Black Toad Distinctive Dark Ale

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

Dark brown, smooth, sweet roasted malts, molasses, nutty, little coffee, slight hop.

a dark ale that poured to a nice head. it quickly dissapated. for me this is a beer that i could drink on a regular basis. its not heavy at all, refreshing and has a good roasted malt flavor.

While I was telling my Aunt about my beer hobby, she pulled this out of the fridge for me. She said my uncls didn’t like dark beers and this was a bit too dark for her. Dark brown pour, roasty aroma. Flavor was sweet and roasty, I almost thought this was a thin porter. Pretty decent, though. Especially for a random contract brew.

12 oz bottle from TJs. Pours a dark brown with red highlights. The head is khaki colored, small and diminishing with some minor lacing. The aroma is somewhat moderate in strength with sweet roasted malts and dust. The flavor was sweet with molasses, some burnt malts and coffee followed by a light nutty bitterness. The mouthfeel was a bit on the thin side. The finish was medium-short with lingering molasses. Overall: A very sessionable, if slightly too sweet, brew. I thought this was closer to the style of a schwartzbier than a brown.

12 bottle on 10/1/2008, courtesy of Doboy. Pours a clear, dark brown with ruby highlights, a short head, and spotty lace. Roasted nuts, some dark fruity aromas, scant spicy hops. Flavor characterized by a burnt maltiness up front, some sweeter fruit flavors of dates and such, finally punctuated with a spicy bitterness. Medium body, very softly carbonated, slightly sticky on the palate. Not a bad brown ale. Nothing striking in any area, but drinkable, and would make a satisfactory food accompaniment, but not too exciting on its own.

Bottle from Trader Joe’s. Slightly funky toffee aroma, a bit of syrupy chocolate in with dusty cracker and feet. Near-pitch dark brown pour with a light brown head. Watery body is crisp and dark, some toffee and dark choco. Brown sugar and light fig, perhaps a bit of berry or generally red fruit. Reminds of some interesting German Dunkels! Touch of roast coffee, slight nuttiness. I’m mildly impressed, and for the price, hard to beat.

(Bottle) Very dark, little head. Not the strongest aroma...a rich, malty sort of aroma, but a bit faint. Texture, very coarse, but at the same time, a bit thin. A bit sour tasting. Not bad. This beer could be improved by adding more hops, I think.

Bottle shared with K, afire and Gestapo. My pleasure gents. Dark brown pour with small tan head. Light roast on the nose with thin pallet. Mild and average, nothing really outstanding.