Prairie Artisan Ales Coffee Noir

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

Pours deep coffee sable with a thick and fairly persistent tan head that leaves fair lacing. Aroma yields quality roast coffee, chocolate and roast malt plus a hint of - molasses? Bold flavor presents grand quality coffee, cocoa, roast malt, nutty and molasses tones. It is sweet but not cloying, with more than a hint of piney and slightly bitter hops. Mouthfeel delivers viscous body and peppy fizz, while more chocolate and molasses come forth in the finish. Just say noir!

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

12 oz bottle. Pours dark inky black with a wispy brown head that quickly goes to a thin collar that leaves a little lacing.

The aroma is nutty fudgy malts, oakey vanilla bourbon, and roast coffee with a little fruitcake.

The flavor is sweet sugary fruitcake and light bourbon with some black licorice and a heavy roast finish with a bit of an alcohol burn. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with low carbonation.

Overall, if only it tasted as good as it smelled. It's too sweet (probably to try to get the alcohol up) with an attempt to balance with the heavy bitter roast. I don't really get any coffee flavor. Still interesting though.

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

Dark black in color with a half inch of tan head that quickly receded, that left random spotty lace. Nose was dominated by coffee, with a hint of bourbon, chocolate, dark fruit, wood and booze. The taste was a strong blast of burnt, earthy coffee up front with a smooth finish of brown sugar, chocolate and wood, some fruit comes in the backside. Yet another winner from Prairie.