Magic Drip
Boulevard Brewing Co.

Very thick beer, and dark. Not quite pitch black, but close, with no head, just some lacing.

The smell is a touch sweet at first, but can detect coffee, caramel, dried fruit, and bourbon.

Bit sweet up front, reminds me of the level you get from dark chocolate. Besides the chocolate, can taste the coffee, as well as bourbon and vanilla. Can also taste black cherry, and some warming at the finish. As the beer warms, the coffee becomes more pronounced.

Feel is thick and creamy, not a lot of carbonation but some warmth.

This one can hold its own against the best of them. Nicely complex, there is a lot going on here. No doubt this is a big beer that needs to be treated with respect, but well worth trying.

 

 

 

Look
Pours inky-black, and completely opaque. The dark tan head recedes fairly quickly, leaving a thin cap on top, along a thin edge of oily-looking lacing around the glass.

Smell
Huge, MASSIVE espresso on the nose. Aside from the rather generous notes of alcohol, the coffee dominates. This is a very good thing if you like coffee (and espresso), and if you don’t like coffee you might want to avoid this one altogether.
No hop presence to speak of, but dark malt character in spades: Much like a Belgian strong dark ale, with cocoa and lighter toffee and (again) coffee/cold brew notes. This is right up my alley.

Taste
Sweet and lightly bitter/acrid on the first sip, followed by wave after wave of dark malt character (chocolate, toffee). Submerged beneath the broader malt character — and the coffee — there are lighter vanilla notes, along with an overall spiciness, derived partly from the heavy coffee infusion and partly from the strength.

The lingering character after the first sip is a bittersweet one, and the “oiliness” coats the palate and roof of the mouth more than adequately.

Feel
This one would be fairly big-bodied owing to its style and strength, but it’s a bit thinner in fact, than one might imagine at first. It also fairly easy drinking due to its minimal bitterness and enhanced sweetness.

Overall
At 13.6%, this is “up there” among the bigger entries in the R/IS category, and doubtless there are hundreds (maybe thousands?) of stronger examples these days. Such strength affects drinkability for most people, although for the style (and especially for the Pastry Stout sub-style, which this one also borders) it is to be expected nowadays, so the strength can’t really be seen as a “knock” against it. You read the label, you know the style, you pretty much know what you’re getting yourself into!

Altogether, this reminds me a whole lot of a Coffee Liqueur, or of a whiskey flavored with coffee (the very familiar Jameson brand has one, as do a few others), and it’s a sub-style of beverage alcohol which I myself have flirted heavily with in the last couple of years (since I began to distill and barrel age at home).

An excellent sipper, and a great beer overall, which manages to straddle the Imperial and Pastry sub styles of stout.

 

Black in color with no light penetration. There’s a fingernail of brown around the rim and covering two thirds of the top. The aroma is of coffee, sweet bourbon, dark malt, and wheat. I’m tasting coffee, bourbon, dark malt, and wheat. The mouth is lightly oily from the coffee and slightly chewy.

Poured @45.8°, it's thick, black and oily looking, gives a small tan head that fades quickly, no noticeable lacing. Snot locker get coffee, whiskey, dark fruit, toffee and some ash. Taste buds get that, the booze is noticeable, I'm starting to sweat, it's only 46° here. Thick'n chewy, one damn good beer!

 

12 ounce bottle, 2021 vintage, please enjoy by date of 16 AUG 2023 stamped on the back label. Big thanks to Brutaltruth for this brew! Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with around a half inch tan head that stuck around a while. Small amount of lacing. I like the aroma, the brew smells like coffee, burnt/charred malt, molasses, dark fruit and some bourbon. For the most part I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some oak and vanilla flavors. I think the coffee stands out in both the aroma and taste, wish the barrel character was stronger but that's a minor issue. Mouthfeel/body is medium/full, it's slick and a bit creamy with a moderate amount of carbonation. I liked this brew a lot, definitely worth trying if you're into coffee stouts!

Appearance - The beer poured an inky black color with a dark tan head.

Smell - The nose had notes of fudge and coffee.

Taste - Even before the taste, I was impressed by the huge body. Coffee, dark chocolate, and raisins were soaked in bourbon. It was a strong profile that lingered, particularly the dark fruit notes.

Mouthfeel - The body was thick, even being borderline fluffy.

Overall - Especially for the price point, this is amazing.

 

 

Pours black with a finger of mocha colored foam. Aroma is dark coffee, toffee, chocolate, and roasty and toasty malts. Heavy whiskey and barrel is behind, but not adding excessive heat, instead just sealing up the finish. Flavor profile carries heavy coffee with toffee, chocolate, apple, and raisins behind. Hearty roasty and toasty malts add complexity while whiskey and char add some heat. All together, it's a smooth flavor profile, despite the ABV or whiskey presence. Mouth feel is thick, with a near still effervescence. Some very light silt makes its way through to the texture, but otherwise it's still. Overall, a hearty stout that focuses every bit of its attention on whiskey and coffee.

Served in a 15.5oz Speigalau tulip from a 11.2oz bottle.

 

 

Boulevard Brewing Co. "Magic Drip"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle coded "PLEASE ENJOY BY: 16AUG2023 F L081621 09:17". Sampled on 012821.
$4.99 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: So what is 'Magic Drip"? A barrel-aged wheated imperial stout with coffee... OK. A rough pour has brought up a inch and a half of dark brown foam atop an opaque black body. It doesn't even display any light coming through when held to direct light - that's a dark beer! The first thing I notice in the aroma is green bell pepper. That generally comes from old coffee, but isn't this new? Yeah, it's only 5 months old. Maybe it's me. I could be getting sick and I don't realize it, or it could just be that I'm extra sensitive to that at this point. The head has dropped at this point and I have a pretty big but very thin island floating on the surface. There's no collar, just the island, and no lacing was left behind. That's common in strong barrel-aged beers though. Back to the aroma, I got some roasty coffee of course, a passing whiff of coconut, and chocolate. Wow, the flavor is a lot richer than the nose lets on. It's intense, and that redeems any green pepper in the aroma without question. It's like a fudge brownie that has tiny pieces of raisin in it, and then you get dark chocolate, dried fig, and sweet black coffee. There's some Bourbon, oak, coconut, brown sugar, dark cherry, almond, toasty bread, molasses, and a splash of alcohol as well. It's not that bitter... what is it?... I've already recycled the bottle... 23 IBUs in a very rich and full beer BUT that alcohol and the dark malts and fruit combine to help dry it. It sticks around for sure, but it doesn't come across as super sweet. I actually think it's perfectly balanced for what it is. That alcohol has hit me already, and I'm not sure I've even had half of it. The mouthfeel is intense as well. It's very full bodied, and oily. There's not a lot of carbonation to it which helps to explain the limited head retention and lacing. This is one of the most intense beers I've ever had, but I guess taking an imperial stout and adding coffee and Bourbon-barrels will do that. Well worth the price.
Review #7,745

 

This is an enticing looking beer when poured into a tulip shaped chalice. Espresso brown, with a swiftly fading dense, dark tan head. Within minutes it looks like an exotic coffee drink with its 1/8 in ring and thin wispy cap. This beer’s rich, dark, roasted coffee aromas are blended with baker’s chocolate, vanilla, oak and a balanced dose of bourbon-like phenols. The taste is like an exotic, smooth, rich coffee liqueur but the mouthfeel is not at all thick or syrupy. There is char, and cocoa notes, in the long drying finish that has a very pleasant black licorice component. The carbonation feels soft and delicate - contributing just enough to help nicely hide the massive abv. This is a truly magical elixir, and an outstanding example of an American-style, Imperial /Coffee Stout.

 

 

 

12oz bottle
enjoy by 16AUG2023
L: thick jet black body, very thing brown head
S: rich & decadent; dark chocolate, bourbon, oak, vanilla, coffee, roast
T: boozy bourbon, oak, dark cocoa, vanilla, roast & char, caramel, toffee, coffee, wheat or midnight wheat perhaps
F: thick & smooth body, ample carbonation, sweet & sticky yet well balanced with booze, roast, and earthy hops
O: wow beer here! So good in so many ways!

Poured from 12oz bottle dated enjoy by 16AUG23 to a diagonally cut tumbler at about 45F.
Pours black with brown edges producing a minimal deep tan/brown head that fades quickly. Glass swirls produce single bubble lacing and a brown viscous liquid coating that takes a few seconds to completely rejoin the main body.
Aroma is ruled by alcohol with some barrel notes and finally some coffee.
At 13.5% alcohol dominates the taste also. This is a sipper. Bourbon, charcoal and coffee are all there in quite a complex mixture.
Mouthfeel is really clingy as the glass swirl would suggest.
Overall too much alcohol flavor for my preference but the complexity is really pretty amazing.

A: Inky black and opaque with a long lasting tan head.
S: coffee and roast. Maybe some soy sauce (umami).
T: coffee, chocolate, a little roasty, and maybe a little nutty. Warming.
M: medium bodied, smooth.
O: Smooth and almost creamy. Sweet with coffee and mild chocolate. A solid American imperial stout.

Appearance: SUPER black, dense brown head, crazy thick. I actually had to transfer to a different glass since the original glass was not smelling right, when I rinsed out the old glass the water was at amber lager levels of color. Insane.

Smell: Molasses, roastiness.

Taste: Moderate sweetness, lots and lots of molasses. A little bit of mocha in the finish, but no other coffee flavors noted.

Overall: One of the best looking beers I've ever had, insanely thick and coating. However, it missed about every other characteristic that I enjoy in imperial stouts. Maybe it's something with their base beer, I didn't really like Dark Truth from Boulevard either.

 

 

 

pour is jet black and inky thick in appearance. like motor oil. minimal cap of deep cinnamon head.
nose is a huge wave of fresh roasted coffee, mixed with soft oaky, vanilla bourbon
Taste is fresh coffee, bourbon, oak, vanilla. hint of fudge.
thick, creamy body. low carbonation

I'm not a beer expert but a fan of Boulevard. WOW. This is excellent. I tried this and Sugarwood Baklava tonight. What a beautiful, sensual combination of sweet beer and espresso. At 13.5% ABV and 23 IBU, this is absolute heaven for all the connisuers of both beer and coffee. There's a little bit of tang to it and I would feel strange rating a beer a perfect score--but it's close.

 

12 oz bottle

Pours inky black, with dark brown head that fades to a thin ring. Aroma is very bold espresso flavors, a touch of bourbon and oak in there too. Similar taste, just a little boozy. Full bodied, thick and oily mouthfeel.

 

poured from a 12oz bottle into a snifter. pours an inky black with dark brown edges. a thin dark khaki colored foam coats the top and leaves a thin collar around the edge of the glass. there’s chocolate espresso aromas hiding in the background of a very harsh oak and whiskey presence. detracts quite a bit from what could be. flavors of chocolate-covered espresso bean but again covered up with an extremely harsh barrel heat. it’s always tricky to get the balance between coffee and barrel in these stouts and to me the barrel presence is too much on this. perhaps that will mellow in time, but of course that nice coffee flavor will turn to peppery nonsense in the meantime as well. it’s got a nice mouthfeel to it. full enough. not the thickest stout you’ll ever try but certainly not thin. i just can’t get over the barrel presence. one positive of said barrel presence, is that it does have a very nice warming effect on the finish which makes for a nice sipper as the weather cools off. not terrible by any means, but not may favorite BA coffee stout.

This brew, from a twelve ounce bottle, is an utterly thick, black, and syrup-like. Thin tan head. The aroma is of espresso, booze, and wood. The taste is intense…biting bitterness, enveloping warmth, and fleeting sweetness. It takes a sip or two to accelerate to the intensity, but that patience pays off…the flavors meld very well. I get coffee, roasted malts, and lots of interesting combinations. Full, rich, thick, and hefty. Incredible.

 

 

Silk, smooth, delicious. No hint of high ABV in the taste. A bit too sweet, but excellent overall.