DuClaw Black Jack Stout

Brewed by DuClaw Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Abingdon, Maryland USA

1 L bottle. thanks to Jim Wagner for sending this to me. big ups to you and DuClaw brewing. pours pitch black with small tan head. nose has piney, juicy hops, roast, and baker’s chocolate. very nice hoppy nose. flavor is creamy smooth with chocolate, piney hops, dark fruits, and caramel with subtle charred wood. mothfeel is full and rich. alcohol is well hidden. i’m thinking the chocolate should come out more in a year (guess i’ll have to crack my 03 bottle soon!) but i’m a sucker for a well piney hopped imperial stout these days. i enjoyed this a lot...8/4/7/4/16.................................. vintage thanks again Jim Wagner, very similar to this fresh, just not as piney hops, still good and held up well. perhaps some charred wood was added during the rest. i’m actually surprised how similar this beer to it fresh is being 4 years old. rating unchanged.

1L bottle via trub (Jim Wagner). Near black with a large brown head. Good retention. Aroma of rich chocolate with just a hint of grass hops. Taste was chocolate and coffee with a creamy texture. No sourness. A little bitterness at the finish.

1 L bottle huge thanks to trub (Jim Wagner) for sending this out to me!!! What a great guy. Pours a thick black with an espresso colored head. The nose was surprisingly not that chocolatey but mostly coffee and roast, bakers chocolate with some hints of sweet milk. Creamy body smooth and drinkable. Coffee, dark chocolate, and milky flavors that want to come out more (and probably will with age) but right now the bitterness of roast and hops restrain them. A tasty beer and easy to drink impy which is good because 1 liter is a lot of beer. Thanks so much to trub for sending this out.

1 L bottle, via BA akorsak. Pours a very dark black body under a tight bubbled foamy brown head. Lots of heavy lacing and a thin covering lasted for the duration. The aroma is very roasty and burnt with lots of coffee and espresso. A little diacetyl maybe, and a touch of alcohol. Flavor is quite bitter and slightly astringent. Lots of coffee, roast, and espresso, with minimal alcohol. That little bit of diacetyl on the nose expresses itself a little too much on the finish. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with a slightly oily slick texture. Nice soft fine carbonation. All in all I wasn’t too thrilled with this one. A little too much malt derived bitterness and that diacetyl just kept nagging at me more and more as I made my way through the bottle. It was a bit of a chore to down a whole liter bottle of this. It’s hard to believe that this was the same beer that went into the barrel to make the oak aged version we had at RBSG 2006.

Flip-cap quart bottle, courtesy of Slob. Thanks again, man! Pours like a wintery night in a northern country: dark and forboding, with a sense of calm and solitude. The wintery sky gives way to clouds of dark olive-brown that seem to sit content overhead. Aromas of white chocolate and espresso are immediately noticeable in the nose; these are quickly followed by a faint, almost whispering breeze of red wine and copper. The first sip greets the tongue with a boquet of coffee, chocolate, and fire-glazed sugar. A slight tickle of chocolate pudding comes in from the trees in the distance after the last sip has left the mouth on its way south. Lingering coffee bitterness on the palate is balanced nicely by a slick, coating that is almost devoid of carbonation. Almost perfect beer. Thanks, slob!

Draft at Duclew. Black body with small tan head. The aroma is dark roasted coffee, bakers chocolate and molases. The flavor is heavy on the espresso, chocolate and slightly burnt. Medium body with soft carbonation and bitter end. Nice one.

Draft at Arundel Mills. Pours black with a nice creamy brown head. Medium mouthfeel, and perhaps on the light side for an Imperial Stout. Faint aroma of roasted coffee and black patent malts. Initial flavor of unsweetened dark chocolate the quickly jumps to flavors of dark roast/ expresso coffee. Very bitter finish with an odd solvent like taste that I did not care for (at room temp it was less noticeable). Decent, but not a standout to my personal preferences.

Black pour with a frothy tan head and nice lacing. Dark roasted espresso aroma. Loads of coffee flavor with milk chocolate and a very bitter finish. Very creamy full body.