Nickel Brook Café Del Bastardo

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

On tap at Arrow and Loon. Pours a very small brown head and has an extremely dark appearance, pretty much pitch black. Weak lacing. Aromas of dark roasted malts, tons of coffee, chocolate, hints of licorice. Flavours are right off the bat coffee and chocolate, dark roasted malts, also somewhat sweet. Some cherry notes in the finish. Alcohol is somewhat noticeable, it's very well hidden and can be quite deceiving. Slick and oily mouthfeel. Full bodied. Good stuff!

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

Purchaced from the brewery. Dark, dark brown pour. Brown head recedes quickly, leaves one or two dots of lace. All expected from such a high abv. The abv is in the flavour and the mouthfeel. Flavour and aroma follow each other, although the flavour is powerful compared with the lighter aroma. Very rich flavours or roasted malt, dark chocolate, coffee (but thought it would be stronger) licorice, vanilla, oak, bitter and slight metalic finish. Medium sticky and slick mouthfeel. Just another Bastard to love.

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

Pours a real dark brown colour with a dark chocolate mocha coloured head, average retention and light lace. Dark coffee aromas with cocoa powder bitterness and chocolate notes. Chocolaty taste as well with a nice bitterness that gets stronger and slowly goes down. Coffee is there, but mostly bitter 90% chocolate. Hints of dark fruits and molasses. A very nice chocolaty version of the Bolshevik.