Williamsburg AleWerks Brewmasters Reserve Café Royale

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Pours a deep opaque sable with a good light tan head. Aroma has chocolate and caramel notes plus more than a hint of roast coffee. Flavor has a rich semi-sweet chocolate note and hones of caramel and molasses. Smooth texture is fizzy and a little powdery. Royal indeed! Look for it.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

Big review night with the local Brew Crew: 18 different beers with barbecue, delicious desserts, and good company. Nearly black, very little head. Subtle coffee and very sweet bourbon on the nose, some booze, very rich and indulgent. Sweet chocolate flavor with a kick, some lemon and licorice in here, the vanilla notes keep it tame and linger. Even better than it smells. Very smooth, as it should be.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

Beer Three of my Twelve Beers of Christmas - this one from mwiscount. Deep mahogany brown pour, short very tight tan head which reduces to a constant ring leaving copious amounts of chunky lacing. Exquisite velvety smooth mouthfeel; not too thin, not too heavy. Rich creamy nose and palate of deeply roasted malts, perfect coffee, deep dark chocolates, rich dairy cream, a hint of honey and berries. Absolutely fantastic stout - near perfect. Shared with my wife and she also adored this one. HUGE thank you to Melanie for this one. I knew to save it for a special occasion. I'm glad I included it with my Twelve Beers of Christmas.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 10

Pours black with near oil consistency. Minimal head, I assume in part due to being high alcohol and in part because the beer has [appropriately] light carbonation. Really complex aromatics and flavor profile. Everything from the label not only present, but special. Rich chocolately malts merge with woody-vanilla. Bourbon notable, yet it does not overwhelm. Faint smokiness to balance a bit of sweet. It's incredible! The 3-bottle limit is cruel. Thanks to mwiscount for sharing her ration with me, very generous my friend. Loved it.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 10 | Mouthfeel: 10 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 10

This was a special beer recommended to me by friend Satch on UnTappd. When I went to buy this beer at Total Wine in Alexandria, VA, I did not see it on the shelf. When I asked one of the employees, he smiled and said, "You spoke the magic words. Come with me." After he led me to the back, I was given the option to take a limit of three bottles in the two case inventory. He told me that the company chooses to place the beer in the back because this brew is in high demand and has limited availability until next year. After tasting it, I totally understand! It has bumped into my top SIX beer favorites (I tried to hold it to five favorites, but not sure which one I want to take off the list so I'm going with, "the more the merrier!") Espresso Plus! Chocolate Plus! with a hint of vanilla with just the right bourbon flavors. This Brewer's Choice Barrel-aged Imperial Coffee Milk Stout is definitely a must try if you are a dark beer lover!It is a coffee beer power brew! Thanks Satch for the awesome recommendation! For the curious at heart...my top six favorites in no special order: Heavy Seas Siren Noire, Southern Tier Imperial Choklat Stout, Troegs Java Head Stout, Founders Breakfast Stout, New Belgium Lips of Faith Imperial Chocolate Coffee Stout, & Williamsburg Alewerks Café Royale