 BMan1113VR (628), Los Angeles (and Dallas, TX), California, USA
May 8, 2008
2008 bottle marked at 11% thanks to ilovedarkbeer. Pours with a largish, very thick, brown head. Black body underneath. Good lacing. Aroma of hops, brown sugar, toasted to near burnt malts, molasses, some fig, and chocolate. Taste is way to alcohol forward. Some metallicy notes in the finish. Long lasting hop bitterness with unsweetened coffee. Lightly carbonated, but the alcohol magnafies the carbonation.
CheersMate1 (276), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Jul 17, 2008 Extremely good looking beer. There is a big chocolate head. The head does not fade away fast. The beer is pretty thick and very black. Looks like a great imperial stout. Very sweet malt aroma. I was surprised by this actually. The beer is extremely sweet in comparison to how it tastes. You get a nice chocolate aroma. The beer, in my opinion, should have more dimensions as far as the aroma is concerned. I don’t really get any coffee or smoke, but still the beer smells great. The beer has a nice alcohol, coffee, sweet, and hop flavor. I love all the dimensions in the flavor. The beer actually has a nice hop profile. The bittering hop just lingers on my tongue, and I get to enjoy the hop flavor all the way through. The alcohol flavor is a bit much. It mutes many of the other excellent flavors in this beer. The coffee is apparent, but not as noticeable as I would like it to be. The sweet flavor comes out more and more as I let the beer warm up. These flavors are great. The beer has a wonderful creamy and oily type palate. I love how smooth the beer is. A pretty good beer with a lot of great flavors.
bhensonb (2713), Woodland, California, USA
Jul 12, 2008 750 ml bottle from Bottle Trek. Opaque black color with a 2-finger dark tan head. Aromas of rich roasted/toasted malt, chocolate, and, perhaps, anise. Full bodied with creamy carbonation. Very smooth, sweet dark roasted malt. Some coffee and chocolate seem to follow. Finish is dry and mostly bitter, but sweet notes linger to the sides of the mouth. Something of a smooth version of the ancient Guinness. Incredibly kind to the mouth. Not a hint of heat. Perhaps the best beer Rogue has ever produced. Bear in mind I’ve only tried 28 up to this point.
Pawola22 (31), Kansas City, Missouri, USA
Jul 12, 2008 750ml porcelain bottle from John’s Grocery.
Aroma: Sweet, similar to Dark Lord, rich malt and chocolate. Coffee. Hint of alcohol.
Appearance: Jet black, thick motor oil. Almost no head, but it is a dark tan. Very lacy.
Flavor: 3 phases...1. Smooth and roasted malt. 2. Chocolate and a light alcohol. Roasty. 3. Strong, bitter finish. Dry coffee and roast. Chocolate.
Palate: Smooth, chewy, thick. Coats the mouth and a bitterness in the aftertaste that lasts forever.
Overall: Very well balanced and delicious. Love the lingering aftertaste. I need to compare this with Bell’s Expedition and Three Floyd’s Dark Lord side by side. They are all comparably good!
Ethereal (723), London, Greater London, England
Jul 12, 2008 2007 bottle at home with renffisch, 25th June 2008. I brought the lovely ceramic bottle all the way back from the Rogue pub in San Francisco. Close to black with a persistent brown head, the nose brings to mind nothing more than burnt toast! A variety of tastes assault the tongue - burnt malt, vinous notes, hops and very bitter chocolate. It’s got an oily texture but is strongly bitter and still balanced. Interesting stuff and almost worth buying just for the extremely classy bottle!
SSSteve (1438), Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Jul 11, 2008 2008 ceramic bottle. pitch black pour under a dark brown head. thick oily pour. sugared coffee, mocha, milk chocolate, caramel, hops, chocolate chip cookies aroma. flavor of chocolate chip cookies, espresso, minty rogue-ish hops, coffee. can’t say enough good things. why hasn’t this been shipped to GA before??
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