Barley Island Sinister Minister Belgian Black Ale

Brewed by Barley Island Brewing
Style: Traditional Ale
Noblesville, Indiana USA

Dark amber color out of the bottle with a fizzy beige head that left quickly. Thin, watery sweet nose. Not a lot of character in here, but nothing really offensive. Thin caramel sweetness, some roasted grains and faint chocolate. Kind of boring.

22oz bottle acquired in trade with Sephiroth (thanks!). Poured a deeper reddish brown color with an averaged sized off white head. Aromas of roast, some chocolate, toasted grains, and light coffee. Tastes of licorice, chocolate, caramel, chocolate, lighter roast, and some spices.

@Richmond/Williamsburg Gathering-22 oz bottle that I brought-pours a foamy tan head and brown color. Aroma is oak, medium malt. Taste is oak/walnut, medium malt-chocolate. Semi-dry.

Bottle courtesy of SoLan. Pours black with tan head. Roasted malt and dark fruit aromas. Flavors of dark malts and slight hops. Medium body with lively carbonation.

Richmond Summer Gathering. Bomber courtesy of jcwattsrugger. Clear, deep brown with a thin, ringed tan head. Mild coffee and chocolate nose, yeasty, seemed a bit infected to me, with some sour nut notes. Didn’t really seem to crop up in the flavor. OK - I’d like to get another one of these and re-rate. Re-rate, Daytona 500 tasting. 750 from DragonStout, IIRC. Much better this go-round, none of the sour nut I noted before. Rate reflects this bottle.

Courtesy SoLan. Pours dark brown, with a small off white head. Smells a bit Belgian, some candy sugar, dark malts, and molasses make up the nose. The flavor consists of some spices and a sweet malty presence. Got a bit of graham cracker and caramel in there as well. Kind of uniqu, but wasnt really getting me too exicted. Certainly drinkable, but lacking a bit of something.

Bottle at the Williamsburg Gathering courtesy of jcwattsrugger. Lightened black pour. Almost almost more a dark brown. Nose is soft coffee-ish notes, mild chocolate, light cocoa, toasted malts, soft grain and yeast. Taste echoes the coffee-ish notes, cocoa, yeast notes, grains, odd spice/herbs and toasted malts. Body is light-medium. Mild carbonation. Ends with more cocoa, softer chocolate, spices/herbs, light yeast, toasted malts. Tasty!

22 oz. 2007 bottle courtesy of jcwattsrugger at the 2008 Richmond Summer Gathering in Williamsburg. Thanks John! Rating 666. Drk brown pour with a light brown head. Aroma of roasted malts, caramel and dark fruits. Very fruity taste with stone fruit notes and some nuttiness. Someone else in the group thought there were infection signs, but I didn’t see any. Medium bodied.