New Belgium 1554 Enlightened Black Ale

	Percentile
	88
	overall

Brewed by New Belgium Brewing Company
Style: Traditional Ale
Fort Collins, Colorado USA

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution
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Ratings	Average	Score	ABV	Style Pctl	Serve in
1103	3.51/5.0	3.51/5.0	5.6%	91.6	Dimpled mug, English pint, Stein, Yard

Commercial Description:
Born of a flood and centuries-old Belgian text, 1554 Enlightened Black Ale uses a light lager yeast strain and dark chocolaty malts to redefine what dark beer can be. In 1997, a Fort Collins flood destroyed the original recipe our researcher, Phil Benstein, found in the library. So Phil and brewmaster, Peter Bouckaert, traveled to Belgium to retrieve this unique style lost to the ages. Their first challenge was deciphering antiquated script and outdated units of measurement, but trial and error (and many months of in-house sampling) culminated in 1554, a highly quaffable dark beer with a moderate body and mouthfeel.

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BVery (474), Burnsville, Minnesota, USA

3.5	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.5	6/10	4/5	7/10	4/5	14/20

Jan 20, 2009

TAP, BOTTLE: something to remember New Belgium by other than the overmarketed "FLAT tire." Dark mahogany pour, grainy/roasty nose, and a fairly complex palate with chocolate, fruit, and coffee. Very good beer.

doublebock (196), USA

3.9	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.9	7/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	16/20

Jan 18, 2009

Mahagony color with white head. Nutty aroma. Chewy texted with roasted dry and nutty flavor

gunhaver (1025), Tampa, Florida, USA

4.2	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
4.2	7/10	5/5	8/10	5/5	17/20

Jan 17, 2009

Bottle. Pours very dark brown with red highlights. Big fluffy creamy tan head and thick lacing. Looks as good as any beer I’ve seen. Aroma has dark fruit, raisin, caramel, clove. Some biscuit as well, and a faint note of raspberry. Flavors of vanilla, chocolate, some dark fruit, anise, cream cheese. Roasted finish is delightful. Smooth, very drinkable, really enjoyed this one.

LearninBeer (209), Sterling Heights, Michigan, USA

3.2	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.2	6/10	4/5	5/10	4/5	13/20

Jan 17, 2009

Pours a reddish black with a white head, decent lacing and mostly diminishing. The aroma is light, a little grain smell. The palate is soft, the texture creamy the body medium. The flavor is a hint of coffee, caramel in a broth. Goes down very easy.

maniac (2628), Richmond, Virginia, USA

3.3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.3	6/10	3/5	7/10	3/5	14/20

Jan 16, 2009

Bottle on 11/19/2008. Deep brown with ruby highlights, Grainy dark malt and dry choclate aroma. Big grainy flavor, dry chocoalte, light molassas and somewhat bready. Medium light body with moderate carbonation

checkmatei1 (630), Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, USA

3.9	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.9	7/10	5/5	8/10	4/5	15/20

Jan 16, 2009

Draft - Poured a black color with a thin head. The aroma was sweet malts. The flavor was sweet roasted malts with some chocolate present and a very small touch of coffee. The beer was almost like a porter but not as heavy. This was probably my favorite session beer in Fort Collins while I was there. I probably drank about 10 of these and boy did they go down smooth.

nqualls (1429), Nashville, Tennessee, USA

3.3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.3	6/10	4/5	8/10	2/5	13/20

Jan 15, 2009

22 oz bottle purchased at Frugal MacDoogal’s in Nashville. Poured a black color with a thin brown head. The aroma was sweet with some roasted malt notes. The flavor was roasted malt with chocolate present as well. The body was way too thin on this beer. The carbonation was good and the mouthfeel was clean, but the body was too thin.

SynergyXJ (506), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

3.1	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.1	4/10	5/5	7/10	3/5	12/20

Jan 6, 2009

Bottle, #437. Black pour with creamy head and good lacing. Light sweet aroma and flavor. Watery finish. Not as good as expected, but still good.

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