Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

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

22oz. Bomber Silver Top 2007 Vintage Poured into my Corsendonk Christmas Ale tulip a thick clean/clear black color, some carbonation, nice little fizzy dark tannish head, only some tiny islands left over. The nose is of slightly roasted sweet malts, hops, toffee, coffee, chocolate, alcohol, and some caramel. The taste is very nice indeed, consisting of very sweet thick/oily slightly roasted malts, slight hops, licorice, toffee, slight coffee, vanilla, and caramel. The alcohol is present at first sip then the sweetness comes into play, leaves a nice warm feeling in the throat. Full body, a pretty complex RIS. Very drinkable, I really like this brew, I say it lives up to the hype for sure, highly recommended. Not too much difference in the vintages. Thanks again Eric. 22oz. Bomber Gold Top 2006 Vintage Poured into a chalice a thick clean/clear black color, nice carbonation, nice little fizzy dark tannish head, only some tiny islands left over. The nose is of slightly roasted sweet malts, hops, toffee, coffee, chocolate, alcohol, and some caramel. The taste is very nice indeed, consisting of very sweet slightly roasted malts, slight hops, licorice, toffee, slight coffee, and caramel. The alcohol is present at first sip then the sweetness comes into play, leaves a nice warm feeling in the throat. Medium body, a pretty complex RIS. Very drinkable, I really like this brew, I say it lives up to the hype for sure, highly recommended. Thanks again Craig.

2008 bottle; black wax. Poured a viscous, midnight black with a small brown head. Aroma was just so strong and good. A strong caramel, cocoa and roasted malt/coffee presence with underlying notes of fruit, earth, brown sugar, alcohol and wood. Wow. Flavor was a nice blend of flavors. Brown sugariness, roasted malt, chocolate, vanilla, oats, alcohol and wood. Some light hints of fruit. Dangerously drinkable as the alcohol was present but not overly powerful. Really did live up to the hype in my mind.

Bottle at EBF. Black, no head. Dry, salty liquorice aroma, Porvoon Lakritsia and soy sauce. Flavor is intensive rye pudding, salty liquorice, ginger and bitter orange. Full bodied of course. Strange stuff, the closest thing to Finnish easter pudding I’ve ever had.

’08 bottle traded with BOLTZ7555. Thanks a lot. This pours so thick it hurts. Thin beige head that leaves beautiful lacing. Man. The aroma. The coffee comes and kicks you in the face so much harder than so-called "coffee" beers do. It’s like a graham cracker is in there too. Then the chocolate comes in. It’s almost like smelling a smore minus gross burnt marshmallow. Flavor is where that marshmallow comes in. It’s like drinking pure liquid marshmallow for grown-ups with coffee flavors making themselves more pronounced than not. And then it’s like drinking the bits of bitter cacao. It finishes with a slight alcohol burn, but it doesn’t really detract. The body is so thick it’s almost like drinking syrup and can almost be difficult to swallow and kind of hangs around in the back of your throat because it’s like your throat can’t actually take it. Spectacular beer.

2008 bomber-black wax. Jet black, dark tan head. Aroma is very good, but has too much caramel to really excel. It does have some very nice chocolate, alcohol, and anise underlying it though. Flavor and palate are incredible. Unbelievably thick and creamy. It coats your mouth like non-other. More so than I would normally like, but this beer is so delicious I want it to stay there forever. Sooo smooth. Tons of chocolate and coffee in the flavor with a hint of anise and an even smaller hint of currants. The finish is exceptional with lots of bitterness mixed with chocolate and coffee.

2008. Ridiculous tar black pour with a solid tan head that subsides eventually, but not too quickly. Aroma of booze, burnt malt, chocolate, chalk, plum, caramel, a hint of hop bitterness. The flavor hits pretty hard with massive chocolate and burnt malt components, molasses, booze, wood, vanilla. I’m not tasting too much coffee. Again, some mildly bitter hops in the finish, but the malt really dominates here. The mouthfeel is the real standout in my opinion - unbelievably thick and rich. Coats the mouth as it goes down. This is probably the most over-the-top brew I’ve ever tasted, and I love it. There were moments when I though that maybe it was too thick, or the flavor was too overpowering, but I can’t deny the overall greatness of this beer.

WOW; THIS IS AN AWESOME BEER. This is my 400th rating, and I wanted it to be a good one - it was! A big thank you to Adrian for opening up a bottle of this, which he drove and waited for hours to get his hands on. It is the hugest, richest, tastiest brew that I have ever had. It seems like there is a bushel of grains, a sack of hops, and a basket of fruit in every bottle. The pour is solid black with a little brown froth on top. The liquid is an emulsion with the consistency of a banana fruit shake. The taste is packed with grains, malt, smoke, and coffee. These harder flavors are matched by a rich fruitiness that tastes like cherries and plums. Incredibly rich, yet very well balanced too. The only weaknesses from my perspective were the aroma (a little dull); and the label (a little juvenile), but don’t let that stop you. This beer is as good as it gets in our day and age.

2008 vintage. Thanks cpferris for the trade. Opaque black with a thin, very fine, multi-hued mocha-brown head. Appears sticky, shimmering, and highly viscous when swirled with a dark brown slick clinging to the glass. Aroma reeks of dark caramel and berry fruit malt sweetness with dark chocolate, coffee, molasses, and soy sauce. This is combined with a dark roasted grain edge, a soft hops spiciness, and a bit of a brandy-like alcohol presence. Posesses a totally malt-driven flavor profile that is expressed across a wide range of characteristics: burnt sugar, treacle, roasted grain, coffee, chocolate, toffee--all of which is balanced with what I’m sure is an absurd amount of hops that just barely manages to edge through the malt. There are multi-dimensional alcohol flavors here as well, which are very well integrated considering the size of this beer, and is one of the most unique aspects of this beer. It is both boozey and reigned in, integrated and forcefully expressive, resembling both Cognac and ruby port--a pleasant conundrum. The leads us through the huge, high;y-viscous body that is completely mouth-coating. Your palate is left totally saturated with roasted grain bitterness supplemented with hops. Quite an experience--totally over the top.