awaisanen (1279), Irvine, California, USA Jul 25, 2007 From a 500mL Bottle. Pours a mostly opaque, blackish brown color with some coppery highlights edging the glass. A thick head of well sustaining charred foam floats easily on top. Lots of soft, medium roasted coffee in the nose with a pleasant chocolate maltiness. A hint of prune skins and toasted cashews, drizzled with some raspberry sauce; mostly though, it’s just a great chocolatey mocha coffee nose. Not too bitter, roasty, or tannic. Light to medium bodied, creamy carbonated mouthfeel. Some nutty almond chocolate starts out the palate, meets some mild raisins halfway through, and finishes with a more bittersweet intensity highlighting coffee and dark chocolate liquore. A smidgen of ash is left in the final smack. Lots of good solid flavors without much residual sweetness, allowing the malt bill complexities to speak for themselves without any gimmicky coaxing. It gets a little bit warm on the backend, but doesn’t detract too much from the experience. This is really one that I would classify as a stout, but they can call it whatever they want - at the end of the day, it’s still a pretty damn good beer. theisti (1640), Leawood, Kansas, USA Jul 25, 2007 1 pt .9 fl oz bottle from Blue Max in Burnsville, MN. Pour is a deep brown with red highlights. Head is khaki and about 1/2 inch tall. Aroma is licorice, hops and roasted malt. The taste starts with a very nice roastiness, plenty of malt, some hop bitterness and then finishes with a strong coffee flavor. Really nice palate to this one, solid, but not overly huge. Really picks up flavor as it warms. Nice beer. heemer77 (4294), Savannah, Missouri, USA Jul 24, 2007 I have a winner for rating #2800. From a bottle, new arrival at John’s Grocery. The body is very dark brown, near black with traces or garnet at the edges when held to light. The head is long lasting and medium khaki colored. The aroma is rich roasted coffee with some good hot chocolate. There is also a hint of fresh peas. The taste is lightly roasted almonds with some espresso in the finish. There is a little bit of bread crust and even some tangerines in the finish. The body is relatively thin and smooth. Everything I look for in a porter. This is a great beer, not just an amazing porter. FatPhil (3446), Espoo, Finland Jul 23, 2007 Updated: May 23, 2008500ml bottle.
Pours jet black, with an espresso head. Fantastic hoppy aroma, with loads of rich dark chocolate. And what a delightful taste! Burnt darkly roasted malt, crisp bitter highlights, some gingerness too. And my - what a long aftertaste carrying all of the above. Covers the alcohol very well too. bikesandbeers (468), Los Angeles, California, USA Jul 23, 2007 500ml bottle from Hi-Times Wine Cellar in Costa Mesa. Poured a deep black with a thin tna head. Roasty malts with cofee and choclate dominated the nose. Flaqvor is sweet with some dark fruityness and cholate blaneced out with some bitter cofee, finishes with a slight bitter hop. Feels great and full in the mouth but finishes suprisingly clean. An amazing brew. POD (198), USA Jul 19, 2007 Bottle as pictured. Pitch black pour with dark tan cream head. Aroma od powered cocoa and malt. Flavor robust malt, coffee, & roasty nuttiness. Definitley better as it warms. Finish is a smooth bitter. Mouthfeel was a bit watery. All in all very nice. I’d drink it again. BückDich (4793), McCall, Idaho, USA Jul 15, 2007 Bottle: Black, oily tan head, light lacing. The nose is sweet with licorice and roast, nice chocolate and coffee, bitter cocoa and hops, light alcohol. The flavor has a big nice body with tasty roasted notes and fruity alcohol. Super roasty, typical of this brewery, which is nice to see. tupalev (2605), Toronto, Ontario, Canada Jul 14, 2007 Huge, huge thanks to blankboy for sharing his bottle of this with me. Very dark brown, small bubbly brown head. Great aroma - chocolaty, rich, roast, wow! Taste is just as good if not better. Rich bitter roast, sweet chocolate. Nice bitter linger. Full bodied. Complex, yet so drinkable. Probably the best porter I have ever had and one of the best beers I have ever had.
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