Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

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

Big thanks goes out to mtoast for this special brew! Had the pleasure of sampling this at the 7/9/2009 Pittsburgh RB tasting extravaganza (PGHRBEXT) at the Sharp Edge Creekhouse. It will be a long time, if ever I see a spread of bottles like I did there. I am not good enough for the beers that were that we served! For example, how about this beer; the notorious dark lord. I know I’ll get beermail about this rating. Big black oily pour with a staining glass effect. Looks like used Harley shovelhead motor oil. Volatile choco aroma. Perhaps some lactose in the aroma? Lots of complexity in this beer that I cannot identify; fruit, licorice, roasty sweetness of some sort. Very heavy on the volatile alkiness. No carbonation what so ever. Dude crude and over the top, right on style, heheh. Keep in mind I rate as I like em, not by style. Terrible, nasty, mouth coating and lingering experience. Thanks Hart for ruining my taste buds.

Taste of the Midwest on tap - Poured black with no head Aroma - charred wood, roasted chocolate malt and alcohol. Flavor - much like aroma, has this smokey charred wood taste along with anise and dark chocolate. High ABV. is hidden quite well but still has alcohol flavor. Palate - thick syrupy mouthfeel with no carbonation. Finish is smooth and has nice bitter chocolate aftertaste. Overall - I really liked this beer but not as much as I expected. I had several 5oz. glasses and was not blown away. Still a top 10 Imperial Stout in my book but prefer the vanilla bean and bourbon aged!!

2009 bottle courtesy of daknole. Rating 800. Shared this one with my dad and step mom. Pours a viscous oily black with a touch of a deep tan head. Swirling the glass produces a thick oily residue and a thick tan head that then falls off quickly and leaves a sticky stained glass looking residue on the walls of the glass. Caramel, chocolate, roast malt, light coffee, and just barely an undercurrent of sweet alcohol. Velvety oily body. Remarkable mouthfeel. Huge bitter chocolate flavors, light dark cherries and plums. For such a big fat beer this is remarkably smooth, finishing with a long lingering bakers chocolate finish and a slow moving warming alcohol. Superb stuff. Additional notes from an 04 that someone shared at BCTC – jet black and murky, looking like motor oil. Light cherry/plum fruit notes, tannins and coffee. Roast and caramel. Still a nice tingly finish on the gums. My scores for the 04 would have been 838417 for a 4.1 total, so the 09 score goes up instead. Darn good still, but the 09 blew it away.

2009 on-tap @ DLD ’09 A - Pours black as night with a dark brown head that quickly vanishes leaving some very nice lacing. S - Lots of malt, chocolate, and some alcohol on the nose. T - Sweet, but not overly sweet, with chocolate, coffee, and a small kick of alcohol. M - Thick and rich, just coats the inside, so good! The 13% is hidden amazingly well for being so young. D - Amazing RIS, ’nuff said.

09 bottle. So for my 300th rating, I decided to have Dark Lord. I had high hopes, which usually leads to a letdown, so I decided to trick myself a bit to prevent this. I decided to do a blind tasting with Expy, 110K+OTB2, Founders Impy, and Speedway. I figured this way I would get my true opinion on it and not my worried letdown opinion. Well, needless to say, there was still a letdown. Pours a thick black with brown hue, absolutely no head to be seen whatsoever (upon tasting, but was able to coax a thin dark tan head out with farther pour), lots brown lacing around glass. Aroma is very solid of coffee, dark chocolate, dark fruits, some tart fruits, molasses, roasted malt, caramel, and hints of vanilla. First sip threw me for a loop. Cloyingly sweet, boozy, ever so slight tartness disguised many of the good properties of the brew. No hops detected at all. Mouthfeel is heavy and creamy. If it didn’t smell so good and look so nice, this would have been a much lower rating. I have an 07 and 08 bottle in the cellar that I will have to try to see if age helps this, but man, I am really starting to believe this is all hype and no substance. Especially when a $3 bottle of Expy beats the pants off the $15 bottle. *raises last half-FULL glass of Dark Lord* Here’s to hoping that it improves with age.

Shared at DDG release party. ’09 22oz bottle. Dark, dark, and dark. Sweet and good. All the usual expectations were met.

A finer Imperial Stout? I know not! 2009 Bottle poured into a thick walled Chalice. Oh how the Czars would envy me. Pours a deep black profuse sludge as if the Dark Lord himself has awakened from a slumber of centuries past. Already I can smell the scent of deep roasted malts, coffee, smoked embers, and nutmeg. The lacing clinging to the walls of my glass, but sliding ever so smoothly into the depths of midnight, where light ceases and something a bit abnormal begins. The first sip; smooth, chewy and thick. Perhaps this Lord of Darkness plays well with others? A robust hit of roasted chocolate careens my palate confused as to what it wishes to unleash next. A rush of sweet molasses and plum forces its boldness upon my senses. As the ferocity of the sip hits my palate a hint of nutmeg and cherries sneaks in through the back with hops infused in the grain. A strong but short burst of burnt and smoked woodiness ends atop the alcohol, clearly there can be no more. But the taste lingers and finally rests into a roasted smoked chocolate embrace. It’s enough to want to follow the Dark Lord into the underbelly, into the darkside, into the grave. And after sampling the elixir of this Demigod, I must pledge my loyalty to he who is the master of the blackest of nights, the overseer of the underworld of sludge, and the purveyor of all that is "not normal". To the Dark Lord.

2009- Aroma is extremely boozy, but underneath is roasted malt with coffee and chocolate tones. Flavor is very very boozy. Roasted malts, chocolate and coffee coming through. The booze wore off a bit after awhile. Never rated the ’08 but remember really enjoying it compared to this one.