Dark Side
Fuggles Beer

Opaque brown-black color with a short tan head. The head wasn't forming with a normal pour, so I lifted the neck of the bottle more than 6 inches above the glass. The resulting head was mostly medium and large bubbles and it stayed around for a couple of minutes. Could not see any bubbles rising. Swirling the glass for the smell test kicked up a second head of mostly small bubbles. Small dots of lacing left on the side.

Dark roasted malt scents with a very light coffee. Some sweet caramel. A little bit of pepper and a touch of barnyard. Swirling the glass kicked up a bit of horse blanket and a little more caramel. Just a hint of some mint.

Very strong dark roasted malt that is just short of the burn point. Slightly sweet. Medium-light bitters that seem much lighter than the listed 40 IBUs. Slight pepper and alcohol. The aftertaste starts with a quick touch of the horse blanket, turns sweet, and then settles back to the dark malt with a light bitter as it fades down.

Very soft creamy foam. Stayed creamy for a long time. Heavy body.

What it does, it does well, but I was expecting a more complex flavor. I let it warm in my glass for an hour and the flavors got milder and sweeter.

2019 vintage has a name change to DarXide. Still 9.9% ABV.

 

2018 vintage.

Appearance - Pours a jet cola black with two fingers of mocha tan head.

Smell - roasted malts, fruity esters (plum, prunes, and raisin), hint of cocoa, coffee bean, leafy, earthy, and floral hops, and earthy yeast.

Taste - roasted malts followed by the fruity esters (plum, prune, and raisin). The hint of cocoa and coffee bean follow suit. The leafy, earthy, and floral hops come through next and is finished off by the earthy yeast.

Mouthfeel - Medium to full bodied with light to moderate carbonation. Velvety, smooth, and chewy finish with the malts, hops lingering. The warmth from the alcohol makes its presence known.

Overall - A bold and flavouful RIS. I like how all elements work in unison to create a delicious brew. Well done!

 

Fuggles & Warlock 'Dark Side' @ 9.9% , served from a 650 ml bottle , waxed 2016 vintage purchased for $8
revisited the blue waxed 2018 vintage 'DarXide'
A-pour is cola brown from the bottle to a near black in the glass with a small tan head leaving a fine spotty lace along the snifter
S-oats , plums , so sweet
T-sweet start roasted barley malt finish , really taste oats in the 2018
MF-mild carbonation , feels full bodied
Ov-has potential to be a possible good beer
prost LampertLand

 

 

 

650ml, black wax sealed bottle - simple, stark, and perfect lunar label imagery. Not much else written about the brew inside, however.

This beer pours a fairly solid black, but with prominent orange-cola basal highlights, and three fingers of puffy, rocky, and bubbly brown head, which leaves some spectral webbed lace around the glass as it eventually recedes.

It smells of lightly roasted, and sort of meaty caramel malt, stale cafe-au-lait, faint dark chocolate wafers, and some surprisingly testy earthy, leafy, and resinous piney green hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy caramel malt, some free-agent ashiness, bittersweet cocoa powder, heavy cream, day-old black coffee grounds, saltwater taffy, a muddled dark orchard fruitiness, and more leafy, herbal, and wet grassy verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly laid-back in its nondescript frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and sort of smooth, with the smokey and burgeoning alcohol esters taking more than a nick out of the new paint job here. It finishes off-dry, the roasted malt essence holding fast, while the hops, coffee, and booze flutter about, looking for a place to happen.

Overall, this is a very approachable and engaging big black stout, but with the hop schedule, and lighter than expected mouthfeel, its claim to RIS status is a bit tenuous - more like a high-test ABA, really. Still, it's easy enough to drink, especially with the mostly obfuscated near 20-proof wowee sauce measure, and worthy of checking out.