Bottle, as Black Gargery 23. black with a low head. Somewhat faint nose of soy sauce, chocolate, fruit. Fruity, chocolaty, sweet flavor, soy umami, rather full, plain finish. Ok, but nothing too exciting.

Backlog, on tap at Café Grand, Tokyo JR Central Station in 2008. Aroma’s of roasted malts, sweet malts, some acidity from the roast. Flavor is moderate sweet, roasted. Body is on the thin side for a 7% beer. Moderate bitter finish. Pretty nice.

Draught. Thick, black, creamy- all boxes ticked. Not a huge nose, but appetizing just the same. Body is creamy and nicely weighted. God flavours of chocolate and malts. This was really quite impressive. Had to get another one straight after just to make sure. Yep - a damn fine stout.

On tap at Kamikaze. I was surprised to find out Gargery is a Japanese gypsy brewer! I had no idea Japan had any gypsy brewers... It was a nice smooth stout but the mouthfeel was a little light for the style I felt. It had a nice roasty coffee taste with hints of chocolate. Very nice.

From notes on my 2010 visit to Tokyo. Ordered on draft in Hotel in Tachikawa. Comes in a strange pointed bottom triangular glass sitting in a holder. Nice roasted grain, chocolate and coffee nose. Taste is same, but with a bit of smokiness and overall it’s quite sweet. Only criticism is that there is a fair amount of carbonation in it so it’s a wee bit too fizzy.

On tap at La Terrazza on the top floor of Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building. Poured perfectly dark brown with a creamy beige head into the cone-shaped, Kwak-inspired glass. Sweet maltiness and roasted aroma. Molasses prevail in the mouth, though with moderate roast. Quite alright.

I’d just missed this at about three bars, having always showed up right after the last pint was dispensed. It was my first order of the night at Cheers, but even they couldn’t get fill a full pint of it. I’m starting to think there is a conspiracy. Anyhow, dark with a nice head. Roasted malts, smoke, bitter chocolate, and some coffee. Bitter roasted malts, cocoa, molasses, and light smoke. I really enjoyed this one, maybe I’ll find a whole pint sometime.