Holy
Long Live Beerworks

Copenhagen 16/9 2023. 47,3 cl can from Best of Beers web-shop. Steel can with black label with with a drawing of a small portal with a half moon inside and planets circling above.

Pours opaque, dark brown with small beige head. Disappears completely after a short while leaving an monochrome, enigmatic black fluid behind. No lacing.

Aroma is intense with sweet odor of roasted dark malts mingling with a candy-like sugary sweet scent with sweet spices. Toffee and caramel. Brown sugar. Vanilla and cinnamon. Cocoa.

Light carbonation. Thick, oily, creamy, viscous, soft, smooth, almost flat texture.

Flavor is intense with a strong sweetness followed and balanced by an almost as strong bitterness. Aftertaste is bitter but with prominent sweet undertone. Lingering. Finish is dry like dark chocolate.

Wholesome potent but not too boozy brew. More pastry than stout.

Pours an opaque, pitch-black coloration with a small, creamy, mocha-colored, quickly disappearing head. Smells of roasted, caramel malt and a strong cocoa aroma, as well as hints of toasted marshmallow. Taste follows the nose, with a good balance of roasted, caramel malt and strong, bitter and earthy cocoa and sweet, toasted marshmallow, as well as just a hint of licorice, brown sugar and vanilla. Finishes with a medium/strong sweetness, light/medium bitterness and some cocoa and toasted marshmallow lingering in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a rich body and light/medium carbonation.

At first, the quite sweet aroma of this, dominated by chocolate and marshmallow, made me quite wary here, but while it's still rather sweet on the tongue, this is balanced pretty well by a certain, roast and bitterness. Lots of cocoa coming through here, also adding certain earthy and bitter notes besides chocolate sweetness, with the distinct marshmallow sweetness, also adding accents of vanilla and brown sugar, being kept in check by a certain roastiness. While I'm not a huge fan of the style at all, I think this is a well-made example of it. It's quite rich, dekadent and sweet, but also has some roasted, bitter and earthy notes to balance out that sweetness somewhat. Still too sweet for my personal taste, but really not too bad, with little booziness coming through as well.

 

16oz. Can served in a Spiegelau tulip. Pours one shade shy of black with a loose, 1/8th inch mocha colored head that quickly disperses into a tight band around the shoulders. Nose expresses cocoa, marshmallow and artificial sweetener. Taste follows nose with the addition of lactose. Mouthfeel is medium in body with an easy, even carbonation and a light oiliness to the texture. Overall, rich and decadent.