Holy Mackerel Mack in Black

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 6

Once aha in another Imperial Stout that is to hoppy for my taste buds. This extremely black brew was bitter through to the very end. I did enjoy the aroma but I couldn't taste the pomegranate juice. It does have a good thick mouth feel.

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

Bottled (thanks Degarth!). Black colour, small brown head. Aroma is roasted malts, dark dry fruits, some coffee, mild fudge as well as some wooden and raisiny notes. Flavour is roasted malts, some ashes, dark dry fruits, mild alcohol as well as some tar and syrup.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

2008 bottle, drank Friday- March 26th 2010- 8:10pm .. . dark berry and sweet fresh roadtar on the nose .. . dark dark brown, with a low head, lacing is decent but desperate .. . i work for ConSec .. . a very intriguing brew, that has aged wonderfully, the abv is dead on and perfectly subtle .. . a very tasty brew, i liked it quite alot!! ..cheers to Florida! .. . my last bottle from the haul bought at Knightly the same day as Universal!

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

This veer over all was average. For being what I would call a speciality type beer, the aroma was just a hint of malt, with an average dark brown Appearance. When it came to the taste there was just to much going on, I got a sweet, tangy, malty mish mash taste. Not a horrible beer but not something to compare with other beers that branch outside the norm.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 6

Why does the bottle say malt beverage? I can tell you that didn't really drive me to want to drink it. I must be missing something, either that or i should have waited when it was a bit colder to drink this baby. A little too sweet for my taste. Dark muddy black, nothing to see here- medium sized creamy tan head. Aroma was sweet with chocolate, pomme.Taste was sort of annoying with the sweetness. a bitunbalanced in my opinion. Anway, thanks kayla!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

2008 Bottle Date; Sampled August 2009 This beer is served lightly chilled with a vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass. The head that forms is a bit bigger than a fat finger and is a nicely browned, dark tan color. The aroma smells of sweet dark chocolate, anise, coffee liquor, cocoa, some umami-driven savory notes (a hint of tamari), ample toasted bread crust notes, a touch of burnt acidity, browned crackers, fresh licorice chews as well as some alcoholic spiciness. The nose is quite a bit more interesting than I was expecting, it can be a touch sharp at times, but the complexity is definitely quite nice. It does seem to lose much of the complexity after a minute or so though and begins to pick up notes of lacquer, acrid burnt grain, and even a touch of acetone.

A prickly carbonation competes with a touch of viscousness in the body; while this is not overly rich for an Imperial Black Ale (whatever that is), it is definitely a sipping beer, it actually seems to have a fairly light body. There is a certain savoriness to the flavor here, but at times it can seem a touch too much like acetone. There is some acidity here from the roast character (and perhaps some tartness from the pomegranate), but there is also a substantial toasted, dark grain character, a dark malt sweetness (which combines with the roast to make me think of a coffee liquor), a roasted whole-grain cracker flavor, some smoked cocoa notes and perhaps even a touch of smoked peat saltiness. There is some solid chocolate character here. The finish has some phenols and fusels that linger on the palate a bit; a touch turpene in character, but with some clove character as well.

An interesting beer, not what I was expecting at all. This does have a fair amount of complexity to it at this point; at times this is a plus, but at others this beer just doesn’t seem to be able to hold everything together in a balanced fashion. Still this is interesting enough that I am quite happy to be sipping on this right now.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Well, this beer had a lot of flavor, just not sure if it was the type I was looking for. The pomegranate was a little too sweet/sour, and wasn't working for me. Had some chocolate flavor with some other malts which gave it a bitter/sweet taste. Between that and the pomegranate it was sort of like a sweet and sour beer. Has a dark near black appearance with a hint of red/purple. Must say that I liked their Special Golden Ale better. A good overall beer, not sure I'd buy again though for the price.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Holy Mackerel! A deep darkblackness on pour. A tightly foamed tan head. Moderate in size. Little hanf time. No lacing, but then the blackness is so intense as in itself to be inviting. The aroma is coffee, roasted, bitter, robust. A dry, sweet, smooth body. You’d think you were drinking a wine if you were blindfolded and rating on the sensations to the palate alone. There is a cherry like sweetness on the taste. Blended well with the bittering of the roasted coffee. Nice drink. Too bad I only picked up one bottle. I could do another. .

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

The aroma is nice and to some extent earthy with hints of roasted malt and has some smooth and slight chocolate accents to it with maybe some very faint bitter. The appearance is a dark black but a luscious and rich dark burgundy that glows when held to the light with a nice, even head that is medium-sized and dissipates slightly leaving stringy lacing on top that is tan in color and coats the glass well. The mouthfeel is full and robust and of malty complexity and balance with a pallet that is silky and somewhat creamy and coats very well. The flavor is of roasted malts and chocolate with some bitter with an aftertaste that is roasty and malty and creamy as well as tasty with a finish that is slightly bitter with some sweetness and maybe of smoke and is nutty-like.

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

Pours a deep opaque brown, like dark chocolate, with a nice tan head. Smoky aroma is strongly of fine roast coffee and has a hint of pomegranate. Mouth-filling flavor has tones of coffee and unsweetened chocolate as well as a pomegranate hint. Mouthfeel is lively and tingly, and finish is pleasingly smooth.