Obfuscation
Burnt City Brewing

At the time I drank this, Burnt City was known as Atlas Brewing Co.

Drank 3/6/14 on draft @ Fischman's. black liquid.

Dark khaki head; minimal lace.

Chalk, fresh earth & chocolate nose.

Thick, creamy mouthfeel.

Fresh earth, dark chocolate & slight black licorice flavor; a hop & carbonation bite on the lips.

This would be welcome on a bitter cold winter night.

 

 

On tap, poured into a tulip style snifter. The aroma is initially a strong powdery baker's chocolate with brewed coffee poking through in equal parts second. After it settles, mild toffee and sharp, sweet berries comes through. The beer is quite dark, nearly opaque, brown in color with a rich brown, soapy, moderately dense head that has a moderate retention and good lace. The taste is rather mellow for an imperial stout, but that's not necessarily a bad thing at a medium sweet with, at first, a balanced bitter, but strengthens to medium high bitter near the end. The chewy thick beer has a fizzy carbonation with a medium-full body with flavors of rich toffee, coffee, berries, and chocolate that finishes with a clean spice and dark chocolate, as well as just a hint of a light vodka warmth initially, but this disappears. The aftertaste is primarily baker's chocolate / brownies that turns towards coffee late. There's a light, ash quality that's a bit dry, and lightly astringent, but it settles on a mostly clean spice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Served in a snifter at the brewpub.

Gotta give it to Atlas: they've got a larger vocabulary than most. This stuff pours a straight obsidian topped by a finger of brown foam. The nose comprises darkly-roasted malts, dark greens, cocoa, and a hint of coffee. The taste brings in more of the same, with those heavily-roasted malts really shining through with a pronounced dark bitterness. The body is a lithe medium, with a light moderate carbonation and a drying finish. Overall, a very nice RIS, one whose full flavors compensate for the slight lack of body.