Draft at the brewpub. Black body, tan head, roasty nose. Mediocre example of the style.

Tap, 2007: Very black with a tan head. Tingly carbonation; chewy texture. Rich and roasty aromas. Complex flavors of toffee, milk chocolate, sugared tobacco, black licorice and creamed coffee. Only a mild bitterness to boot. Tasty beer, but residual sugars seem to be a bit much. I also yearned for a bigger hop presence to balance things out.

I had this beer on tap at the brewery while I was on vacation there. This is my favorite beer from Maui Brewing Co. It is very dark with a slight ruby tinge at the edge of the glass where light is just barely visible. Heavy chocolate and roasted barley smells dominate the aroma. The flavor is awesome with heavy dark chocolate almost cocoa flavor with a lighter roasted flavor in the background. It is full bodied as expected and has great drinkability.

Hops in the nose and coffee with some perfume. Opaque with a nitro looking creamy tan head. Off flavors are very pervasive. Sweet, somewhat strong. Molasses. They didn’t hit this one.

Draught at the brewery. Beer looks like spent motor oil—opaque, very dark brown/black with a small, tan, creamy, mostly lasting head.

The aroma is malty with moderate notes of roasted grain, chocolate, coffee, trace of molasses and shortbread; Hoppy with a light note or resin/pine; Light yeasty note.

The flavor is heavily sweet, moderately bitter with a long, warm, light-to-moderately sweet, moderately bitter finish.

The body is medium-to-full, the texture is velvety and the carbonation very soft.