Escondido (San Diego County), CA
APPEARANCE: 3/3: Pours like a Guinness, a beautiful cascade of bubbles. Opaque, dark brown, tan head laces and lasts. 5 minutes later and it's still huge! Beautiful.
AROMA: 4/4: Sweet raisin, prune, alcohol. Big, rich, complex and sophisticated. Dark chocolate, cherry and grassy. Sweet awesomeness.
TASTE: 9.75/10
Hop/Malt Balance: 4/4: Chocolate-covered cherries. Woody, complex—sweet and malty, but not cloying. Coffee, roast, smoky. Perfectly balanced.
Aftertaste: 3/3: Really nice bitter, alcohol sour, smoky chocolate roast.
Mouth-Feel: 2.75/3: Big, chewy, smooth and boozy. Tingly, lightly effervescent, perfectly carbonated.
OVERALL: 3/3: This is pretty amazing—heck, frickin' phenomenal! A huge beer, but what a treat!
TOTAL: 19.75/20–Keep 'Em Comin'
NOTES:About as perfect a beer as we've had. A huge beer—11%—implementing 13 grains and 13 hop varietals. Do the math and it adds up to 22 oz. of pure, rich, dark, sweet, hoppy, woody, grassy awesomeness. I bought this on a total whim—God's hand. If you can find it, buy it.