Witch Meadow Black (2020)
Fox Farm Brewery

Im sampling a 500 ml bottle at cellar temp and poured into my snifter. Purchased years ago at the brewery, and been in my cellar since then. The beer pours a pitch black oil color with no light passing through. I get minimal tan head of less than 0.5cm and this fades to a pencil thin edging soon after the pour. Zero lattice on swirls or sips.
Aroma is dark chocolate and roasted malts mixing with some fusol booze and wooden barrel notes. I also get a little charred note, form barrel or smoked coconut, I dont know. No hop character on the nose.
First sip reveals a medium body with slightly sticky texture that coats my palate, lips and teeth on each sip. Carbonation is very fine and gentle and I find this to be a sipping beer due to the stickyness and the boozy warmth Im getting on the finish each swallow.
Flavor is malt forward with some dark fudge brownie notes a bit of rum and some charred wood and smokiness. Not a lot of sweetness on the flavor profile, much more char and dark chocolate. A bit of warming booze on the finish. Never any hop character on this big stout. Dont know if the smoke is charred barrel or the smoked coconut, but it works here and Im enjoying it. glad I held onto this bottle!

Bottle # 354 of 1720. Pours a very dark, syrupy brown with a small amount of dark tan head. Aroma is very rich, with plenty of malts and milk chocolate notes.

Taste is more barrel forward than the nose, but what I'm really digging is the smokiness from the smoked coconut. Ironically, I'm not sure I'd pick up the coconut itself unprompted (although knowing that it's there I recognize it), but the smokiness is unmistakable. Together, the barrel and the smoky coconut dominate and leave this almost devoid of the sweetness I smelled. Very full mouthfeel.

Overall, I'm enjoying this one quite a bit.

This one pours a very dark black color, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like sweet toasted coconut, smoke, roasted malt, dark chocolate, bourbon, and oak.

This is pretty solid stuff, but there are two things I want more. The coconut is smoked here, but i only get that flavor fairly lightly here. I also want more rum barrel. There's a good bourbon barrel presence, with some spicy oak, but not much overt rum. There's some dark fruit, dark chocolate, espresso, and roasted malt, with a hint of vanilla.

This is medium bodied, with no real booziness to it, and a nice creaminess on the finish.

The Black variants for this beer tend to be not quite as good as the base barrel aged stout. That's the case again for 2020, but this still a unique and interesting beer.

 

500 mL bottle. Inky black. No head. Smells of intense roasted malt, rye, coconut, and some smoke. Tastes of coconut and smoke up front, some hefty roasted malt. Tastes like rye. Bourbon and oak in the back end. Lingering coconut and smoke. Heavy. Not quite as intense as the other variants. Nice, but I'd take the other variants over this.

 

 

 

500ml bottle served in a Spiegelau tulip. Pours an inky black with a frothy, 1/8th inch, mocha-colored head. Nose expresses bourbon, creme brûlée, molasses and vanilla. Taste follows nose with the addition of just the merest hint of toasted coconut - it's barely detectable at the back and comes off slightly candied. Mouthfeel is light-medium in body with a carbonation that falls just shy of assertive. There's just a hint of prickle across the tongue between quaffs. Overall, I prefer the base variation better. I don't get much off the rum barrel other than it seems to mellow out the sweetness a bit.