Barley Johns The Dark Knight (Returns)

Brewed by Barley Johns Brew Pub
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
New Brighton, Minnesota USA

From growler, courtesy mgumby10. Pours a severe thick black pour with a delayed appearance of a thin dark tan head. The head goes away again after a while. Large dose of whiskey and oak in the aroma, and those two overpower anything that might be around. The strength of the aroma wasn’t off-putting because it wasn’t caustic. The taste has an overall sweet whiskey character with some nice roast, chocolate, and oak. The finish is robust and spicy. Suprising how smooth this was for such a big brew.

12 oz handbottle 6/07. Ebony with a bubbly crema ring. Nose is bourbon, dark chocolate and piney molasses. Light carb tingle, medium body. Taste is an amalgam of chocolate, coffee, licorice and plums with bourbon throughout. Overall sweet but enough roasty and wood notes to balance. Dries with hints of meat and spinach. Big but controlled.

Bottle. [#18 Blind tasting session @ Sk8viking] Small light brown fizzy head that mostly diminished. Spare lacework. Black color. Aroma of chocolate, roasted malt, molasses, hint of floral notes, average alcoholic sniff, notes of wood, licorice and berries. Full bodied with a thick alcoholic texture and a soft carbonation. Moderated sweet flavor with counter moderated bitter notes. Warming fruity sweet finish with some bourbon and rum cage like lingering finish. 07-09-2007

From growler. Black coloured with a beige head. Woody and roasted aroma of liquorice, glue and red wine. Roasted flavour of liquorice, alcohol and vanilla. Roasted and warming alcoholice finish.

Growler. A black beer with a small beige head. The aroma is light roasted malt, glue, fruits and alcohol, so is the taste. Medium to full body with a alcoholic finish. Very alcoholic!!!

(Growler 64 oz) Courtesy of yespr. Opaque black with a small, light brown head. Sweetish vanilla and bourbon notes. Medium-bodied, sweetish roasted malt, oak, vanilla and very distinct bourbon. Slightly medicinal perhaps. Ends sweet without much bitterness but VERY hot and alcoholic. 070907

Hand-Bottled 12oz courtesy of footbalm. Pours black with no head. Aroma is a full on spectacular. Im counstantly struggling with bourbon aged beers, as some seem more effected by the bourbon than others. Having never had the Old 8 porter makes it difficult to differentiate the bourbon infuences from the porter skeleton. The bourbon definitely adds another demension to this beer and it is the life of this beer, but it doesnt detract from the whole beer itself. So muuch going on here, Dark fruits, strong bourbon, oak, smoke, vanilla highlight the nose. Flavor brings on a lot of chocolate, vanilla, oak, and an overlying bourbon flavor that melds well with the rest of the brew. I drank this over a couple hours. You can taste the alcohol throughout but that doesnt mean this isnt well balanced. Its just a big beer that doesnt try to hide it. Thanks Eric!

Growler from brewfiend. Drank with a few friends. Growler was a month old at the time of opening, but was still carbonated. A beer of this magnitude needs no carbonation, but it still adds to the palate to have some. Pours thick and pitch black with little head. Aroma of lots of sweet caramel, subdued roasted grains, some oak, and a low level of bourbon. My friends said the bourbon was pronounced, but I thought it perfectly on edge of attention. Thick body. Taste is like the aroma, sweet malty, perfect amount of oxidation. After many hours of thinking, I could only come up with one suggested improvement: Some maltodextrin late in the boil for better head retention and mouthfeel. This improvement may not be needed as my growler was a month old. So you ask: Was it worth it to pay $70 for this growler? Well this is equivalent to paying for 3 $23/22oz bombers. I think it is worth it once/twice a year. Here’s an interesting note: I poured Cobra into the same glass, and thought this Cobra smells great! But I think it was the carbonation of the Cobra lifting the aromas from the Dark Knight. After cleaning the glass, I tried tasting again with the Cobra and the aroma was gone.