Oskar Blues Ten FIDY

On draught at Pizza Port Solana Beach. Pours jet black with a medium thick dark brown head that recedes slowly. Rings of lacing on the glass. Loads of roasted malt in the nose along with chocolate and vanilla coffee. Rich and velvety body with flavors of malt and mocha with a nice balance of hops in the background. The finish is malted chocolate with a tasty bitter coffee finish. Very good all around.

Can. Pours like used motor oil, thick, black, almost completely opaque, with a thin tan head, good lacing. Smells of chocolate, coffee, caramel and oatmeal. Medium-thick body, crisp. Tastes like it smells, but the oats come through even stronger in the flavor, and the alcohol flavor is strong. It became sweeter as I drank, perhaps due to warming. A dry bitterness is powerful, especially in the aftertaste.

Pours black with a brown head. Aroma is of roasted malt, chocolate, wood, and coffee. Taste was of very dry roasted malt and wood, with a big chocolate and coffee punch. Alcohol is hidden well. Delicously thick and dry. Different than many other stouts.

One of my favorite impy’s. Classic can full of chocolate and coffee flavors. Pours darker than used baby dipers. Tons of malt on the nose. Great beer for winter drinking. Sipper.

Draft (Hamiltons): Blackish color, dark brown, lacy, fully large head. Chocolate nose, slightly smoky, milky, and interestingly earthy with a hint of dried fruit. Creamy/Milky mouthfeel with hoppy bitterness strongly riding along. Flavors of coffee and chocolate but a bit muddled by the high hop profile...I like the malt profile, but it’s really hard to get a clear picture of it. Need to down the damn hops.

Canned sample via (and shared with) oakbluff. Jet black in colour with moderate carbonation. Huge malt aromas with notes of dark chocolate, vanilla, and licorice. More chocolate and licorice in the mouth, along with elements of caramel, herbal hops, oats, and a bit of coffee. Heavy bodied. Reminds me a bit of Bells Expedition stout. A well put together beer.

Can sample- very viscous pour, really lives up to the name. Dark stuff. Reasonable tan head. Nose- licorice, oats and dark chocolate. Taste- incredibly thick bodied. You could cut it with a knife. Very well melded flavours lap over the tongue, big chocoalte and licorce flavour, extra kick from the oats. Surprised to see this is 98 ibu, hops seem to swallowed by the black hole of beautiful malts. Finishes nicely.

Um, can. Complex aroma that offers milk chocolate and coffee. I’ve held over 1,000 beers up to light and this is one of perhaps less than a handful where absolutely no light gets through. As I was pouring it, it literally looked like engine oil coming out of a can of penzoil. A can vs. a bottle accentuated that visual, but I can’t remember seeing a beer this dark, this black. Light brown head, thin, but leaves an extensive maze-like coating on the glass. Tastes quite a bit like it smells. Very good although there’s something about it, an off aroma/flavor that I detect. I think I have identified it as pine nut. I’m not sure I like Oskar Blues’ Whoppers analogy, since that cheapens the stature that this brew could command. I’d have to say, though that, like their Dale’s Pale ale, there’s a considerable amount of quality and complexity in this brew, but also something subtle that keeps it from being even better. Is it the can? I doubt it. 98 IBUs reveal themselves as the palate recovers from the initial shock. Another outstanding brew from Oskar Blues.