Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

Brewed by Three Floyds Brewing Company
Style: Imperial Stout
Munster, Indiana USA

I am a better man at having drank this beer. My beard is bushier, my chest hair is more pronounced, women are now instinctively drawn to me. And I can fly. Delicious.

Thanks for the bottle Tim! Was shocked to get this in a trade over a year ago. Pours black with dark tan head. So complex, vanilla, chocolate, cherries and coffee dominate nose. Taste is very much the same. So smooth drinking for a high ABV brew.

I went to Dark Lord Day thinking that there’s no way the beer could live up to my expectations but at least it should be a fun time. I was wrong...the beer exceded all expectations and I had an amazing time. Not a beer for the faint of heart. Dark Lord is a monster. At first sip you notice the high alcohol content but after that you notice a different taste with each sip. From coffee to chocolate to berries. You’ll also notice different tast receptors in different part of your mouth picking up different tastes. A very fun beer to drink.

2008 bottle enjoyed with and Courtesy of Theisti. Notes are misspellen on my blackberry so lets hope I got it all. Pours inky, oily black, with little to no head. Nose is out of this world good. Soy Sauce, dark, bitter chocolate, pipe tobacco, and hints of cherry and vanilla. Taste is more of the same in a really complex wave, more of the vanilla and the coffee flavors make a huge appearance near the finish. To be honest, at first I wasn’t blown away at all, but as I got through it, the flavors really meld and work together. Thanks, Tim.

2009 Bottle thanks to dchmela in celebration of the Jets beating the Pats...GO JETS! This is is SO BIG. Pitch ass black beer. Smells really strong of roasted deep carmel malts. Strong alcohol. Very sweet coffee and molasses flavor and lots of alcohol. Really friggin awesome.

Bottle from 2008 - black wax. Thanks to Todeon for that beer. The bottle looks really, really good, as well as the beer in the glass. Deep black, small brownish head. Starts very, very strong, dry-malty, heavy, complex notes of strong coffee and liquorice. Thick, dry-malty finish. Not really drinkable. I know better Imperial Stouts.

Bottle, 2009 vintage, with enormous thanks to MrBunn. Pours black with 1 - 1 and 1/2 fingers of brown sugar head. Aroma is very intense, coffee, cocoa, cherries, booze. The foam is really lasting on the brew too, leading me to expect some significant carbonation in the mouthfeel. I was wrong. The mouthfeel is thick, as others have mentioned, and the flavor is more strongly of the coffee, fruits (cherries) and something approximating breadiness than I would have expected. All of this is just a preamble, however, to the strong boozy burn here. I wouldn’t say the alcohol is poorly disguised, only that it fights its way through in the end. Lots of sweetness here, but the cocoa from the aroma is all gone. Raisins, anise, and the slightly sour cherries bring it all. Interesting. I’d been "warned" that I might not love this beer, but I do. It’s definitely unique, but that’s a good thing. I do agree, however, that I couldn’t make a 2 bottle night out of this.

09 vintage. Thanks Harpreet for scoring this one for me! Pours very dark and thick with a reddish hue in the light. It has a small, disappearing rust colored head. The aroma is of very strong coffee, licorice, milk chocolate, and fruit. The taste is very sweet and thick, almost chewy. The main flavors that hit me are fig newtons and prune juice. On further exploration, however, a more complex character comes out, mostly of dark, sweet fruits. Dates, fig, raisins. The mouthfeel is oily and port like with low carbonation. The sweetness gives way to a nice roasted coffee finish. A very luxurious beer that mostly lived up to my high expectations.