Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

The single bottle I could acquire after standing in line for hours and hours. 2008 bottle, split six ways between eagerly anticipating beer nerds. This stuff is ridiculous, thickest blackest brew I have come across, delightful aromas of coffee, chocolate, molasses, and "dark fruits". The taste is similar to the smell, but with pleasant hop presence. Mouthfeel is thick thick thick. Amazing brew that lives up to the hype.

I wanted to not like it. I really did. I’m so very very sorry to disappoint the snooty snoots who’d like to de-hype this beer, but... it lives up. If what you’re expecting is the most intense RIS you could imagine. If you get one, give it a nice aggressive pour or you’ll miss out on one of the most beautiful shows you’ll ever see in a glass. The way the had burrows down into the beer is the most amazing trick I’ve ever seen a beer do, and it lasted a good 2 minutes. Yeah, you smell that? Tons of dark fruits, coffee, vanilla chocolate, the aroma of this beer is as complex as an Belgian monk-brew I’ve ever had. And the taste matches completely. No, you’re not going to want to pound back a couple of six packs of this shit. that’s not what it’s about, despite what the 3rd-grader (yeah, I love it) bottle art might suggest. This is a sipper. The head lasted forever and the flavor just kept developing. God, I’m looking forward to my other bottles.

A privilege to sit in Copenhagen and taste this monster-hyped dark creature. thx Mikkel. Bottle 75 cl. Silver waxed - 2007 version Pours all black with a huge dark and fluffy brown head - perfect. Aroma - Dark chockolate, brown sugar, orange and alcohol. The palate is penetratingly, heavy and very smooth and oily. The taste is sweet sweet sweet and rather hoppy, vinoes and salty. I taste Coffee italian style, laquirice, alcohol, ashes burnes nuts and tobacco together with dryed fruits like raisins and plums. The finish is very sweet and bitter - a bit like an Underberg exept the spirit. Beware: It leaves you some sticky lips. Too me this one is a bit too much. It is too sweet and I would never be able too drink much more than a glass of this black monster....even though I normally love heavy imperial stouts....

2008 Bottle @ Dutch Ratebeer Session. Aroma has pure dark chocolate, cherries, vanilla, roast, some coffee, molasses, plums, port... Much there. Pitch black coloured with a lasting, beige head. Taste is sweet, has burned sugar, chocolate, some coffee, cherry fruitiness. Creamy and thick mouthfeel. Very intense. Superb brew.

A big thanks to Emily (my girlfriend), waited in line for hours to get this beer for me. This one lives up to the hype. There’s so much going on here! Sweetness, molasses, chocolate, vanilla, coffee, roastiness, and sooooo smooth. was not disappointed at all.

Bottled, black wax. Black color, short brown head. Chocolat aroma, burnt sugar, molasses, coffee. D-licious.

’08 bottle. Pours oily black with small tan head. Nose fills room with alcohol, raisins, and sweet, tarry malts, then chocolate and vanilla, and then some coffee. Flavor is huge and sweet, with chocolate, raisins, and coffee as the main components, the Lord’s alcoholic furnace burning fiercely behind them. The palate is slick, dry, and massive, filling your mouth and sticking to your lips, but it’s so damned oppressive that your mouth just has to give in and take the beating. Dark Lord is a malt monster.

2008 bottle from Solan, tasted at the DTS in Bunnik. Almost black and opague. Creamy dark chocolate aroma with Kahlua liquor. Thick syrupy malt soup with dark chocolate, coffee, toffee, plums and port. Hint of maraschino cherries. Hint of salt. Sweet but complex and divine brew. 2007 bottle @ EBF 2008. Licorice, roast, cream and maple syrup in the aroma. Creamy, velvety flavor with roast, licorice, lots of chocolate, raisin and plums. Still a good complexity,but more alcoholic as the fresh 2008 version. (9 4 8 4 16 = 4.1) 2009 bottle, tasted @ RBESG Grand Tasting 2009. Black and opague. Thick viscous, very sweet flavor with mago, malt sugars, overpowering all roasted flavors. Grapes and molasses in the aroma. Very young, still needs a lot of time to develop. (7 4 8 3 16 = 3.8)