Darkness 100 Rating 55 Page 7

July 2012; 12oz bottle into pint glass. Enjoy by Dec 2016 date stamp. Pours nice and dark with a beautiful thick head. Lots and lots of hops in the nose, too much in my opinion for the style, but many people like that about this beer. Mouthfeel is nice and creamy. Taste is slightly less hoppy than the nose suggests, but does hit on the finish. Nice toasty chocolate flavor under the hoppiness. Overall a different take on the style, but not bad. I won't probably have it again, but it would be interesting to age a bottle for a few years and see how it mellows. Perhaps worth a shot if I ever get that cellar space built out.

My favorite/staple stout. Amazing flavor and beautiful color.

Very full stout. Definitely top of the line for any stouts I've had.

Excellent stout. Coffee, a little bit of chocolate, and hops. Smooth

Mild astringent bitterness from roasted malt but not unpleasant. Def my fav victory beer

Opaque umber. Thick. Malt composition recalls dates, prunes, and chocolate. Fine-grained carbonation. Delicious. A benchmark imperial stout.

Strong flavor of espresso. Balanced coffee bitterness.

A little too bitter for my taste although it might taste better on a hot summer day than in the dead of winter.

Strong!