12 oz. Bottle
Another 18% ABV heavy hitter, this one on the opposite side of the spectrum in terms of style.
Pours black with some dark khaki bubbles around the rim of the glass. No visible carbonation. Strong chocolate on the nose, with a hint of dark fruit (cherry and plum mostly), a tiny bit of licorice, and hint of booze. Plenty of chocolate on the taste with a plethora of other flavors in the background - cherry, plum, a bit of coffee, and licorice primarily. The alcohol is definitely noticeable in this one, even presenting a bit of a burn on the back end - there's a strong alcohol taste that clearly identifies this as the high ABV monster it is. Moderately low carbonation, and again, the alcohol is highly noticeable at 18% ABV.
This one's definitely a sipper, and a mostly enjoyable one at that, but the high alcohol content's in-your-face-ness prevents it from being a fantastic beer. I think that DFH should focus on flavor before high alcohol content - with the 120 min it mostly worked, but here I find it distracting, and uncomplimentary to the beer and the style.
With age, the alcohol taste might settle down, so I might keep another bottle in the garage for a year or two to see if that balances the flavor out.
Overall Rating: 3.75/5
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