Alameda Black Bear XX Stout

Mountainous cascade pour out of the bottle yields a rich and dense, light brown head. Aromas of slight char and bitter chocolate. Impenetrable black in color. Luscious and creamy in the mouth, nicely carbonated, then almost milky. Flavorwise, this beer delivers. Blackened malts interplaying with some fine hop bitterness, bittersweet chocolate along for the ride, and a sweet and chewy granola bar just for kicks. Some tang from the rye on the swallow. This is a great beverage. Thanks o Dubbercody for the pleasure.

Poured midnight black. Shiny, viscous with a very beautiful gray-brown head that clued me in that this would be a great beer. Full, smooth mouth feel with sweet, hoppy, yet incredibly well-balanced foreign styled stout. Syrupy, chocolatey, vanilla notes. A perfect desert beer great for baking and pairing.

Very dark brown. Beautiful aroma with nuts, dark chocolate and light espresso. Exceptionally well-balanced character hits all the right notes - light black malt, hint of tartness, rich chocolate, good hop underpinning. I don’t have a whole lot of notes on it, but when we judged this the gold medallist, what I had to say I think sums it up: "I asked to judge this category so I could drink beers like this."

Pitch black with a big brown nitro head. Thick and smoky flavor, lots of mesquite flavor initially, almost overpowering. Black licorice and burnt wood dominate, with some scotch-like flavors in the finish. VERY thick, could stick a fork in this one... very dry, puckery finish.

Full ebony proclaims the appearance, not a streak of light seeps through, and a majestic cocoa cap holds guard on top, lush and creamy, an impressive looking stout, at the start. Aroma begins with chocolate, molasses, spice, and bittersweet coffee tones. Earthy, gritty, rich...coffee grounds are now the primary senstation, overall an expansive, and flavorful nose. Immensively full on the palate, at first swallow. Rich, dark, utterly satisfying. Plenty of grit and texture, flavors of syrup, rich chocolate, bitter coffee beans, tangible, and a touch tart behind the bitter. Plump mouthfeel,... long, sticky finish,... viscous is an appropriate qualifier, but not too, this is very approachable for the stout fan. But definitely not a brew for those that shy from the darkness. The rest of us, we’re in high heaven here. A stout lovers wet dream, not too strong, not too thick, but so full in all other respects that it fulfills our every need. Drinkability? Assured. When you’re that tasty, you don’t stand a chance in my glass, pal. A very solid stout. So tired of middling versions, blase’ people pleasers, so glad to find one with serious cojones, yet so simple to slide back the throat.