Sly Fox Prometheus

Name: Promethus
Date: 04/29/2006
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting, Dark Lord Day, 2006

clear dark brown, thin beige head, rich carmel malt aroma, big bitter malt flavor with a long bitter finish

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 5/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 10/20
Rating: 2.8/5.0
Drinkability: 6/10
Score: *4

Dark reddish deep brown, fully covered by a large-sized lasting creamy beige topping. Besetting bready yeastiness remains shy besides the dominant toasted and chocolatey malts. Nuts, cereals and plum variations on the malt theme lift the mellow peaty smokiness to a warming level, though procuring more roasty bitterness than I’d imagined. Oaky, mineral palate. Medium bodied, creamy texture, foamy carbonation. Cool experiment certainly, but with the early skyscraper scores, I was expecting something bigger or smokier.

Sampled from Growler courtesy of egajdzis (thanks!). Poured a dark, dark brown color with a very small sized head. Aromas of smoke (not overpowering), chocolate and vanilla, Tastes vanilla, light smoke, dark fruits, and chocolate. I never would have guessed this one was 8.3%. Creamy body. My ratings for this climbed as I drank more and more (I couldn’t get enough). Very good.

Growler shared by egajdzis at DL06: Lightly carbonated transparent copper mahogany pour has a thin ring of tan head. Rich sweet caramel and dark fruity aroma has a touch of butterscotch and good complexity. Body begins with sweet toasty caramel and butterscotch flavor, nicely-balanced with good, mild piney hops and a hint of smoke before a bittersweet dark chocolatey finish. A very nice porter with good complexity.

The Lure:
Cocoa shavings bring forth sweetness, while roastiness tickles. An evident dessert beer, but not as orgasmic as was hoped.

The Festivities:
Sweet chocolate malt proliferates into the roastiness, as orange-like fruitiness attempts to diversify and lighten this after-meal special. Frothy carbonation surprises and bothers at times, as does the lack of the smokiness purported.

Transcendence:
Creation is a scary, ambitious undertaking.

Tap at Barcade. Deep brown beer with a thin tan head. Aroma is lightly sticky. Some chewy, fruity character. A bit of soft fruity, tobacco and an earthy character. Lots of tobacco and an interesting earthiness. There is a touch of light smoke but also a strange vegetal character that doesn’t really work for me.

Draft at Sly Fox Phoenixville. Served in a 10 ounce tulip/snifter glass. The beer arrived with a dark brown color that appeared black to the naked eye, but my last sips showed some dark brown color. The head was minimal and light tan colored. Complex aromas of roasty, smoky dark malt greeted me, with chocoff, oak, bourbon, figs, and molasses apparent also. THe flavor was roasty dark malty, with mid-palate molasses, prunes, black licorice, chocoff, and a subdued rauchy element. The palate was on the dense side with a complex, well balanced finish. This one got a little hot as it warmed. It reminded me a lot of Weyerbacher Heresy with a rauchy element thrown in. Alaskan smoked porter is more balanced and less rauchy, but this one has more oak/bourbon/vanilla flavors. Very well crafted, unique, and quaffable for a beer of this size.

Cakelike yeast with chocolatey sweetness is offset by roasted malts and a very light smokiness. Opaque brown body with ruby highlights is topped by a nice tan-brown head that recedes to a lasting cover. Cakelike doughy sweetness up front is subsumed by roasted and peat moked malts. Chocolate sweetness is lasting in the aftertaste. Medium full body with fair carbonation is quite sticky and syrupy in texture. Sampled on tap at the brewpub with beerbuzzmontreal, egajdzis, Eyedrinkale, MartinT, Rastacouere and Yowie.