Black Toad Distinctive Dark Ale

Brewed by Goose Island Beer Company
Style: Brown Ale
Chicago, Illinois USA

Pours dark brown with small off white head that disappears quickly. THe aroma has a toasted malt sweetness. The taste has hints of fruit with a slight bitterness at the end. The body is a bit light but pretty good for a supermarket beer.

16-May-07 (12 oz bottle: Trader Joe’s in Pacific Beach, CA) As promised, here is a final update to the six-pack I bought over two years ago. Who’d have thought it, but this beer ages wonderfully. Roasty, chocolaty, earthy, some molasses, only mildly bitter and mildly sweet, with a delightful smokiness in the finish. Aromas of chocolate and toast. This beer continues to improve as the flavors are seemingly intensifying. Very impressive for a $5 six-pack.

14-Dec-05 (12 oz bottle: Trader Joe’s in Pacific Beach, CA) Kind of an update to my previous rating, or perhaps it’s really just some new thoughts. This is still the same six-pack I bought back in April, so this has seen several months of aging. Eww, aging a Trader Joe’s beer? Not on purpose, I just had no reason to want to drink the others, so they’ve just been collecting dust in my above-ground but air-conditioned beer "cellar". But I have to say, this beer is quite tasty. Moderately sweet and very chocolatey, fairly roasty, earthy, lots of concentrated dark fruits like prunes, molasses, moderate bitterness. I mean really, this was a decent beer when I first tried it, and based on my previous notes, it’s gotten better with age. The aroma is still only vaguely malty though. Medium-dark brown in color with a small tan head. Body is medium, carbonation is average, the palate isn’t harsh or watery, it’s still just an easy drinking but flavorful dark beer. Still can’t decide if it’s a really light porter, or a very roasty brown ale, but whatever it is, I’m glad I still have two more from the six-pack. Hey, I’ll probably get around to those next year and see how it’s doing after a year of aging. What’s the harm, right?

13-Apr-05 (12 oz bottle: Trader Joe’s in Pacific Beach, CA) Pleasant tasting, though not especially flavorful or impressive for a porter. Moderate maltiness is somewhat roasty and moderately sweet, but lacks the depth and character of the better. The finish is mildly bitter, but I can’t tell if that’s from the mild roastiness, or from hops, though I really can’t detect anything that can definitely be identified as hops. Try as I might, I just can’t get much out of the nose, and the most I can say is that it’s vaguely malty. This is an easy drinking beer with a pretty light palate. Medium brown in color, certainly translucent, with a small light tan head that fades to practically nothing. Nothing to rave about, but for what it is -- an inexpensive, pedestrian porter -- it’s certainly drinkable and worth the price. (6, 3, 7, 3, 14, total 3.3)

Pours a cola-like dark mahoganey from the bottle, with a creamy pale tan head that dissipates over time. Aroma is smoky, with molasses and charcoal. Flavor is lighter, with lots of malt and nutty coffee flavor. I didn’t know this was a Brown until I logged on here to rate -- this is a Porter through and through. I’m impressed with this as a Porter, but it’s too dark and roasted for a Brown.

Bottle poured into a pint glass. Poured an opaque magogany colour with ruby highlights. Thin tan film on top with slight lacing. Aroma of dusty, bittersweet chocolate that carries into the enjoyable flavour.

Undeniable molasses aroma with plum and pine notes. Black color, medium tan head. The taste is dark, but not strong, maybe charcoal and dough. Strong walnut and celery finish with an aged feel. Very unique and drinkable. Light tasting enough to go well with a salad. I want to rate this higher, but it lacks the strength to justify it.

The appearance after the pour from the 12 ounce bottle is a deep black walnut brown, with ruby highlights, the head a modest sized light tan in color with the texture creamy, after its dissipation the lace forms a thin sheet that covers the glass. Nose has a nutlike sweetness, hints of caramel and a tiny bit of coffee. Start has pleasing malt sweetness; a touch of burnt grain bitterness also present, top is light to medium in feel. Finish has a mild to average acidity, the hops modest in their bite, sweet and dry, a drinkable beer, but seems more an English Brown than a Porter.

Bottle from Trader Joe’s. Pours a deep dark brown, appears black at first with very light tan head. Aroma is roasty, of chocolate and cocoa, maybe a hint of coffee, coming off kind of sweet. Flavor is cocoa and roasted malt, some nuttiness, some faint coffee notes. Not much else, the body fades to a thin medium carbonated thinness towards the end. Finish leaves some faint roastiness and chocolate, sweet but not too much. Not bad, better than I expected I guess.

Dark brown with a medium beige head. Aroma is roasty and has some coffee and chocolate in there. Flavor is a bit bland, but roasty malts and a coffee undertones make it drinkable. Not bad, not too exciting either.