Grimm Artisanal Ales Double Negative

**Aroma:** “Big dark chocolate and coffee aroma. Big plum, dates, moderate cherry, light acidity, moderate caramel, light umami, light earthy hops, some brown sugar notes. A backbone of bready malt. I’m sitting by the fire with a snifter of...not barleywine, but this beer. Rich malt complexity with sherry, dried figs, and raisins, and warming alcohol. More caramel than roast, but the coffee and chocolate are there.” **Flavor:** “Lovely complex malt sweetness—like chocolate-covered Fig Newtons, or maple syrup, with a touch of earthy hops to help balance. Like a shot of strong expresso, no cream. Complex and deep, but a bit intense so sessionable is not part of this section. Big cherry, light plum, big chocolate, moderate coffee, light hops bitterness, touch of alcohol, moderate caramel. Aftertaste: big chocolate, touch of coffee, light bitterness. Starts out like a thinner-bodied barleywine, but the hops and roast bitterness crack that illusion. The promise from the nose is here, but it doesn't quite mesh as well in the flavor because the lingering hops and slight astringency add some harshness. Hops flavor is as big as the roast. Sherry, malt, dried fruit and esters are still nice, though.” **Overall:** “Very tasty, but could use a bit more carbonation to help the flavors pop. Love the fruitiness. Fun dark-fruit dominated imperial stout. The chocolate, caramel, and roast notes are present throughout with just enough hops to balance. It is fairly well carbonated, but that works to bring out the brighter fruit notes. The nose had me, but the flavor not so much.”

**Aroma:** “Rich aroma. A wonderful blend of dark chocolate, dark cherry and plum, vanilla, and sweet alcohol notes. A little coffee and oak come through, too. A little bit of roast to ground the beer to its base ingredients.” **Flavor:** “‘Richness’ doesn’t begin to cover the luxurious flavors of this beer. It’s like drinking a dark cherry cordial, dipped in dark chocolate and soaked in bourbon, through a chocolate, vanilla, roasted coconut straw. A very rounded beer, with no one note dominating. Creamy. The oak adds great depth to this beer.” **Overall:** “This beer is so rich and delicious that Bernie Sanders is blaming America’s problems on it. Very good. Some nice rich and bold characters come together with sweetness and roast bitterness to work great. There aren’t enough superlatives for this beer.”

**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.”