Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

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

Rating #500. Bottle courtesy of sprinkle. Pours black as crude oil with a creamy, rusty-brown head that settles first to a thin ring around the glass and then to a slick oily black surface. Swirling the glass leaves temporary iodine-like stains of reddish-yellow hue sliding down the sides. Visibly viscous, I’ve never seen a beer coat a glass quite like this one. After finishing the snifter-full, the glass is coated in a sticky residue as if it had been frosted or lightly acid etched. Interesting. The nose is of huge, roasted, dark malt, light ash and vanilla, licorice, plum and a tiny hint of a soy sauce, concluding with enough alcohol that I was getting a contact buzz just from drawing off of the snifter. Calling this beer "full-bodied" is a complete understatement. Thick and oily with a roasted and lightly bitter finish that includes a nice "warm" alcohol note, the palate features a lingering roasted and moderately hoppy aftertaste that acts as a nice counterpoint to the significant sweetness of the tons of malt that must be used to create this wonderful concoction. Big, sweet, dark roasted malt, plum, brown sugar and a light peaty note all combine to create a delicious brew that concludes with a nice, lingering, roasty/hoppy finish. This is a very good beer and quite deserving of its reputation. Now, I’ll just have to snag another bottle to cellar for a while... damn it. ISO Dark Lord ’07. ;) Thanks again, Mike!

#1,000 - I’m pretty excited about this one - 2007 bottle from footbalm (thanks to an excellent trader!!!). First of all, let me state my feeling of regret at having grown up maybe an hour or so from FFF and never made it to the brewery, let alone to DL day (they were closed on my most recent trip). They do some special stuff and I have really enjoyed all the beers I’ve tried from them - that being said, on with the rating. Dark, blackish color with a light-med tan head and a beautiful hazy look. Aroma has a very special mix of dark, dark chocolate, coffee, heavy roast, assorted sweet flavors - molasses, maple, and fudge, and just a bit of alcohol. Taste is a thick blend of espresso, strong African or East Asian coffees, dark, creamy chocolate, a bit of hop flavor, and various sweet flavors that are pretty amazing. Mouthfeel is so thick and delicious. A really wonderful beer that, at least as far as Impy stouts go, stacks up with the best of em - it matches Expedition and almost gets to Speedway and is incredibly enjoyable. I can’t wait for the year when I can do Dark Lord day, but until then I’ll just have to be happy with the memories of this bottle. Wonderful stuff.

Silver wax 2007 version. Poured into a Dogfish Head snifter on 11/16/07 to celebrate the GF visiting! Motor oil. That’s what it looks like. Used motor oil. It is thick and viscous and there is no head or bubbles whatsoever. A lot of strong RIS’s tend to look like this. This smells a lot older than it is. I would believe that this had been aged for 10 years if you told me so. It also has a ton of maple syrup right up front. Behind that there is come chocolate and brown sugar. It’s a great aroma but doesn’t make me think of an RIS, more of an Old Ale. The alcohol is obvious. Not what I was expecting at all. There is a bunch of flavor in there but it doesn’t make me think of an RIS, just like the aroma. There is dark chocolate, some cherry, and a bunch of wood. It ends bitter with a bunch of alcohol. Thinner than I expected. I like thick stouts but this isn’t one of them. It is still heavy bodied, but I want it thicker. I’ll be honest...this was a bit of a let down. It’s a great beer, but not worth the immense hype. The body won’t increase with time, but the alcohol presence might be reduced and that would improve the taste.

Bottle at Toms Ultimate Glasgow Tasting (2007): Poured a deep rich tar black with a mysterious red haze. The head was bubbly brown. The aroma is strong of coffee and sweet molasses/chocolate. The taste is rich with coffee bean, strong roasted sweet aftertaste. I’m impressed with this beer.

Wow. Pours like crude oil with a beautiful ascending amber head. It’s like a meal by itself. Earthy, chocolate, Roasted coffee. BTW This was a 2007 and I used it to celebrate my Birthday!

Had this beer on 6/7/2007. Aroma is a very rich almost like maple syrup or a waxy crayon scent. Taste is very rich and sweet. Starting with a full body that goes down smooth and thick. Finish is a very rich caramel and roasted flavor that ends with a rich maple taste. Overall it is one of the most amazing things I have ever had. This beer is actually thick and I mean close to oil. When you tilt your glass the beer smears down the side leaving a oil like film, I have never seen anything like.

2007 edition at thewolf November 24. Pitch black with a disappearing light brown head. Chocolate, caramel, alcohol, tar and bacon in the aroma. Sweet flavour, some smoked herring(!) Syrupy sweet and thick. The last quarter pint of the bottle wasn’t just thick, but porridge thick...
2007 bottle in 2009: Much the same notes and numbers. This time I rolled the bottle a little before opening, and the porridge was better mixed with the liquid.

Sampled during Manhattan Blind IS Tasting: OK so it does stick out. I wasn’t quite sure at first but I knew it was good. Very powerful aroma and taste. More complex than others. Some dark roasted fruits and nuts along with the caramel and coffee and chocolate. Sampled many times at this point. So viscous and amazing every time including an 04 samples in 09. Rich and delicious.