Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout (Brandy Barrel Aged)

Formerly brewed at Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Munster, Indiana USA

Serve in Snifter

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Pours like black motor oil. What else would you expect from anything related to Dark Lord? A nice dark tan head rises up and falls fairly quickly, leaving behind a few legs. Thin collar throughout. The nose carries a fairly hefty amount of brandy as well as a decent amount of accompanying booze. Lots of sweetness and chocolate plus some coffee. This smells exactly like you’d imagine Dark Lord with Brandy would. Well-integrated, though not mind blowing. The flavor is better than the smell, though still not world class. The brandy takes a prominent role, and the taste isn’t quite as boozy as the nose was. Chocolate and some dark fruits are there as well as some slight coffee. Full and thick feel with a nice brandy presence in the finish. Low carbonation. Really a nice beer that comes together well.

Bottle shared by phaleslu. Thanks a lot Peter! Pours black like oil with a no head. Aroma is all brandy with hints of apple and vanilla. Flavor is brandy, but not overwhelming. You still are able to pick up hints of chocolate, oak and fruits. Full bodied with low carbonation. Very good beer overall.

Auction winner. Why all the low rates? This is the Dark Lord with brandy. Excellent chocolate, roast and brandy aroma. Nice Coffee, chocolate, oak and molasses taste. All wrapped up with a dominant brandy finish and hints of dark fruit. I like the regular Dark Lord better, but this rocks!

big thanks to phaleslu for sharing this beer with a bunch of drunks. potent, sweet cherry kissed chocolate. most forward taste, to me at least, was medicinal cherry cough syrup. complex, but not necessarily in a good one, as the punches of sweet apple brandy, medicinal fruit, roast, chocolate, and dough come off as a bit muddled and messy. low drinkability. not exactly my cup of tea. but still exciting to try. vastly preferred muerte and pappy to the brandy treatments, but my rating appears to be somewhat of an outlier.

UPDATED: SEP 4, 2012 Bottle from Dark Lord Day 2011, numbered 282/392. Tried alongside 2006-2011 Dark Lord as well as the other three barrel variants on my bachelor party weekend, Friday night tasting. Looks like the rest of the DL on the table- dark, opaque near-black in the middle, more of an amber-cola-brown color on the edges, minimal brown bubbles for head. Great brandy character on the nose of this one, and a lot of it. The booze of the brandy sits in the nostrils, and there is a lot of accompanying fruitiness- berries, plums especially- with oak, caramel, chocolate, molasses, tannins. The flavor is a cut above the nose, with a good deal of brandy without the boozy heat of the nose, plus more fruits, oak, caramel, toasted sugar, molasses, coffee beans, and chocolate. Full-bodied, with a rich, smooth mouthfeel and low carbonation. This one delivered most closely to what I expected of the four Dark Lord barrel variants, and that’s not a bad thing at all. Re-Rate: Bottle 375/433, tried about 13 months after I tried it the first time. This one has improved with age. Bumping it a point.

Bottle #369/392. Consumed at Sean’s 30th Birthday Party Extravaganza. Served in a Three Floyds / Intelligentsia snifter. Pours like black motor oil. What else would you expect from anything related to Dark Lord? A nice dark tan head rises up and falls fairly quickly, leaving behind a few legs. Thin collar throughout. The nose carries a fairly hefty amount of brandy as well as a decent amount of accompanying booze. Lots of sweetness and chocolate plus some coffee. This smells exactly like you’d imagine Dark Lord with Brandy would. Well-integrated, though not mind blowing. The flavor is better than the smell, though still not world class. The brandy takes a prominent role, and the taste isn’t quite as boozy as the nose was. Chocolate and some dark fruits are there as well as some slight coffee. Full and thick feel with a nice brandy presence in the finish. Low carbonation. Really a nice beer that comes together well. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 06-29-2011

Bottle shared at Sean’s 30th Birthday Party. Awesome. Pours a thick blackish opaque with brownish edges, a small frothy darker brownish edges, a thick pour with some potent caramel, molasses, roasty coffee and darker malts. Cocoa, and chocolate, wet oak and some decent notes of Brandy, apples, and touches of vanilla. Initial is thick and sweet, touches of sweet caramel, chocolate chip cookies, cocoa, coffee, molasses. Sweet and roasty, thinned out a bit but still quite potent, sweet. Wet oak, touches of vanilla, not too acidic with touches of sweeter apples. Backend clings with roast, sweet caramel, toffee, biscuits, and light Brandy elements. A bit understated as far as the barrel treatment, still fairly sweet and decent roastiness, barrel falls behind. My least favorite of the special variants.

UPDATED: JUN 26, 2011 Thanks to Thorpe for this, bottle 369 of 392... Really dark almost chunky chocolate pour, more carbonation than the vanilla... After having the vanilla first this nose is totally dead, light brandy and lots of chocolate... Lots of milk chocolate, a bit of brandy boring and just can’t compare to the vanilla

Drinking now at the Bloomington craft beer fest. Aroma is sublime. roast vanilla, oak, plums, cherries, chocolate. Taste is overwhelmingly fruity with ssyrupy coffee and oak. Really the flavor obnoxiously sweet. Very very full body and slick and just warming. Love trying but better on pancakes.

Was given a sample by someone randomly at Dark Lord Day. I thank you to whoever opened up one of these rare bottles. Poured dark black with small head. Not much different than the dark lord. Was a lot smoother with lots of brandy flavours. Very good.