Liquorice Confidence
To Øl

 

Wonderful. Assume the name is a nod to the High Fidelity reference to the Licorice Comfits album (with Cheryl Ladd on the cover!). Spices are subtle but linger. 14% hidden, until about 10 minutes later.

My frst from To Ol. Their accomplishment shows in one stout. (Besides, my brief research shows up over 200 brews from To Ol listed on BA; meaning their accomplishment is broader than I could imagine.)

For Liqorice Confidence. It's a good name. First the pun of it tasting like licorice but also having lots of liquor. Funny.
Second, the Confidence comes from having the audacity to produce 200+ beers.

As for this RIS, it starts about average: opaque, with brown foam. Smells are all-RIS: leads with roasted malt, mostly chocolate never goes away. These Tastes follow-through and is joined nicely by the licorice; but the chili is subtler than expected and lingers nicely in the background.

I kept this corked for the second night and in a glass for two more days. Still a great stout.

Subtle and accomplished.

 

 

 

375 ml bottle into snifter, no bottle dating. Pours opaque dark brown/black color with a 1-2 finger dense tan head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lasts. Dense soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toffee, vanilla, fudge, cream, licorice, and toasted dark bread; with lighter notes of nuttiness, smoke, chile peppers, molasses, leather, tobacco, and roast/toasted earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of dark/roast/bready malt, licorice, and light chile pepper notes; with great strength. Taste of huge milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toffee, vanilla, fudge, cream, licorice, and toasted dark bread; with lighter notes of nuttiness, smoke, chile peppers, molasses, leather, tobacco, and roast/toasted earthiness. Mild roast bitterness and slight chile spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, toffee, vanilla, fudge, cream, licorice, toasted dark bread, light pepper/smoke/molasses, and roast/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while, Incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, licorice, and light chile pepper flavors; with a nice roasted bitter/sweet balance, and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Minimal dryness. Light-medium carbonation and full body; with a very smooth, rich, and creamy/silky/velvety mouthfeel that is insane. Alcohol is insanely well hidden with minimal warming on the finish. Slight hint of pepper heat creeps in on the finish through the glass. Overall this is an amazing spiced imperial stout! All around incredible complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, licorice, and light chile pepper flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV. Amazingly rich, decadent, complex all around; with an unreal mouthfeel. A highly enjoyable offering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing opaque black in the glass with a half finger light brown head with good retention and lacing. Aroma of sweet dark toasted malt, chocolate, licorice and a mild pepper burn without an herbal pepper component to the smell. Flavor is dark toasted malt, chocolate, light vanilla, mild licorice and a very nice sharp but not overdone chili hotness in the finish, which also leaves a lingering molasses and dark hop taste that is very nice. Excellent creamy, medium to heavy body with good mouth feel. A very nice, dark malt body that leans more towards a Russian imperial than American profile, with nice integration of malt and chocolate flavors. The licorice is mild and somewhat subtle, but adds some depth. The chilis are also well integrated, with a pleasant mild to moderate burn in the finish with some light chili flavor, but well supported by the deep malt. I really liked this one. I suspect this bottle is six months to a year old, but it has held up and/or improved excellently. Very enjoyable and well done. I'm surprised at the lower ratings here.

 

Very attractive stout. Not quite black, but close. Ring of large bubbles and nice, seemingly permanent film of smaller bubbles across the surface.
Smell is initially a strong, roasty stout, but the licorice component quickly comes to the fore, across with a hoppy note of bitterness. Interesting and unusual.
The taste is even better. There is a surprisingly chocolatey sweetness right in the middle, and it balances those earth hops and licorice. There is a subtle hint of the spice and burn from the chiles right at the end, and it makes my tongue tingle slightly after a while, but I like how subtle it is at first.
It has pleasantly smooth, creamy texture that is a little bit at odds with the sharpness that comes from the bite of the peppers at the end.
I've never had Danish licorice specifically, so maybe that's why I'm a little surprised by the flavor, but it's not really the black licorice (anise) flavor I'm used to and was expecting. It's still pleasantly sweet with a nice, peppery bite on the end, and the flavor has an added complexity from the licorice and earthiness. It's a nice treat.

 

Got this on a Belgian beer run a while back.

From a 37,5 cl bottle into a snifter
Imperial stout brewed with licorice and chilies

APPEARANCE: A clear dark brown pour yields a 2+ finger, creamy, medium looking, tan head with great retention. Head slowly fades to a full creamy cap leaving lots of lacing on the top of the glass. A black body with medium levels of carbonation. Slight wisp remains and leaves touches of lacing on the glass as it empties.

SMELL: Roasted malts, some chocolate notes, and piles of licorice. Piles of it. No sign of the chilies here at all. This is very licorice forward.

TASTE: The licorice is pretty forward here as well, which basically kills all the complexity this could have had. There's a bit of chocolate and sweet cream up front, but the licorice still dominates mostly. Some chocolate tries to squeeze through in the aftertaste, but fails mostly. Too one dimensional and not that enjoyable.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Very creamy on the palate, a bit foamy perhaps, goes down smooth and finishes a bit sticky.

OVERALL: This was really challenging, but not in a good way. The licorice was just too dominant here. Perhaps that was the point of this beer, as it is called "Liquorice Confidence," but whatever the case, I didn't enjoy this and passed the majority on to drain. Love these guys and will continue to drink their black stuff, but this was a definite miss for me.