Dragon Master
Modern Times Beer

 

Black color, beige head. Bittersweet taste with roasted malts, hazelnut, bourbon, cacao, nuts, coffee, vanilla and dark fruits. Bittersweet finish with roasted malts, hazelnut, bourbon, cacao, dark fruits, vanilla and coffee. Exquisite imperial stout.

 

Dark pitch black body. Cocoa, chocolate, mild nuttiness up front, more milk chocolate and a dab of whiskey. Finishes with a slick mild marshmallow sweetness. A lot of sweetness going on, par for the pastry course. Full bodied, creamy, medium carb.

 

The nose is vanilla-iced chocolate cake, w/ the palate featuring more of that rich, barrel-aged base. Toasted hazelnut comes out more with temp. Delish.

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like bourbon, caramel, toffee, toasted hazelnut, creamy vanilla, milk chocolate, and oak.

This isn't quite the unreserved pastry punch to the face that a lot of Modern Times stouts are, but it's still tasty. There's a nice toasty and warm hazelnut character to this, with a pleasant caramelly sweet barrel character, with just the slightest hint of oak.

This is medium bodied, with no booze, and a nice creamy feel to it. It's very drinkable for the style and ABV.

This isn't quite up the highest standard of Modern Times stouts, but it's still pretty nice stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

Poured into a snifter, Dragon Master is yet another offering from Modern Times that seems to defy the laws of light absorption. This beer is jet black with almost no carbonation able to form a head. Only slight suds floated on the surface, while the few that could collect did so at the edges of the glass. The aroma was bourbon, chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut, and some nice roasted malt. So far, it was living up to the promise it made on the label. The taste did not hide the close to 14% abv, but offered up a world of flavor. The bourbon and its brown sugar quality was on full display. The chocolate was dark and bittersweet while the vanilla offered sweeter notes. There were some rich dark fruit flavors that complimented everything, but were not forward enough for me to decipher. Most times the use of nuts in beer is completely lost on me, but that was not the case this time. The hazelnuts offered a beautiful nutty flavor on the finish. This was not the flavor of a nut extract, but a clean flavor of hazelnuts akin to snacking on a bowl of them. I don't know where it came from, but I felt there was a slight salinity on the finish that was very welcome. The feel was thick with a full body and left some sticky residue on the glass. A fantastic example of what can be done with barrel aged pastry stouts.

 

Modest head production, but good retention considering the ABV, additives, and aging.

Big, rich nose, with notes of espresso, chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, and toast. The hazelnut is more apparent from a distance; up close, the richness of the strong malt base takes over. While the bourbon is present, it's very restrained, and contributes little to the aroma profile beyond some slightly sweet mash and red grapes. Vanilla is noticeable after some hunting and as the beer warms in the glass.

Incredibly smooth on the palate, almost delicately easing its massive weight, afraid to hit you with the full force of the ABV and flavor all at once. It grows and grows, adding tasting notes as the sip develops at its own glacial pace: first, brown sugar, red grape, and a touch of chocolate; then, growing chocolate, leading into the bourbon sting; then, more sweet red grape and brown sugar, along with the hazelnut presence; leading to a finish that dances between vanilla and espresso tones.

It's thick, sweet, and rich. The hazelnuts, which can dominate if not given a light touch, are wonderfully complementary. The chocolate is present throughout, making the already huge and creamy malt base even thicker, creamier, and huger. The vanilla is similarly complementary. And the bourbon, in this beer, is not the focus, but instead simply adds to the overall profile wonderfully.

Every sniff impresses me more and more; every sip even more so. An unbelievably delicious and smooth imperial stout; it's hard to find a single flaw.