Pure Imagination
Verboten Brewing and Barrel Project

 

 

 

 

Pours dark. Not much head. Can't see through it when held to light. Way roasty up front. Even some coffee flavor. Roasted! Then it gets dry on the taste buds. Like dry. That's something I'm not used to. Interesting.

 

 

 

Poured on-tap at the brewery and served in a shaker pint, the beer is a jet black coloring, with a thick, creamy, fluffy, tan head. Nose of roasted coffee, toasted grains, crème, and woody highlights. Flavors are smooth chocolate and mocha forward, with roasted undertones, and a subtle coffee bitter backbone. Smooth and velvety in mouth, with a bittersweet, roasted coffee aftertaste. Smooth, lingering bitterness in the dry finish. This is a solid, tasty damn beer.

 

 

 

Pours black with a huge creamy khaki head. One of the prettiest beers I have come across in a while. Aroma is dark and roasty with coffee, bakers chocolate and char and some hoppiness providing some leather and earthy bitterness. Flavor follows suit. There is a tease of some sweetness coming from the sugars from the oats hiding out in this one, but this one lays more towards the roasty, charred, and bitter end of the spectrum. This one relies too much on hops for my liking, but I do appreciate everything else about it. A medium bodied somewhat creamy mouthfeel but I couldn't ignore that it seemed a touch diluted/watery, a characteristic I get in most Verboten stouts/porters. At least in this one, it was only detected in mouthfeel as it ran counter to the viscosity of the rest of the beer (though it is possible I only noticed something because past experiences had me looking for something). Overall, decent but hoppier than I care for in a stout. Cut back on some of the hops and I'd be a pretty big fan though. As is, would probably drink again but wont go out of my way for.