Dia De Los Muertos (Ghost 639)
Adroit Theory Brewing Company

2024-05-10
16oz can served in a tulip. Can is 08/14/23 (I think, the year is smeared over the ring). @Ozzylizard sent it to me during NBS BIF #18.

Pours black with about a half centimeter of head and pretty surprising retention, still has a millimeter or two of reasonably dense head across the surface after sitting untouched for about ten minutes. Smell is molasses sweetness and lots of black licorice. Dark roast coffee and a hint of blueberries.

Taste is doubling down on the black licorice, molasses sweetness resolves into more of a sweetened dark chocolate, tons of roast bitterness, and still a mysterious little hint of berries in the background..

Mouthfeel is not quite thick, but it is velvety and rich. Overall, this is a very good RIS.

L - Deep black with mahogany highlights with a dark tan head that quickly dissipates
S - dark chocolate, molasses, burnt caramel,
T - bitter dark chocolate up front and throughout intermixed well with roasted coffee, a good amount of molasses, caramel, roasted malt, hints of vanilla
F - full bodied with light carbonation. Smooth, creamy and somewhat syrupy
O - a very solid Russian imperial stout

 

Adroit Theory has been on my radar for a while as this unattainable pedestal to reach in Virginia from my home state of New Jersey. Luckily Tavour stocked up and I was able to snag two bottles with a friend (one is being cellared for until July 4, 2020). I jumped on this with ZERO hesitation. The collaboration they had recently done with the death metal band Outer Heaven (NecroGenesis Imperial Stout) was the main reason this brewery immediately struck a soft spot with me; that and all the crazy death metal inspired logos and imagery used on their bottles of course. Chilled in freezer for 45 minutes, left in a modest cooler for another 45 minutes then sat out of the cooler for about 10 before first pour. The look was that of a standard imperial stout, deep dark brown, nearly black; however the head was VERY small (poured in two glasses, one heavy pour, one standard pour and both ended up this way) and was a pleasantly light color. The smell was a punch of hops to the palate, followed by sweet malt scent. Initial taste immediately put a smile on my face. Sweet vanilla and banana notes flood in first, followed by pleasant maltiness and a tasty but balanced chocolate undertone. The body was on the weaker side but it definitely favored the taste not being syrupy in consistency, since I feel it would have sent the sweetness into a different uncomfortable level. There were some extremely subtle flavors that just kept dancing around the bullet of banana and malt flavors that made every sip a little special. My friend picked up notes of coffee with one sip while I picked up Oreo creme from the next. Every sip had a mouthfeel similar to how I imagine a fully concocted soda would be without it’s carbonation, which may sound odd but it suits the setting perfectly. There’s something very special about this beer and I understand entirely why Adroit Theory likes to make variants of this brew. Looking forward to trying said variants in the future if I’m lucky enough.

 

Had on tap. Pours pitch black with a tan head and decent lacing. This is amazing smooth for being 13.7% abv. Aroma and flavors of dark chocolate, rich roasted malt, and vanilla. Fairly sweet with balancing bitterness, not overly boozy. Relatively low carbonation, almost feels like nitro.

 

 

 

 

Bottled 04/11/18

Ebony black body; thin head with some so-so presence of foam rings along the glass. Bitter chocolate and roasted grain aroma; brownies. Chocolate and booze flavor; charred grain sweetness; some alcohol punching through. Heavy body; velvety and coats the palate; some boozy heat; semi-sweet finish.

An intense, boozy RIS. Sure, the head is insignificant, but the dark malt and boozy quality are balanced nicely.

 

 

 

 

L: Poured from a bottle to a pint glass. Had a dark brown / black color and a thick, opaque consistency. There was a half inch of creamy, tan-colored, fairly long-lasting head. Excellent lacing.

S: A very enticing aroma of roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, and caramel.

T: Tasted of tinge of caramel, a fair bit of roasted malt (present throughout), a lot of rich dark chocolate, some coffee (not as prevalent, and a hint of hops. An incredibly well-balanced and surprisingly sweet flavor. It's not overly chocolatey or rich with coffee, but finds a measure of both. Very tasty.

F: An average amount of carbonation with a super smooth finish. Medium- to full-bodied.

O: A very well made and easy to drink stout. Definitely worth a try.

Lots of alcohol notes mixed with lots of burnt sugar sweetness

 

22oz bottle dated 4/11/18 poured into Rogue stout glass. 791/3000

L - pitch black, looking straight into the abyss
S - coffee, dark chocolate, smoke
T - booze, dark chocolate, leather and coffee
F - 13.7% ABV beer but tastes slightly lower around 12%. Booze is there but not overpowering the other flavors. Oily and low carbonation
O - Adroit is one of my favorite local haunts. Their sours, IPAs and their stouts are always on point. Another tasty concoction!

poured into a large tankard from a 1pt 6oz bottle. bottle number is 157 of 3000.

appearance: thick and pitch black. lets through a very small amount of light with dark brown highlights. poured about an inch of rocky dark tan head that receded fairly quickly. no lacing.

smell: boozy. vanilla, dark burnt barley, and coffee.

taste: big and complex. starts off roasty. follows with a bit of a leathery taste, all with undertones of vanilla and coffee. aftertaste is more like coffee.

feel: thick, smooth, oily. low carbonation. you can feel warmth from the alcohol fairly quickly.

overall: a good russian imperial stout. big, bold, high alcohol content, and black as pitch. not my all time favorite but i have yet to be disappointed by any of adroit's beers.