Chef's Choice No. 1
Three Magnets Brewing

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown, appearing nearly opaque in the glass, with a fine dark khaki head with great retention and lacing. Aroma of semi-sweet dark toasted malt, hints of garlic and vanilla (smell a bit odd and I would probably not have identified these elements without knowing ahead of time; the garlic is very noticeable if you are expecting it). Flavor is lightly sweet dark toasted malt, vanilla and a savory flavor that must be the black garlic, although the garlic flavor is not that strong. Finishes with light vanilla and a bit more distinct garlic, with a garlic spicy and light hop bit at the end. Medium bodied with nice creaminess; great mouth feel. Tastes mostly like a good quality vanilla porter with some extra, odd savory flavor that is not immediately identifiable, but becomes a clearer note in the finish as black garlic. Surprisingly the garlic works much better in the taste than the aroma. I was not anticipating garlic and vanilla to work that well together, but this is surprisingly good. Like the aroma, I'm not positive I'd be able to identify the odd sweetish earthy flavor of the black garlic in a blind taste, but it is obvious in the finish. The base vanilla porter is excellent and helps carry off this interesting experiment. I expect people (and especially vampires) to be avoiding me tomorrow, but I'm happy tonight.