Hello Darkness
River North Brewery

 

12oz can, adhesive label. Stamp on bottom lip is 'CANNED 12/09/25'.
Black colored body, with mahogany brown back lit edge. A finger of light tan head reduces to small islands and a full ring. No lacing.
Aroma of roasted malts, with coffee, caramel, chocolate, and char.
Taste is caramel sweet, and dark roast coffee bitter. Flavors of chocolate, caramel, coffee, char, black licorice, and vanilla. Whiffs of smoke. Aftertaste wavers between chocolate sweet and coffee bitterness.
Slightly more than medium mouthfeel. Slight mineral note. Dry finish. Higher ABV% is warming but not burning. Okay carbonation.
Lots of depth of flavors, and without added adjuncts.

From a 12oz can canned on 07/01/24

This beer is a pitch blak pouring beer with no light shining through at all. The head is dark brown and 3 finger in size. The head retention is fairly poor, and there's no lacing on the glass.
The aroma is somewhat faint. I do get some roasted malts in here. I also get a few caramel notes.
Taste - notes of chocolate start off this beer and it's a sweeter chocolate flavor. The flavor also has notes of caramel and cola in it. There's a slight bitterness to the finish.
The body is smooth and silky feeling. There's a good fullness to it. Slight burn on the finish.
Not bad at all, and a pleasure to try.

I gotta of the bat I didn’t sense the 10.7 abv at all. Look was staggeringly black with a thin brown froth. Delicious chocolate almost toffee taste. Feel is creamy and fine. Silky feel. Overall excellent !

Poured the color of cold brewed coffee with a tall beige head.
The aroma was sadly lost on my Covid damaged nose.
The taste was unlike any Porter I’ve had before: no malt char or any harsh anything, coffee and chocolate and vanilla and an almost toffee like flavor. That all sounds very sweet but it really isn’t.
The feel is very good, maybe a little thin for the imperial style but very drinkable.
OA, this is an amazing porter and I am glad I got the chance to try it. Thanks Dave!

Revisited August 29th, 2024

Other than a slight uptick in 'Mouthfeel', everything rates the same with me.

The 11 oz can version is just as appealing and rich in character than last year's bottled version.

ABV: 10.7%; pouring temperature: 46 °F; canning info: unreadable
Source: local purchase

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Original ratings and scores: 4.0. 4.5. 4.25. 4.0. 4.25; BA weighted overall score: 4.27; rDev: +2.9%

Pours a clear, very dark brown mahogany tone, opaque in the glass; one-finger plus thick head, semi-creamy and khaki colored, long lasting. An amazing aroma; rounded, charred grain aroma; very browned bread crust; faint hint of toasted coconut. Powerful taste; rich dark and milk chocolate with mild burnt toast notes; refrained booziness; roasted bitterness counterpointing the dark grain sweetness. Heavy body; smooth and silky; deceptively dense body.

One seldom comes across an imperial porter with so much depth and complexity, but the dark beer wizards at River North have created a beautiful example of what can be done with this style.

ABV: 10.6 %; pouring temperature: 51 °F; bottling info: VINTAGE 2023
Source: local purchase (Coaltrain Fine Wine, Craft Beer & Spririts)

Noticed that River North might have brewed a black ipa in the past with the same name (with the addition of a comma). Grabbed this imperial porter from Tavour. Bottle notes "Vintage 2023".
Hate to give straight fours, but that's the way it hits:
L: Deep mahogany pour with a persistent, swirly, micha ring.
S: Roasty, with more than a touch of smokiness.
T: Smoky, roasty, nutty, dark chocolate, some woody notes, and an umami finish. Initially there was some coffee and a soft bitter, but those vanished as it warmed and the other flavors deepened.
F: Smooth, creamy even, with a fullness I don't get from a lot of porters.