Black Abbot
Durham Brewery Ltd

The alc. strength has been fine-tuned to 5.3%abv. now. BB Sept. 06, served lightly chilled in a weizen glass.

A: pours a dark brownish colour with caramel hues; the off-white beer head comes thick and foamy but settles fast to a thin cap, on top of a constantly lively-carbonated body.
S: coffee syrup and aromatic chunky dark chocolates spring to mind, with a touch of raisins and a faintly fruity intervention of hops at the back~~ Smelling only medium-bodied, yet the backbone of chewy dark malts stays firm and provides some body.
T: whole-meal bready+toffeeish dark malts, followed by a lightly burned sugary flavour; the mid-flavour reveals more roasted nuttiness and the bitter edge of dark milk-chocolates with some suggestion of vanilla at the back, surrounding the whole palate until it hits a slightly sour and dryish ending; rather light finish with an aromatic and lingering aftertaste of chocolate malts.
M&D: pretty refreshing with very nicely-tuned carbonation, as well as adequately chewy on the palate with a medium-bodied maltiness, showing some subtle balance b/w the flavour and mouthfeel. Due to limited experience, I'm not qualified to judge if Munich Dunkel should be like this, as this beer tastes to me even a bit like a malty Mild (with more fizz) at times... and the texture is still not as crisp and clean as a true lager. That said, I'd certainly love to try this nice brew again.

Some coffee in the nose, some caramel. Fizzy mouthfeel, with flavours of charcoal, roast aand chocolte, very dry again, bitter-ish finish. Not really like other dunkels i've had. Very dry, with that slight metallic edge of other Durham beers, again failing to really get me excited in any way.