Blackburne
Left Field Brewery

Great non barrel aged, non adjunct stout. Coffee and chocolate flavors. Warmth from the abv but not overwhelming. Just love the simplicity, yet complex flavors of it.

 

Deep dark brown body, thick, struggling to form a milk chocolate head barely a finger high, fades within a minute.
Faint aromas of black liquorice, leather.
Wonderful deep and rich cocoa flavour, like liquid dark chocolate freshly melted; almost no bitterness in the roast at all, and only a light sweetness; the black liquorice is present on the palate as well, with whispers of leather, dark roast coffee; luscious feel, soft and sensuous and thick; light carbonation, full body; off-dry finish, the manageable residual sweetness balanced by a an off-dry finish that has just the right of clean espresso bitterness.

A mediocre look and aroma belie a wonderfully rich flavour profile and luxurious feel, of quality dark chocolate, pure and simple.

 

 

 

355 mL can from a Left Field sampler pack purchased at the LCBO; dated Sept 24 2020 and served at cellar temperature.

Pours opaque and black as night, producing one finger of foamy, light brown-coloured head that dissipates within two minutes or so, leaving behind very little - no cap or lacing, merely a sickly thin collar remains (though it does have decent legs for a beer). The nose includes notes of dark roasted coffee beans and barley, as well as dark chocolate, licorice, treacle, prune, caramelized malts and a bit of ethanol. It's very nice, but not as intense as I was expecting from something that is nearly 10%.

An exquisitely balanced and rich-flavoured imperial stout - a little sweet at the forefront, with toffee, chocolate fudge and dark chocolate leading into hints of prune, licorice and date fruit. Suggestions of vanilla and herbal hops join in nearer the finish, along with some ethanol warmth that lingers into a bittersweet finish with hints of cocoa and licorice. A full-bodied beer, with very low carbonation that hardly registers on the tongue, feeling silky-smooth and soft on the palate. I found this unusually drinkable for the style - the alcohol is noticeable, but it's very well-integrated, and I found it hard to stop sipping this deliciously dark beast of a brew.

Final Grade: 4.15, a very respectable A-. As far as unadulterated - i.e. no barrels or 'bonus' ingredients to speak of - imperial stouts go, Left Field's Blackburne is one of the best Ontario-made examples I've had so far. The balance between sweet, bitter and booze is absolutely perfect, and the end result is a sinfully tasty beer that I enjoyed thoroughly from start to finish. Good stuff - I've never seen this as a single at my local shop, but I'd pick it up regularly if it were to become an option.

Review from notes. Part of Left Field's Winter Stout Trio. 355 ml can served cold into a pint glass.

Appearance - Pitch black, ominous, a finger plus of darker tan head with good staying power.

Smell - Quite a few roasty notes, dark chocolate, maybe a whiff off coffee. Less aromatic than one might expect from a near 10% behemoth.

Taste - toasty malt notes, fairly bitter with lots of dark chocolate. Booze isn't super well hidden.

Mouthfeel - Thick and rich body, velvety texture. Awesome.

Overall - A very good but not quite great stout. Well worth the money to buy the trio of beers given the quality.

Solid drink. Feels like it's missing some complexity, but overall a sound stout. Enjoyed drinking one for the look and taste, not sure if I need to drink another.

A beautiful pour from this stout that worried me, because I am not a straight up stout drinker. I need added coffee, vanilla or bourbon barrel flavour. To be fair, this has a tad of the former two, but not much. Yet it's enough to make this a smooth enough bitter for me. A strong nose acompanies sticky toffee and somewhat too much chocolate.
A strong overall brew, that is better in its bourbon barrel incarnation.

 

Can: Poured a pitch-black color stout with a large dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of huge roasted malt notes with some chocolate notes and light dry hoppy notes. Taste is a mix of huge dry roasted malt with light bitterness, some black chocolate notes with some dry bittering hops also noticeable. Body is full with nice creamy texture and good carbonation with faint alcohol warming notes also perceptible. This is a big stout with huge flavours profile with good but not great drinkability.