Black Ale
Thisted Bryghus

330 ml bottle, from Dagli’brugsen Skødstrup. ABV is 8.2%. Black colour, moderate head of good retention. Pleasant aroma of fruity hops and dark malts with some roasty notes of mild coffee, hints of caramel. Rich flavour, dark malts with some initial sweetness, then roasty coffee notes with a hint of liquorice, moderate bitterness in the finish.

 

A: Pours black (duh) with a really tall brown compact creamy lovely head. Dissipation leaves quite nice lacings.

S: Up front American hops; piney and citric - kind of strange for an English Stout... Roasted sweet malts kicks in after a little while, followed by dark dried fruits. Some chocolate, coffee and liqourice. Nice smell, but the American hops kind of ruins it a bit for me.

T: Soy sauce and smoked ham and sausages! Roasted malt balanced with a nice bitterness. Liqourice and chocolate makes it rather dry together with the hops. Kind of salty.

M: Long lovely bitter and a bit burned aftertaste. Body is thinner than I would have guessed while carbonation is mild.

O: This was really interesting, but the American hops from the smell haunts (or possibly taunts) me...

The colour is deep brown (80 EBC), the liquid is clear. The firm compact brown is low. Some lacing occurs.

The smell is sweet and bitter. Some sourness, distinct notes of liquorice, chocolate cookies, fresh flowers, and lots of roasted caramel notes.

The taste is dry and very roasted. Bitter hops and colour malt sourness blends together fine balanced stout-y flavours. Some liquorice and digestive biscuits. Mild semi-sweet flavours. Light dry body. The aftertaste got some warming alcohol and clean bitter flavours, roasted malt and some salty notes.

The carbonation is medium strong. Small sharp bubbles tickles the tongue. The liquid is light and a bit dry.

A good strong stout with some unusual flavours.

The beer is dark brown-black, the big tan head, slightly uneven but with very much lacing, and good curtains.

The smell is roasted and dusty, some funky spicy nuance I can't pinpoint. Soy sauce, possibly ammonia. Grape-fruit peel. Cold old coffee.

Starts with sweet very dark bread, roasted rye, some dried dates, bitter oranges, bitter seeds and coffee beans. a hint of very dark chocolate bars.

Medium high carbonation, small bubbles, foamy and oily, a very long dry finish.

"Powerful and Charismatic" the label says, it is true, this beer has very much crammed into it, almost too much when it comes to the hops, would suggest a few years storing.