Miasmatic Review

1554 Enlightend Black Ale

Tonight I’m reviewing the last surviving beer of the beer tasting. There were others but we didn’t have any left overs. I’m reviewing 1554 enlightened Black Ale by the New Belgium Brewing Company at Fort Collins, CO. This was brought by Labgirl, Shadoglare’s date.

The bottle is a 12 oz brown bottle. This one however is specially cast with a neck band that has the name of the brewing company on it. The label is red with a blue square that has green ivy on it. There is a picture of a snifter of beer sitting on a barrel. The name of the beer is in black lettering toward the bottom of the picture.

This beer has a beautiful dark brown color with a reddish background to it. It poured a thin tan head that dissipated into a film. There was some lacing that stayed on the side of the glass, but not much.

There is a nice roasted malt scent to it. You can also detect a slight a dark dried fruit scent, like raisins and molasses. A slight earthy undertone is also noticed. The taste is a mix of roasted chocolate and coffee malts. There is a hint of nut to the taste. It has a slightly bitter finish and aftertaste.

It is a medium bodied beer. There is some creaminess to it that coats the mouth, but not a lot. The carbonation level is decent.

At the beer tasting this was one of the beers that no one hated, and a couple of people really liked. Over all it’s a pretty good beer, but I could see how drinking it could get filling after a while. At the beer tasting I gave it a 4.5, and I’m going to stick with that rating, 4.5 out of 10.