Warship
Arvon Brewing Co.

 

Poured stout black with a burnt caramel colored head that stuck around for a while.
The aroma was lost on my Covid affected nose.
The taste, where should I start? This was layered in flavors. Dark fruit leads the way with dark chocolate and berries following. A mild bitter (from the roasted malts or hops I can’t tell) ending keeps it all from getting cloying.
The feel is an excellent viscosity for the ABV, this is one to sip, not slam.
OA, this isn’t a RIS, it’s almost like a combination of a Belgian strong dark ale and imperial stout. Very good, somewhat different and one that I would definitely try again.

 

No canning date (released on 12/17/21, so presumably canned within a few days of that date); consumed on 1/20/22

Pours a viscous, midnight-black body capped with a finger of creamy, mocha foam; decent head retention leaves some spotty, paper-thin mounds of cap, large, lush, frothy collar, and a limited splotching of webby lacing caked tightly across the walls of the glass.

Aromas of black raspberry char open to hints of leathery, burnt vanilla and 100% cacao, persisting with a smoky bittersweetness to a lingering impression of spent coffee grounds; the richness of the malt profile is both palpable and congruous with itself.

Taste highlights raw cacao laced with malty char upfront, edges of dark fruit nodding toward black raspberry into the mid-palate as a milk chocolate undertone softens the roasty overtones; persistent roasted malt finds toasted black bread on the back end, and spent coffee grounds trickling throughout.

Mouthfeel shows a full body of adamant density, oily in spots, and sporting minimal carbonation tingling the palate; a creamy mid-palate softens in preparation for a more charry twang, eventually fading to modest warmth spawned from a silky finish.

A graceful display of density and impact under the weight of a beautifully attenuated ABV, where satisfaction comes naturally via an unencumbered harmony of softer bittersweetness and expressive roast.