. Also peanut butter and white chocolate and baklava-level sweet, buttery aromas. Soft mouthfeel, a bit fizzy. Has nice roastiness in finish but the butter and walnut oil diacetyl notes are pervasive, barely tolerable. There is another bottle in the fridge and I haven’t gone near it.