Bomber. 2008 vintage. Thanks to Wombata. Big fruit aromas of prunes, raisins. Very smooth initial, soft fruit notes, prunes, some chocolate; finish is mild and smooth. Medium body. Well-made stuff, smooth, and with good fruit character.

2008 bottle. Fruity flavor, with lots of berries, toast, some alcohol and chocolate. Good, not great. Maybe too old.

Bottled. A pitch black beer with a thin brown head. The aroma has notes of sweet and roasted malt, as well as alcohol and over ripe fruits. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt, caramel, over ripe fruits, and vegetables, leading to a dry vegetable finish.

Cellared 2008 vintage: intense! Get ready. When this pours it’s like viscous dark brown espresso with a dense chestnut head. True to style the head ducks away and you can swirl the beer up the glass like oil slick. A little daunting... The aroma is dense and complex with lots to discover: some over-ripe pear (but not much sweetness) and dark choc with tart currants underneath - inviting. Tastes huge. An explosion of tart/sour/bitter with the briefest respite provided at the start by some sweet choc. Then it’s allllll dark dark cocoa, espresso, some currant tang and brooding thoughts. I got a brief huskiness in the after-taste of my first sip and there’s a slight sour astringency that begs for the cheddar Roger suggests. This is neither Marmite-y nor sweet. Room temp = perfect for this thick and syrupy drop - like the medicines of my childhood but not at all hard to swallow. Alcohol is well hidden: felt but not tasted. Few regular folk will like this, but I really do - for its sheer gutsiness, its fierce cocoa/currant bitterness, the way it interrogates my very soul. Try with the darkest chocolate you can get, creamy choc dessert (like mousse) or sweet rich cake. Cheese for sure. Even good old edam works! Intense and rewarding. Has lasted two years and I’m hoping, for the other bottles, many more.

Black with a tiny dark beige head. Aroma had tar, cigars, leather and burned malt. Smoked flavour with burned malt, tar, sour berries, leather and tobacco. Good stuff.

An interesting one. Nose was huge kind of raspberry. In the mouth it had a lot going on but was quite hot. The alcohol wasn’t well hidden. Sweet and almost resinous. A big beer definetely and with a bit of tweaking could be world class. Cheers Nate

This beauty has the darkest head I’ve ever seen. Pretty much a deep, red hue. Gorgeous. Also the darkest beer I’ve encountered. Nose fills with bubblegum, clove, chocolate, licorice and smoke, to name a few! (quite complex...). A fruity, pilsner-like hop shows through with some citrus notes... unusual. Tastes of a sugary licorice, mollasses and some yeast. Beautiful. Extreme roast malt, with coffee at the very end. Burnt and smoky, yet sweet and fruity. Awesome! Thank you so much, Donfardz64

Pours deep, dark & oily black with a rusty brown coloured head, looks menacing! Nose has a lot of sweetness but also a heap of smoke and tar that isn’t hugely common in Oz & NZ beers. Palate has some sweetness early before dark roasted malts bring tar and ash. Finishes with a slight tang from the dark malts, which is a tad undesirable. I’d say this needs time. Still very interesting, but would surely benefit from at least a year.

2006 - OK, when I first had this, it lacked depth and character. I’m so glad I cellared some. It’s tasting fantastic right now. Aromas of burnt toast, mud, and those toffee sweets you get at funfairs. The flavour is so complex it’s hard to break down the components. Again, there’s that funfair toffee-on-a-stick flavour, there’s some marmitey autolysed flavour, some milky sweetness, some bitter coffee grounds, and some darkest of the dark chocolate. The finish is bitter and warming. Damn it’s good.

2008 Vintage. Looked good in my snifter, deep black body with a dark brown head. Taste was in your face at first but it grew quickly on me. Aroma is liquorice, a touch of smoke and burnt tar whilst the taste also has some dark fruit notes. As I said before this grew on me and would love have two or three in a row but also woud like to cellar a few to see how they age.