Black Metal Farmhouse Imperial Stout
Jester King Brewery

Black Metal Farmhouse Imperial StoutBlack Metal Farmhouse Imperial Stout
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From:
Jester King Brewery
 
Texas, United States
Style:
Russian Imperial Stout
Ranked #398
ABV:
9.1%
Score:
89
Ranked #11,059
Avg:
3.99 | pDev: 11.28%
Reviews:
139
Ratings:
926
Status:
Active
Rated:
Feb 10, 2024
Added:
Nov 17, 2011
Wants:
  169
Gots:
  237
First batch of Black Metal fermented with our house mixed culture. Naturally, because of its unique fermentation with native microorganisms, the beer is different than previous versions. We’re quite happy with how it turned out, and we’re excited to release it. However, for fans of the original Black Metal, or “O.G. Black Metal” as its known, we feel as though we need to borrow the famous line from Stone Brewing Co.‘s Arrogant Bastard Ale: “You probably won’t like it.” Like all our beer, the flavors and aromas of the current batch of Black Metal are very much fermentation derived and rely far less on copious amounts of malt and hops. This is what we like to drink. We like dry, balanced, drinkable, tart beers with some interesting yeast complexity. We feel we’ve achieved this with Black Metal, and hope others enjoy it as well. There will be those that don’t, however, and wish we’d return to the days of fermenting this beer with English ale yeast, and that’s OK.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by Gosox8787:
Photo of Gosox8787
Reviewed by Gosox8787 from New Hampshire

3.75/5  rDev -6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Presentation: Bomber bottle split with a friend. Served just below cellar temperature over the course of about half an hour. Poured into a Sierra Nevada tulip glass.

Appearance: Pours alomst all head on the first couple pours. Dark brown, but creamy lacing, with strong retention. When it finally settles, there is a nice full head and a midnight black body.

Aroma: Lots of smoky ash, char, and really dark chocolate. The roasted components are definitely in full force. After settling for a bit, a touch of cherry is noticable.

Taste: First impression is definitely strong char without much sweetness. As it warm, some dark chocolate becomes more prevelant and the yeast notes start to take over. Cherry sweetness and tartness mixed with the strong char and chocolate. Interesting and drinkable at this point.

Mouthfeel: Full bodied and very creamy.

Overall, a really interesting stout with a really strong char note upfront. Once the char settles, the yeast provides some nice notes as well. The stout qualities are far greater than the farmhouse notes. Probably not going to go out of my way to try again.
Apr 23, 2012
More User Ratings:
Photo of buckthehog
Reviewed by buckthehog from Texas

4.48/5  rDev +12.3%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
An utterly unique stout. Flavors of mushroom, smoke, chicory, dark earth, soy sauce, and burned wood. I am assuming this complex flavor profile is from Jester King’s fermentation process and the Hill Country oxygen. Not as adulterated as most stouts. Un-shaved glory.
Feb 10, 2024
Photo of JacobusFavier23
Reviewed by JacobusFavier23 from Texas

4.09/5  rDev +2.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
L-Jet black with a half fingered tan head that becomes lacy as time goes by. There is no color to this beer. It legit is jet black. Darkest beer I've ever seen, I think. I love it.
S-Smokey, toasted malt, dark chocolate, sweet toffee, bitter dark roast coffee, BBQ, earthy dare I say... leathery? Almost savory. Some cherry and other stone fruit, wild yeast, and a slightly funky backbone of brettanomyces.
T-Toned down, bitter, and slightly sour. The flavor is slow to develop and subtle, but builds as the beer warms. It has a yeasty bite, with hints of licorice and black coffee. Vanilla and cocoa is there as well. A nice smokiness follows. Subtly sweet with a slight tinge of booze at the end.
F-Medium/full bodied with a dry mouth feel. Not much carbonation.
O-I feel like this beer embodies the name. Its dark, funky, weird, smoldering and oddly toned down. A doomy combination or fire roasted, strange and organic and punchy notes results in a really soli, aggressive, yet tempered down imperial stout.
Sep 09, 2023
Photo of StonedTrippin
Reviewed by StonedTrippin from Colorado

4.13/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
obviously there are a couple of different versions of this, the old one with the english yeast, which to me still had just a little tinge of funkiness to it, and this one, which is done with the now famous mixed culture they have down there, way more expressive on the ferment, tart, especially with age, but really complex and quite different, not just a sour stout, a lot of wild character too, im sure ive had this before now, but perhaps i was looking at the listing for the original when considering it, they are absolutely two different beers. this is batch 19, 2017 vintage, courtesy of a good friend, a little lower alcohol this time around at 8.7%, i think still imperial but without quite as much viscosity as expected, and maybe just a little more sweetness than i thought this had, not quite fermented to zero and thus maybe a little lower alcohol as a result of that. gorgeous rich silky deep brown color to it, a sport inch plus of airy tan head, looks nicely refined and lively for the style. definitely licorice and pipe tobacco in the nose and taste, subtle black pepper, date, and burnt wood too, a hint of cola, earthy oats i reckon, and more hop bitterness than expected. its also real puckery, a little vinegar makes my mouth water, bacteria ahead of brett at this stage of its life, light caramel and toffee offsetting it. it warms up a little sharp, which makes this a small doses thing for me, but its neat against the bitter roast, and there is some raisin and even amarone wine character in the middle of this that i like a lot, birch syrup sweetness, licorice again, dark bitter chocolate late, and some farmy funk coming out. a little balsamic thing happening too which is neat, but this is a shade more sour than it needs to be, perhaps this has been exacerbated in the bottle over time. lightly syrupy and palate coating, but also with some carbonation keeping the flow up. unique and sort of addicting, but weird and kind of aggressive at the same time. would love to try this a little newer when perhaps the sourness is not so developed...
Aug 21, 2022
 
Rated: 3.75 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Mar 02, 2022
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Reviewed by Sigmund from Norway

4.12/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
750 ml bottle, batch #15, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 9.3%, OG 1085, FG 1015, IBU 44. Pitch black colour (one of the darkest beers I’ve seen), large and impressive head with colour somewhere between coke grey and brown. Aroma of roasted malts, coffee, leather and chocolate, mixed with acidic and "farmhouse" notes of brettanomyces. The flavour is rich and medium sweet, with some fruity acidity, but is first and foremost dominated by roasty notes of coffee, hints of dark bitter chocolate and black pepper. Great stuff.
Apr 30, 2021
 
Rated: 4.25 by shigg85 from Japan

Dec 11, 2020
 
Rated: 2.4 by bret27 from California

Nov 18, 2020
Photo of Gordono
Reviewed by Gordono from Nevada

4/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
This just ain’t my style of beer, that’s why I scored it on the average, because I don’t feel I can fairly judge it. Like the brewers said themselves “you’re not gonna like this.” And I didn’t.

Looks great, like a wonderful imperial stout, but looks are deceiving. It’s very sour and I get a strong, unpleasant smokiness. The dryness made it almost drinkable, but not for me.
Nov 14, 2020
 
Rated: 3.78 by Jcarriglio from Florida

Aug 23, 2020
Photo of imnodoctorbut
Reviewed by imnodoctorbut from Texas

4.35/5  rDev +9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
beautiful.
brutal.
funky.
appropriate.

this brew knows every Venom album lyric and their liner notes or lack-there-of and isn't afraid to punch me in the tear duct for acting like I do while sitting across the "pass it left" circle from it. and honestly, i respect the hell out of it for that.
Jul 01, 2020
 
Rated: 4.59 by The_Kriek_Freak from Pennsylvania

May 06, 2020
 
Rated: 4.19 by Wisconsin_IPA_Lover from Wisconsin

May 01, 2020
Photo of stortore
Reviewed by stortore from Illinois

4.08/5  rDev +2.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
750 ml bottle into a tulip snifter. Batch #20, bottled 12/2018, had 3/17/20.

Started as a fizzy foam bomb, but did not gush. Pours near black and opaque, with a huge, thick foamy head of darker foam with lots of foamy lacing. Aromas of yeast, chocolate, coffee, some licorice, some raisins and cocoa, a tart aroma that fades, some funk, faint cherries, a little black. The flavor shows a good amount of tartness up front, then yeast, chocolate, coffee, a fair amount of hop bitterness on the finish, a little licorice and anise, a little bit of an herbal taste. Smooth, a good medium to full body, heavily carbonated but doesn’t feel fizzy. At least after the first pour.

An interesting beer that is like a Belgian stout with different yeast. The coffee and chocolate aromas and flavors are the most prominent, but nothing really stands out. A solid effort, very enjoyable and well worth a purchase.
Apr 13, 2020
 
Rated: 4.25 by RiceOwls27 from Texas

Apr 10, 2020
 
Rated: 2.72 by BlueJay2852 from Texas

Mar 30, 2020
 
Rated: 4.06 by Luckydog91 from Texas

Jan 21, 2020
 
Rated: 3.75 by NickThePyro from Washington

Jan 05, 2020
 
Rated: 4.75 by KrissyKat6 from New York

Dec 28, 2019
Photo of puck1225
Reviewed by puck1225 from Texas

4.5/5  rDev +12.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
I love this beer!

Had it from tap atthe brewery,poured into a snifter. Rich dark brown with a beautiful light brown head and excellent lacing. Chocolate dark toast smell and taste with some nice funk. Licorice, chocolate, and anise flavors. Wonderful tart funkiness with it all. Very rich tasting. One of my favorites from this brewery!
Dec 27, 2019
Black Metal Farmhouse Imperial Stout from Jester King Brewery
Beer rating: 89 out of 100 with 926 ratings