Musty mocha malt sweetness, sugared fig piquancy, and mild citrus undertones provide dramatic setting. Astringent alcohol coarseness makes presence felt. Strangely, golden hue lighter than full-bodied creaminess and dense sour mash would indicate.

Smoked chocolate barleymalt lag, sagging spiced-hop bittering, and lax dry nuttiness offer shoddy Copper Ale-ish respite. Cheap burgundy-Scotch midst, oily mouthfeel, and flighty prune finish decrease value further.

Fine auburn lager with up-front barley roast, caramelized yeast apex, and chocolate liqueur creaminess complementing syrupy sugared flow. Better carbonation and fuller finish would increase value. Brewery defunct: 2006.

Despite ‘black’ designation, pale golden lager retains heady malt liquor salience. Smoked whiskey prelude fades to sticky cream corn sweetness with biscuit-y wheat waver. Possible liqueur wisp turns soapy by astringent finish, where 7% alcohol drear sullies glutinous gluten goo.

In unique pudgy bottle, mahogany-hued Vienna lager-styled Mexican never overpowers, remaining politely creamy and sweet. Soft-hopped grains and distant chocolate abjure fervent alcohol-soaped mocha-spiced finish. Unlike most dark beers, it lacks (but never misses) mocha richness and instead relies on mineral water crispness and slightest agave hint.

Acrid plum-wined butterscotch-malted dark lager. Raspy hop dryness counters hard-candied sweetness punctuating medicinal finish.

Amiable dark lager with cascading white head loses wood-toned peculiarity to unconvincing dry-hopped raspberry pureed souring and acrid red grape esters.

Dundee’s staple beer priced right for less discrimating palates. Overriding honey-soured malts turn cloy above thinly veiled hop-fueled roasted barley murk of oily moderate-bodied lager. Dewy mocha malts and unspecific citrus notes retreat to astringent vegetal nature.

Frothy-headed cola-hued medium-bodied lager with chalky cocoa dryness and syrupy mocha malting builds Scotch-hopped brown ale-like essence. Slight traces of burnt wood detected amongst relaxing creamy persistence. Retains mainstream appeal while avoiding soapy tinning miring many less assertive Eastern European brews.

Deep brown-hued, medium-bodied German dark lager with cocoa-smoked coffee-burnt entry and thick tobacco imprint settles for extremely parched plum tranquility. Soft ashen malt finish fits moderate template, knocking back tertiary powdered chocolate dryness effectively.

Bland light-bodied bronze-hazed Euro-styled lager lacks tangible distinction. Thick round-bubbled head and expectant Sleeman creaminess exist alongside mild sugar water palate as grassy-hopped astringency lingers to honey-roasted finish. Light white-breaded toasting nearly escapes notice.

Tart and fruity like many exceptional Belgian brews, but oak-dried cherry-raspberry dominance overrides any typecast dry white wine-like essence. Sullen grape-vined grain-malted sweetness recedes to tamped-down hop docility.