Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

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

[08 Bottle - fresh for later comparison - rated 5.7.2008] Pours thick black, a tint of brown, and small brown head, velvety. The aroma screams complexity coffee, molasses, alcohol, varnish, bitter dark chocolate. Wow is that thick and chunky! Its like Hershey’s syrup in the mouth. I have no idea what to make of this body... nearly set pudding. First taste is coffee and bitter chocolate, quickly overwhelmed by the rich extremely sweet Swiss chocolate flavor, with hints of raisins / dark fruits, burnt wood and caramel. Finishes a little bit hot, but the sweetness really takes care of that, licorice / dark chocolate aftertaste, strangely tannic. A brown sticky ring is forming around my lips. All I can think of is Augustus Gloop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [07 Bottle courtesy of Davinci 6/13/08 - ] Awesome!!! what a difference a year makes! notes to follow...9.4.9.5.18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [rating is a combination of both bottles. ] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [08 bottle tried march 2009] - cardboard... bleh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [09 draft DLD April 09] - green banana, thinner than usual, less hoppy, okay, banana chocolate milkshake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [08 bottle tried September 09] - soy sauce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [09 bottled tried November 09] - not terrible, a bit oxidized, cardboard

2007 draft version at ’08 DLD. Served appropriately in a plastic dixie cup. Black with a brown head. Nice aroma is sweet black raisons, dates. Smooth, medium/full body. Big, sweet vinous flavors of raisons, dates, and earthy molasses. In fact, this beer was very sweet, after about two sips i thought about checking my blood glucose level. Surely the barkeep must have mistakenly dropped some sugar cubes into my cup. I still have a bottle from 2005, hope it’s not this sweet.

Had 05,06, and 07 at DLD 08. Pours black with small tan head. Has the consistensyof motor oil. Aroma of Burnt malts, hops, vanilla, molasses and coffee. Flavor is hops, coffee, molasses with notes of vinilla and caramel. Just an awesome brew. I actually think I liked 07 the best of the 3 follwed by 06 and 05. I cant wait to try the 08 but will let it age a bit. Thanks to Rooftoprogue for bringing these awesome brews.

At Atlanta tasting. Pours a dark brown to black and very viscous. pungent aroma of hops and very seet molasses and coffee. Thick and sweet flavor again sweet coffee and caramel with some light spicing. Great beer.

Pours a beautiful deep black color with a constancy of 10W40. The small tan head quickly dissipates. Below average lacing and below average carbonation with a smell of sweet roasted dark malts, coffee and vanilla. Tastes of strong coffee, sweet roasted malts, coffee, vanilla, and toffee. Very complex. Very tasty - This is WORLD CLASS. Drink and Enjoy!

GA-VA-CA-NY-IN meetup, minus golubj. 22 oz. bottle shared with kleyland. 2008 vintage. Pours a midnight black. Very thick coming out of the bottle. Light brown head dissapates quickly. Aroma of coffee, licorice, warming alcohol. Flavor is sweet initially. Roasted notes, chocolate, light alcohol. Mouthfeel is smooth and creamy. Bitter finish lingers for quite some time.

Pours dark oily black. It is extremely thick and full bodied. It’s appearance is as motor oil dark as it gets. I was lucky enough to get some at Dark Lord Day ’08 and it was a fantastic event capped off with this tasty treat of a beer. Very nice Imperial Stout.

this beer poured a thick black substance with little head, but who cares? i have never seen a beer pour so thick and glug out of the bottle. the smell is exceptional. the smell is of molasses, chocolate, toffee, raisins, dates & other pitted fruits. i’m not certain it gets better than this. the taste is wonderful and consistant with the smell. ultra complex and a bit smokey tasting. little alcohol is present at first, but it settles in quite nicely. the mouthfeel is thick, oily, full, & sticky. as a side note, i have also never seen a beer cling to the side of the glass like this one does. by the time i finished the beer, the entire inside of my glass was coated with a thick molasses like substance that i completely feel like i cold have scraped off and shoved down in a pipe and smoked.