Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Munster, Indiana USA

Serve in Snifter

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8/11/04. Poured out of 22 oz. bottle, obtained in a trade with JCapriotti on RateBeer 5/14/04. Pours a thick dark black-brown, oily and viscous with almost complete opacity. Head is slight and uneven, a bright, sandy gold-tan. Lacing is decently sandy and shimmering but very spotty. And there’s a different kind of lacing at work here-- this beer is so thick, it coats the sides of the glass not with carbonation bubbles, but with syrupy soy sauce-looking residue of the beer (a friend finished his glass and then filled it up with water to rinse it out, and the water turned a dark golden-brown color that is probably darker and still more flavorful than any macro swill!). Very impressive, but I would have loved more head on the monster. Aroma has an amazing hop richness, dark sugar and sort of a chocolatey presence, but there’s not a whole lot of dark roast, burnt, or toasted malts. It’s nice, but it mostly just prepares for the big, rich sugary sweetness. Flavor has licorice, chocolate, and the rich dark sugar. A bit too one-dimensional in its dark sugary sweetness. Body is incredibly full, chunky and chewy. You can literally feel the grainy particles as you drink it, and it of course gets more and more obscene as you work your way down through the sludge. Finish is long and chocolatey, hoppy as well. Sort of a strange combination. Very rich and unbelieveably big, full finish. Probably the most decadent beer I’ve ever had (I’d hate to see how many calories are in one bottle of this stuff!), but not close to one of the best.

#1,000!!!!!!!.. HUGE thank you to BBB63 for this one, and I know he’s gonna love my review! Wow, it’s great to get to 1,000, and I picked the perfect beer for this occasion. The beer pours dark black with slight ruby around the edges. The aroma is behemoth, with tons of dark malt, chocoff, black licorice, sherry, slight soy sauce, and fine cognac. The taste.......whoa Nelly let me tell ya ’bout the taste! Super rich on the tongue, with tons of malt, chocoff, dark fruit, black licorice. Very sweet, full-bodied, and complex. When I first tasted this, I said "Holy shit!". This one’s flavor and palate is on par with DFH Worldwide Stout. The palate is the richest, thickest, and firmest of any beer I’ve ever had. I take nothing away from the great stouts, among them Stone RIS, Bell’s Expedition, Central Waters BBS, and Great Divide Yeti among my favorites, but the flavor here is an entire new level....a level I previously thought unapproachable. The alcohol is very well hidden. As for the "sludge", I’ve poured very carefully, am about halfway through my bomber, and I’m telling everyone that I will gladly drink the sludge and ask for more. The Dark Lord will enter your soul, take over your senses, and make you a Satan worshipper! All hail the Dark Lord!!!!!!!

Bottle. Black oil color with the slowest rising beautiful thick creamy dark brown head. This beer takes its time. Strong dark fruits, raisins, and vanilla in the aroma. It lacked the powerful dark roasted malts, and strong coffee flavors I have come to expect in many of the big imperial stouts. Instead, it featured the complex fruits. Wow, this one drops a bomb in the flavor. Syrupy sweet flavors, with complex dark fruits, chocolate, and roasted malts. Thanks to jsquire for the trade.

Thick syrup of black gold. Now I know what you yanks go on about. Sweet taste of black currants and port. The label says it all. What a pleasure to drink. Big ups to hopsrus.

What everyone else says!! I have nothing more to add on positives. This beer is un-f’in-real!! I’ll take my comments a different route here though. My complaint (on the second half of the bottle) was that the sludge absolutely ruined the last several ounces. I can’t believe I’ll admit to this, but I poured at least the last 6 ozs down the drain. Just couldn’t handle it. The sludge just took it to another level of thick bitter mud which I couldn’t stomach. I knew about it, but continued to pour it into my snifter anyway. Big mistake. I understand bottle conditioning, etc, but why such thick yeast?? I always pour the yeasties in, but I just can’t understand what happened here. Anyway, it was still a tremendous beer prior to that point. Thanks TAR from many many months ago for the trade. Can’t wait for the next release to see how it compares.

UPDATED: JUL 27, 2004 Thanks to JCapriotti for this beer! Pours midnight black with a medium dark brown head. It’s as dark as a starless night. Aroma is coffee, licorice, dark chocolate, hints of vanilla and tobacco along with molasses and faint caramel. WOW!!!!! The taste is INCREDIBLE! Strong chocolate and coffee blended with more licorice and vanilla. Taste of molasses and brown sugar. HUGE rich flavors here! There is some strong hints of alcohol as well. The mouthfeel is as thick and chewy as a beer can be. I don’t think I could have possibly guessed it to be this thick and muddy. Some slight alcohol burn going on but it’s a nice warming feel. It’s like drinking watered down alcoholic pudding. Bit on the oily side as well. Finish is bittersweet with dark chocolate and more molasses and coffee. This is a huge beer. Perfect for number 1000 and deserving of the 5 I’m giving it. I only wish I could have this on cask like many of the early ratings were.

UPDATED: FEB 21, 2006 Really damn impressive was what i heard. so it was very fuckin dark with a german chocalate cake head on it, chocolate up the ass aroma. flavor is so damn powerful, yet subtle chocolate which amazes the fuck out of me. its like drinking a gertman chocalte cake. Insane.

Wow -- my favorite beer to date! This beer is so complex that I’m almost too intimidated to rate it -- opaque black, slight tan head, aroma and flavor of dark fruit, vanilla, chocolate, and much more, with a nice, syrupy-thick mouthfeel...a great suprise at the Georgia 14% gathering!

Bottle. Opaque black, near zero head. SOme licoriche and chocolate in the intense aroma. The flavor has some nice subtleties, particularly with cherries and strawberries. Without a doubt an outstanding beer - my only complaint that prevents this from getting higher marks is that it is TOO flat. I’m sure this was intentional, but it limits what they can do IMO.

Poured is not the word for what this did-it was so thick it oozed into my glass. Very dark in color, a little grainy-no head, no bubbles, very syrupy. Aroma is strong-alcoholic with sweet fruity flavors in the mix. Raisins, dates, vanillas, mochas, strong sense of molasses. Tastes is a blend of the above mix with a whole lot of alcholic sharpness thrown in. Would probably go well with vanilla ice cream.