Boulder Beer The Dude’s D’Spare

**Aroma:** “Subdued nose, but there are notes of dark roast coffee, chocolate, and very subtle dark stone fruit esters when you hunt for them. Strong bold roasty notes.” **Flavor:** “Roasty with hints of dry chocolate, sweet chocolate, and cherry. Vanilla. Some oak and bourbon notes are present. Nice warmth in the end. Some dark toffee and even black licorice notes. Some prominent fruitiness and tannin character emerges as it warms. The barrel character isn’t overly pronounced.” **Overall:** “The malt and dark fruit sweetness are really nice in the beer with some nice vanilla notes. A bold beer, that veers a little off course for the style, but still provides some unique flavors that are worth exploring.”

**Aroma:** “A prominent roastiness, with even a touch char and black licorice. A light sweet chocolate rounds it out, but the roast dominates. Nice sweet malt roast. Chocolate. Some vanilla. Toast.” **Flavor:** “Moderately sweet cherry chocolate with a touch of roast and some vanilla underneath. A nice chocolaty flavor, but it has a hard time rising over the roast. Some barrel character, but overall the roast dominates.” **Overall:** “Fairly true to style in all respects. The heat on the finish is a bit detracting. Other than that, pretty easy drinking. A singularly roast-forward stout with just a touch of barrel character. The chocolate was nice, but the booze was pretty hot throughout this beer.”

**Aroma:** “Chocolate mocha. Medium fresh hops aroma (woody and earthy).Fruit esters (pear and peach). Fresh grass. Light caramel, moderate roasty, strong chocolate, touch of vanilla, light sweetness.” **Flavor:** “Chewy sweet. Cocoa chocolate flavor has a slight dusty character. Hops bitterness is down the middle, does not linger into aftertaste. Aftertaste of chocolate and caramel malt. Big caramel, moderate roast, moderate plum and date, light roast astringency, light umami.” **Overall:** “Quite tasty. Love the sweet coffee notes, very mocha-like. Big full-bodied imperial stout with a fair bit of sweetness and just a touch of hops and ethanol. An awesome beer to share with friends, but I’d be reluctant to tackle it solo.”