Jester King Brewery Black Metal

**Aroma:** “Chocolate and tartness battle for dominance, with a slight edge to tartness. Nice roasted malt notes. Some sweet and tart lactic acidity. Some cocoa and coffee. Acetic and cherry, wild _Brett_ aromas.” **Flavor:** “Semisweet and dark chocolate notes quickly overtaken by a tart acidity. Nice sweet malt character with some good roasty toast notes from the malt. Lactic lemon-like acidic flavor adds sweet and sour notes and complexity. Some funky earthy wood quality adds to the scope of the beer. Dry throughout due to bugs chewing through anything that makes a stout thick and rich.” **Overall:** “Great sour stout that has a surprising amount of chocolate flavor to pair with the tartness and acidity. The malty sweetness, chocolate, and roast blend great with the funky, earthy, lactic, and lemon sourness, but this will be a polarizing beer.”

“Cold brew coffee-forward in the aroma. Coffee-soaked malt notes with dark fruit and light vanilla coat the palate, with a touch of smoke lingering. Well-balanced finish with a lingering bitterness that cuts through the residual sweetness.”

**Aroma:** “Initially reminiscent of a bourbon coke, maybe even cherry coke. A pleasant, singular boozy character mixes with the dark sweetness of the beer. Heavy roasted character with some notes of cocoa powder, vanilla, coconut, and coffee.” **Flavor:** “This has a great intense chocolate front with a prominent booziness carrying through. Some nice roast character keeps things from getting off track. Rich bourbon sweetness with the obvious roast and chocolate notes from the malt. Relatively chewy throughout, but it finishes dry and bourbony. Vanilla combines with the chocolate roast to provide a milk chocolate character.” **Overall:** “This is a perfect and intense dichotomy of booze and chocolate and all things that that entails. Very well done, but definitely balanced on the bourbon side of things.”