Hail To The Darkness
Arclight Brewing Company

22 ounce bottle into snifter, 2017 vintage bottling. Pours dense opaque dark brown/black color with a 1 finger fairly dense and fluffy tan head with poor retention, that reduces to a nothing pretty quickly. No head retention, and a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Good appearance. Aromas of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, bourbon, toasted oak, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Mild booze in the aromas as it warms. A bit too fruity/yeasty aromas, but not too overwhelming. Nice aromas with good balance and complexity of dark/black/roast/bready malts, fruity yeast, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop notes; with big strength. Taste of big milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, bourbon, toasted oak, and dark bread/crust; with lighter notes of smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness. Mild herbal, grassy, roast, charred bitterness; bourbon/oak tannin spiciness; and yeast tang/tartness on the finish. Lingering notes of milk/dark chocolate, cocoa, coffee, caramel, brown sugar, molasses, toffee, licorice, raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, bourbon, toasted oak, dark bread/crust, smoke, charcoal, leather, tobacco, herbal, grass, pepper, and yeast/roast/toast/oaky earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, fruity yeast, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop flavors; with a solid hop/roast bitter/sweet, and bourbon/oak spiciness balance; with no cloying/astringent flavors after the finish. Lightly increasing dryness from lingering bitterness and bourbon/oak spiciness. Light carbonation and very full body; with a very creamy/slick/silky/bready, and lightly syrupy/sticky/chalky/tannic mouthfeel that is good, Just a bit too sweet/thick. Mild increasing warmth of 8.7%, and lingering barrel booze after the finish. Overall this is a nice barrel aged imperial porter. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/black/roast/bready malts, fruity yeast, bourbon barrels, and light earthy hop flavors; smooth and easy to sip on for the ABV, with the mildly bitter/tannic/spicy/tart/drying finish. This did not age too gracefully. Nice rich malts and bourbon barrel presence/integration; but a bit too yeasty/fruity. Not overly sweet/heavy from lingering dryness. A nicely enjoyable offering.

 

 

 

22 ounce bottle into a snifter.

Pours an opaque, dark brown, with a small head and some lacing. Smell is malt, a kind of spicy aroma, some bourbon, oak, vanilla, light chocolate. The taste also leads with the malt, then coffee- which isn't in the description, so maybe I'm wrong, less vanilla than the nose, bourbon- more as it warms, a spiciness, maybe cinnamon, some chocolate. Very nice flavor. Smooth, pretty full bodied, well carbonated, the taste lingers.

Really good flavor, solid in all aspects. First beer from Arclight, look forward to trying others. Well worth a purchase.

A very nice BA porter. Well balanced between the bitterness of the hops and the sweetness of the malts, good amount of barrel. A little thin bodied

 

Poured a dark black color into my snifter glass. The nose has a wonderful chocolate aroma with this great bourbon backing it up from the barrel aging. The taste is a little more complex with chocolate and vanilla and of course this great bourbon tying it all together. The mouth feel is smooth about right for this style of beer. This is a really good BBA Porter would like to get another bottle to be able to enjoy this again.

 

 

 

750ml bottle. Opaque dark brown tone with a low, brown head. Dark chocolate and a dried fruit nose. Cocoa, oak, semi-dry bourbon, roasty malt taste. Full- body and medium+ carbonation.

 

This was really well done. Has peaked my interest in this brewery for sure.

 

Smoked, rich roasted malt subtle bourbon with nice finish. Same with the nose. Black, Opaque, with tan head and some lace. Medium body. Barrel notes are gentle. 35 IBUs ... Had several years ago.