New Belgium 1554 Enlightened Black Ale 3.51 1111

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
Find this beer

send corrections | shelftag

Ratings	Average	Score	ABV	Style Pctl	Serve in
1111	3.51/5.0	3.51/5.0	5.6%	91.7	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 Their first challenge was deciphering antiquated script and outdated units of measurement, but trial and error (and many months of in-house sampling) culminated in 1554, a highly quaffable dark beer with a moderate body and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.

Please Enable Javascript

This site requires javascript enabled and/or approval of googlesyndication.com.

Most Recent

Top Raters

Highest Ratings

Who's Rated This?

potbeercollege (430), Boulder, Colorado, USA

3.3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.3	6/10	4/5	7/10	3/5	13/20

Oct 22, 2009

Bottle. Very dark amber, near black, tan frothy head, strong lacing. Rich malt aroma, notes of chocolate. Wow this beer is malty - but in a good way - and is well balanced. Long dry finish, fairly bitter.

Elwood (684), Leesburg, Virginia, USA

3.5	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.5	6/10	4/5	7/10	3/5	15/20

Oct 21, 2009

Serving: 22 oz. bottle. Appearance: A clear black if you will, with garnet highlights and a foamy, light tan head. Good head retention and great lacing left behind. Aroma: A vegetal nose with roasted notes, smoke, and a wee bit of chocolate. Flavor: Very roasty but smooth on the tongue. A little nuttiness, a bit of mineral, and a light chocolate note. It could use a little more body. Palate: Medium carbonation with a medium mouthfeel and a medium-short, slightly roasty finish. Overall: A very sessionable ale that is reasonably tasty. Still, there is nothing so great as to bring me back to this one.

mike67 (91), , New Jersey, USA

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

Oct 19, 2009

12oz bottle at Shellfish in Port Lavaca, TX. Pours dark brown with a thin, short lasting tanned head. Aroma is light of brown sugar, dark fruits and some nuts. Medium body with dark fruit and espresso coffee fill the mouth. Finish is medium. Taste like a good porter to me.

JaBier (1294), Capital City, Ohio, USA

3	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3	6/10	3/5	6/10	3/5	12/20

Oct 17, 2009

Bottle. Pours a cloudy dark brown with a thin beige head. Grainy malt aroma with caramel and a hint of chocolate. Caramel malt flavor with a bit of hop in the finish.

rpaskie (1), USA
does not count

3.7	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.7	6/10	4/5	8/10	4/5	15/20

Oct 10, 2009

great beer! my favorite from new belgium. dark appearance with a light to medium head that doesnt hang around long. Smokey flavor with chocolate notes. try it!

brenn79 (217), Idaho, USA

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

Oct 9, 2009

12 oz. bottle- Aroma is decent enough, but the flavor is where this beer excells. Flavor of chocolate and coffee, deeply multi layered in flavors, the best New Belgium beer i’ve ever had.

phildorsey (43), Fort Lewis, Washington, USA

3.6	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.6	8/10	5/5	5/10	5/5	13/20

Oct 8, 2009

1 pint 6 oz. Bottle. Pours Black. head is minimum and light-brown. Aroma is chocolaty and roasty. Flavor is fizzy to the palate, body is medium. Flavor misses the mark slightly. overall taste is better than average...finish long and full of body. Nice.

poisoneddwarf (223), Rathdrum, Idaho, USA

3.8	Aroma	Appearance	Flavor	Palate	Overall
3.8	7/10	4/5	7/10	4/5	16/20

Oct 4, 2009

12 oz botttle. Smells of chocolate, coffee, dark malt. Black in appearance (no surprise), small head, moderate lacing. Tastes of black coffee. Creamy mouthfeel. One of New Belgium’s best.

We Want To Hear From You

Join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community. Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings. Click here to create your account... and give your opinion!

Join Us »

View Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112

Share Your Opinion!

More Traditional Ales By Style
Bøgedal Nr. 0048 73
Dogfish Head Sahtea 93
Närke Kulturbryggeri Tanngnjost & Tanngrisnir 86
Baladin Nora 83
Bière Darbyste 92
Bøgedal Nr. 0027 73
13th Century Grut Bier 90
Heather Ales Kelpie 72
Bøgedal Nr. 0086 62
Samuel Adams Koggen 61
Bøgedal Nr. 0102 fad 66
Bøgedal Nr. 0094 82
Town Hall Heather Ale 80
Bøgedal Nr. 0072 78
Bøgedal Nr. 0120 80

please support all of this page