Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial Stout

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

Bottle, grey wax seal from 2007. Opened 20 Dec 2007 as an early birfday present to myself. Aroma is pretty colossal, thick rich chocolate with alcohol and a bit of salt, roast coffee beans and a syrupy malt. Lesser notes of vanilla and molasses, and I’d swear I smelled bourbon if I didn’t know better. Noisy pour, soul-devouring blackness with a dark brown head that quickly fizzed into nothingness. Enormously rich and full taste, strong with roast but even that is overcome by the hearty, dry fruit (though there’s a slight, and unfortunate, metallic tendency before the palate numbs). A really delicious berry flavor is dominant, with lighter vanilla and adjunct cream. Plums and a thicker strain of port, with heavy, viscous molasses. Chocolate cake with raisins and faint cherry topping. Light flittering sweetness and sourness, but these two register more as afterthoughts. Alcohol is much better integrated than was expected, mostly noticed in the heft and with little trace in the taste; even the residual warming is slight and almost snuck up on me. Obese body, slightly syrupy but not to its detriment. Startlingly, there’s a touch of hops to be detected, lightly prickling in the finish and dry aftertaste, ultimately put to better effect than in Black Sun, which I adore. Sticky lips for minutes of licking. There seems to be wisdom in a “best ingredients possible” philosophy; it’s evident that high-quality beans were used, the kind I’d like to buy by the pound and use every morning. More importantly, as a front-running imperial stout, DL avoids the trap and does not seem to be sunk in any trudging mire or slogging bog or plodding fen; rather, it’s bright and glittering, spirited and vibrant and exciting. There’s also a high degree of consumer satisfaction here; it’s as clearly opulent and well-heeled as we hope to find in gourmet food, to say nothing of highly-rated gourmet food. I’ve entered into this affair rather cautiously, but in the end, I feel I’ve not been sufficiently effusive in my praise. Superlative.

P.S. Leaves an undesirably thick yeasty residue on the glass. I know some of us look for da Sludge, but … echh!

[931-20071206] 650mL (Vintage 2007, silver wax; c/o boboski). Beautiful mildly sweet aroma has roasty malt tones and hints of smooth chocolate and coffee. Black abyss body hints at red around the edges with not much head. Flavour is a nicely balanced roast malt with chocolate and coffee and mild fig raisin, all blended together and slightly smoked. Smooth clean full body easily hides the higher alcohol notes. A lovely lovely imperial stout, thank you for sharing -- plus what an incredible way to start off on a roadtrip to Tampa! (10/3/9/5/19) 4.6

[1357B-20080517] Bottle. Dark and roasty syrup aroma has some "porty fruit" notes. Dark dark brown body with light tan bubbles and the sludge really coats the glass to a yellow tinge. Roasty malt flavour has thick sweet dark chocolate and lots of mocha with a long, long aftertaste. Full thick body is sweet. Wow -- very port-like and thick and tasty. (8/4/9/4/17) 4.2
(Vintage 2004; c/o frylock, w/ others)

Silver wax. 50 for me! Had four so far this year. Sorry, I had to say it. I’ll try not to compare it to 2006. Oily pour, sticks to glass and is not inviting. Scary even. Malts way way way over the top. Bitterness way way way over the top. Alcohol was like sipping vodka. It should seem balanced, but it really overwhelms the palate. Maybe I’m just not ready, maybe this year was too much (possible?). I know what it is supposed to be, but I’m not sure it hits the mark.

ummmmm. yeah. had this with darkness expidition and big eddy. the darkness was fresh, the bid eddy was fresh, and the exped was aged 18 months. The exped was miles better than it was when fresh. the big eddy was great, darkness was just phenomenal. As for the dark lord. it was tasty, but WAY TOO SWEET for my liking. nearly zero hops at all, all malts and plums, etc. just way fruity and malty. i’d take either of the above RIS anytime.

2007 bottle. Not as roasty as I was expecting, but somewhat fruity. No head on the pour and no lacing. Becomes richer as it warms, but the coffee and molasses are dominant. As a beer novice, I’m looking forward to future Dark Lords.

2007 bottle at DLD: Black as night it had a slight brown head that left some nice brown lacing. The nose was huge and filled with expresso, chocolate and porty overtones. While not as potent as the barrel-aged version, in the mouth it was the dense, thick, syrupy and oily. While the alcohol lever is high (15%), it is never hot. The flavors from the nose fill the palate and cover every nook and cranny. This is an intese huge beer that should be drank in small quantities. However credit needs to be given as it is balanced which is not an easy feat for something this size.

22oz bottle, 2007 Vintage (Silver Wax). Pours the blackest black. Like pure syrupy crude oil. Aroma of tar, sugar, molasses, port, licorice, fruit, dark chocolate. Flavor is super chewy stickiness. The glass is ruined. It was a nice clear crystal, now it is stained amber that shall never be clean.

This beer poured dark as night and very thick and oily. As it went into the pint glasses that we took out, it seemed to be visibly slow coming out of the wax-topped bottle. A cola color head that rose and fell quickly gave off roasty aromas and hints of dark chocolate and oak. The first sips were quite surprising. For a 12%ABV stout that had such a roasty, woody aroma, I would never have expected the decadent smoothness that was exhibited in this beer. Also surprising was that the chocolate notes came through stronger on the palate than the bitterness, which was subtly present and nicely balanced. There was also a strong coffee note that was complex in that it provided the bitterness while also adding to the creaminess with a cafe au lait-type note. The mouthfeel was heaven. As it warmed up, it certainly got better all the way up to nearly room temperature (in a room with 20+ people and a fire going in the fireplace!). Absent was any hop profile or astringency from the roasted malts. This was a purely balanced, delicious beer that had a much softer edge than its reputation would have you believe. It was truly an excellent experience and it was on made all the more special, sharing it with an old friend. Good to see you, Jason!