550. Boulevard Brewing – Smokestack Series Dark Truth Stout

550. Boulevard Brewing - Smokestack Series Dark Truth Stout

I stumbled across this in the back of the beer fridge, and I have no idea when or where I got it. The label says, “Best by 10/9/11,” so it must have been a while ago. I’m watching my Mizzou Tigers taking on Arkansas and enjoying this beer before I sit down to get some work done. The bottle says, “ Roasted English malts provide a deep, rich texture, Belgian yeast Vistowes plum like fruitiness, and German hops add spicy aromas as dark truth Stout mellows to a smooth, dry, smoky finish.

Location: Poured into a snifter glass from the 12oz bottle at my home in Bloomington, IL.

Numbers: 9.7% ABV, 310 Calories

Appearance & Aroma: It’s dark black in color and no light was visible when held up. It has a good amount of carbonation in it, giving it a half inch thick, foamy, tan head. The aroma is smokey with hints of dark fruits.

Taste & Feel: The body is medium-to-full and the mouthfeel is smooth and slightly creamy from the foamy head. There’s a roasty and sweet, almost dark cherry like flavor up front. That changes to a smooth roasty dark chocolate flavor in the middle with hints of dark fruit and coffee. A roasty and slightly sweet dark cherry flavor come back in during the finish and lasts for a little bit in the aftertaste.

Food Pairing: This beer had a nice roasty chocolate flavor with hints of dark fruits. This would be great with chocolate desserts, like a brownie or cake, but it would also go nicely with a steak as well.

Overall Impression: Even though this beer was well past the “best by” date, it was a very good beer. I’m not sure if the complexity developed because of its age, or if it tastes this good fresh (I’ll have to buy another one to find out). I really enjoyed the smooth roasty, chocolate flavors, and the dark cherry and dark fruit flavors sent this to the next level. I really enjoyed it and you can bet I’m going to get another bottle of it.

My Rating: ★★★★☆

Your rating:

Author: kkozlen

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