“True Italian-styled pick-me-up” loads creamy espresso-milked black chocolate richness atop dry coffee bean roast, light hop-charred nuttiness and wispy lemon-peeled souring. Sweet milk chocolate center allows lactose-sugared vanilla, cocoa, burnt caramel and cappuccino illusions to underscore its espresso bean pertinence. Amazing.
On tap at Growler & Gill, illustrious stout gets cask-aged with dark cherries to perfection. Stylish dark-roasted black chocolate malting and dry cocoa bean influence sweetly soured by black cherry bruise, remaining extremely silken on the tongue. Tartly tangy red and black cherry subtleties linger ever so softly alongside wood-singed mocha chalking. Lightly exquisite.
On tap at Ambulance, triumphant Imperial Stout given bourbon-barreled sour cherries to heighten “richer, heartier” mocha richness. Bittersweet chocolate malting gains creamy molasses sugaring that serenades oaken vanilla dryness, vinous port wining and bourbon whiskey elegance. Combative black cherry sourness spreads across expansive mocha-spiced finish.
Exemplary bourbon barrel aged Imperial Stout retains fudgy milk chocolate goodness and dark-roasted hop char for oaken vanilla sweetness. Black coffee, cappuccino, burnt caramel, cocoa powder, anise and coconut illusions reinforce prosperous mocha theme. Wispy black cherry, fig and blackberry undertones fill out sugared molasses backend.
Reasonably good scallywag brings oats-charred black patent malting, dry hop tarring and raw molasses bittering to dark-roasted chocolate setting, picking up mild burgundy licks at the bittersweet mocha finish.
On tap at Track 84, rogue Danish dry body (brewed at Belgium’s De Proef Brewery) loads bustling bourbon-burgundy wining inside smoky black patent malting, bruised black cherry tartness, black chocolate-embittered espresso lilt and light anise spicing. Cedar-aged cigar aromatics flow thru tantalizing hybridized stout.
On tap at Shepherd & Knucklehead, rich anise-spiced espresso stout receives candi-sugared Belgian yeast influence to sweeten dark-roasted mocha malting. Bittersweet coffee bean vibrancy increased by gooey anise, fudgy vanilla, black chocolate, dark cocoa and gunky molasses for chewy mocha-spiced dessert.
Exquisite 2014 bottled version increases integral sweet bourbon whiskey influence for more affluent fudgy brown chocolate malting. Dry hop roast deepens tertiary black cherry, red grape, green raisin and fig illusions at mighty oats-sugared mocha finish.
Admirably complex bourbon-aged Imperial Stout betters whipped-creamed mochaccino with a whiskey shot. Milky brown and dark chocolate malting picks up cappuccino, espresso and dark-roast coffee influence as well as cocoa powder, burnt caramel, molasses cookie and toasted coconut nuances. Anise-seeded black licorice undertones sidle oaken vanilla wisp and hesitant wood-smoked tarring. In the deep recess, sour black cherry tartness and light port notes contrast bruised cherry sweetness. A chocolate-covered malt ball alternative with a rummy bourbon kick, perhaps.
On tap at Ambulance, sumptuous toasted oak-chipped mocha stout, ‘akin to a gourmet chocolate bar,’ allows mild bourbon vanilla sweetness to contrast bitter cocoa nibs adjunct, French-roast black coffee influence and ‘toned down’ dry hop char. Black cherry, raspberry puree and black grape provide dried fruited backdrop for heavy brown-black chocolate richness. Valiant hybrid is one of 2015’s best ales.
On tap at Ambulance, enthusiastic habanero-peppered version of trusty Imperial Stout betters the original. Ascending habanero burn spices up prominent cocoa-beaned black chocolate roast and sugary maple molasses creaming, intensifying resinous hop-toasted mocha finish.
Dismayingly ‘unorthodox’ dark ale collides treacly black patent-derived rye malts with wavering soy-sauced cocoa powdering, splotchy black licorice tones and barren dried fruiting, sacrificing stylistic mocha creaminess for resinous hop-oiled astringency. Subtle rye influence and desolate dark chocolate musk prove underwhelming.