Dark Truth
Boulevard Brewing Co.

RB transfer

(12 oz bottle, please enjoy by 26AUG2028F; purchased cold single at Pinocchio's last Saturday... poured at 54 F into my St. Bernardus chalice)

L: clear, very dark brown liquid on the pour, near black in the glass; tight, dark tan foam, clusters of fisheyes abound... big lace ring at the top; collar all fishy

S: cap popped, devil's food cookies and berry wine notes emerge... in the glass, the vinous top note persists; cakey, dark chocolaty malt slow to follow, roasted edge seems subdued... little overt alcohol; fair-moderate expressivity overall

T: the booze kind of surges out front and on top, with a now slightly more roastier, moderately bittered, surprisingly relatively dry soup of dark malts below... accent of cold espresso in the aftertaste, with a roasted nut note slowly blooming... the aftertaste does leave me wanting some inescapably bold element to linger, to bring my lips back to the glass, but it's just really damn dry... getting more woody, piney hops up front as it goes, but the sweet elements present lack the depth to counter/balance the increasingly rugged roast and bitter bite

F: bit of a roundish texture at the onset, but its blasted through by the bitterness, residuals muffled in the mid-palate static noise... tongue raked, cheeks feeling rosier by the minute...

O: boldly jagged; loud and borderline obnoxious... if you're craving a smack in the mouth, this delivers... but I can't help daydream of straying back to others (2497)

Pours dark and heavy with a nice frothy head that quickly disapates.
Smells boozy with bread and nutty notes.
Mouth feel is creamy but not lingering.
Taste is boozy, black licorice, with a pleasant ashy finish. Taste does linger.
This is a nice winter, sitting by the fireplace, sipper. At almost 10% ABV, you better sip it.

 

Poured from a 12-oz bottle, a year within its “Please enjoy by” date, purchased at the brewery, into a stout glass.

Look: Per the “Dark” in its name, black, with a massive brown head with good retention, and leaving an abundance of mostly finely-bubbled lacing, though that didn’t last throughout the consumption.

Nose: Alcohol, sweet dark roast — the sweetness includes elements of brown sugar, slightly over-ripe stone fruit, and floral.

Attack: Immediately the sweetness as in the nose, then the dark roast with dark chocolate and coffee, then the alcohol. A hint of licorice.

Finish: Bitterness — principally, I think, from the dark roast.

Mouthfeel: Thick, near perfect carbonation.

Overall: This is very nicely balanced, as the 60 IBU’s don’t at all overwhelm. There are other AIS’s I like a little better, but this is very fine work. Thanks, Boulevard!

 

 

The pour is jet black with a beige head of frothy foam. The taste is roasted malt, dark chocolate, Belgian yeast, caramel, along with hints of coffee & prune. In addition to, the 9.7% abv is well masked. Cheers! A-

Dark Truth has a medium, beige head and a very dark brown appearance, with minimal lacing. The aroma is of dark-roasted malt. It has a similar flavor, with brown bread crust and acrid bitterness, with possible dark cherry. Dark Truth has a medium body and a dry finish.

RJT

My 2nd favorite stout behind Great Lakes barrel aged Blackout

Opaque black, thin dark brown head, malty aroma with the alcohol comes through on the nose, bitter sweet coffee flavor. All very nice. I like the brewers description.

 

Black. Big, beige head. Roasted malt, coffee, leather ,and some dark fruits in aroma. Flavor follows. Malty sweetness is perfectly balanced by roasted bitterness.

12 ounce bottle - purchased 2019 so a bit of age….
Pours a deep black with reddish highlights at edge of glass - finger of tight brown head.
Aroma of dark fruit, molasses, some caramel, chocolate and a bit of vanilla. Some soft coffee notes.
Taste is a bit roasty with some bready malt, coffee notes more prominent than in the aroma - again dark fruits, molasses, chocolate and vanilla with a decent earthy bitterness.
Medium full mouthfeel with active carbonation and a smooth creaminess at the finish. Very decent.

Poured from a bottle into a snifter
Appearance – the beer pours a nearly pitch-black color with a small head of tan foam. The head has a moderate level of retention, leaving a little bit of foamy lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – the aroma is very heavy of a milk chocolate smell mixed with a nice bit of roastiness and some cocoa nib. Along with these smells comes some sweet vanilla and caramel as well as notes of molasses and brown sugar. There is a bit of a dark fruit smell of raisin, along with notes of coffee, adding more darkness to the aroma. With a touch of crème and wood, a rather rich and warming smell is portrayed.
Taste – The taste begins with a big hit of roasted malt mixed with some toasted brown bread and char. At the same time there is a rather sizable dark and milk chocolate flavor with other sweet tastes of caramel and a vanilla crème. A coffee flavors is also present upfront, but is light, with it growing in intensity as the flavors advances. At the same time the sweet vanilla and caramel fade a some, being replaced by more coffee and some carob. With the loss of a bit of the sweet and the increase in coffee, along with more char and some wood joining in, the bitterness gets a bit more intense, balancing the sweet rather nicely and leaving one with a dark, sweet, but non cloying taste to linger on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body is rather thick and syrupy, with a carbonation level that is low to moderate. For the rich flavors and mix of bitter, dark, and sweet, the feel is quite nice making for an approachable, but slow, sipper.
Overall – A pretty nice and rich brew with a nice warming character. Worth a try.

12 oz. bottle.Pours dark dark, minimal brownish head dissipates quickly. Has a deep aroma of chocolate & coffee, very boozy. Taste is of the afore mentioned attributes. Decent mouthfeel of good carbonation, warming, not as cloying as most stouts, could easily pass as barrel aged. I like it a lot. I can handle the dark truth.

The look on this beer is amazingly dark
And I mean the truth dark to be exact!

The smell has a very strong aroma of caramel
With slightly notes of some type of espresso coffee maybe some prunes or dates.

The taste is very spicy with a sweet overtone that lingers over the tongue.
Or it could be the salsa from the asada tacos that I’m currently eating on the side.

The feel is quite remarkable it packs a strong punch as I took the first sip I felt a strong lil buzzed that maybe my head tingle making me feel some typa way!

Overall I give this beer 5stars all the way
& thass the dark truth!!’

Note: I am in the process of moving all of my ratings from other beer sites to here, so that all of my ratings are consolidated in one place. The review below is an exact copy of my original RateBeer review from 04/19/2024.


12 oz. bottle, 9.7% ABV, 40 IBU, Enjoy by: 20NOV2025

AROMA: Slightly sweet with (very) mild scents of chocolate, espresso, fig, and roasted malt. Frankly, I'm a bit disappointed in how muted the scents are.

APPEARANCE: Pours an opaque black with a medium tall, dark-tan head that dissipates slowly with excellent lacing. I wish the head were a bit taller, but otherwise, this is a nice looking beer.

TASTE: Moderately sweet with big flavors of espresso and cream, which is then followed by moderate flavors of fig and black cherry. On the finish, I get a mild bitterness that reminds me of unsweetened dark chocolate.

MOUTHFEEL: Full-bodied with a somewhat smooth and creamy texture that has just a touch of dryness at the end. Carbonation seems average.

OVERALL: For a beer that has such big flavor, I would expect something just as big for the nose. Unfortunately, it just isn't so. In fact, my only gripe with this beer is the muted aromas. Everything else is top-notch.

Note: The cardboard carton for the 6-pack that I bought says 60 IBU. However, when I look at the information actually printed on each of the bottles, it says 40 IBU. I'm guessing that means that the beer has recently been reformulated and they are just packaging it in old cartons. Based on IBU ratings for other beers that I've tried I would say that 40 (or even lower) is the correct rating.

From a 12oz bottle. Enjoy by December 21, 2025. Served at room temp.

A great hiss and a bit of smoke on opening the bottle. This is a pitch black pouring beer. There's no chance any light will shine through. There's a great 3 finger brown head on this beer. Frothy looking with great lacing on the glass.
Roasted chocolate and caramel nose. Hints of cola aroma here.
Taste - Malty as expected. There's a good chocolate and caramel flavor here. There's also hints of vanilla. There's a pleasing and powerful bitterness on the backside. There's also a hint of smoke in this beer. Are the malts roasted? I'd guess so.
Full bodied. Smooth. Slight burn to this beer.
Damn delicious, and so glad I bought it.