Black Toad Distinctive Dark Ale

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

Pours a dark brown with a small tan head. Nice looking. Aroma is very pleasant with a nice roasted nuts and caramel. Too bad the taste doesn’t hold up to the aroma. Thin palete with the taste the same as the aroma but feels watered down, with a little astrigent bite at the end.

Bottle found at Trader Joe’s Poured pitch black with a pretty big bubbly head. Verrrrry nice roasty aroma, among the roastiest (is that a word?) I remember. Follows thru with a nice smoky, sitting by the fireplace, nutty flavor. Way too light in body, and the excitement wanes after a swallow or two, but this is a nice roasty, toasty beer when you want one for a session.

Bottle from Traders Joes and Derrick! Nose of roasty malts with a tiny smoke hint; clear brown with a small tan head; flavor of taosty malt, faint coffee notes, and a tiny hop finish!

Dark brown – stark white thin head – nose of mocha , malt , molasses , and slight milk chocolate – tastes are milk chocolate , nutty , malt , slight smoky / roasted character - creamy , silky body - aftertaste sweet chocolate slightly bitter baking chocolate

Poured from a 12oz bottle with a screw-top. What, this is from Goose Island? Nowhere on this bottle does it mention goose island, it says it is from “Black Toad Brewing Co.” Hmm, always makes me wonder when a brewer “creates” a new “brewing company”. Anyway, onwards... Aroma has a very strong roasted chocolate note that masks other aromas. It pours a dark reddish-brown with an aggressive pour to get a good head on it. The flavor is...hollow...attacks the nose. A fair amount of bitterness is realized after two or three seconds when the nose effect wears off. Disappointed.

Black, with a thick tan head. Major caramel aroma. Medium body, with a sweet, sweet taste. Needs some hops.

Poured without a head...maybe it was my glass. Nice roasted flavor. Well balanced. Not enough mouth feel. Still a good beer and maybe something someone who is starting to get into dark beers might appreciate. Better than any dark or amber something or other from AB. At under $5 it doesn’t disappoint.

After paying the princely sum of 83 cents for a beer with "Distinctive" as part of the name, my expectations were calibrated on the low end of the scale, but TJ’s and Goose Island did OK with this. It doesn’t start out very well: not much in the way of aroma, just a few vague maltly notes come through the thin and fading beige head. Then it gets better: The color is a nicely reddish dark amber. The body is lightly creamy, with medium carbonation, and not watery as had been my dread. The taste is lightly sweet, nutty with some coffee and a drop of molasses. Crisp lager-like finish with just a hint of hoppy bitternes. Sessionable?