Dark Island - Orkney Brewery

Jason

Massachusetts

4.28/5  rDev +8.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Presentation: 11.2 oz brown bottle with a gold foiled top, no freshness date.

Appearance: Shaded dark ruby in colour with big light tan head that dissipates into a lace but still retains well.

Smell: Slight fruit, hints of flavoured creamed coffee and soft peat aroma.

Taste: Fruity and mild yet noticeable peatish smoke up front, some crisp carbonation ... then goes a little smooth with a light hop bitterness. A touch of chocolate, some hop flavour and more faint peat smoke flavour inside. In the end is a bit of nut and residual dextrin.

Notes: Tiny complexities make this a very interesting ale, definitely give this one a try.

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2002 11:47:16 | More by Jason

schaffer9252

New York

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%

05-16-2013 22:20:09 | More by schaffer9252

civicm87

New York

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%

05-14-2013 23:09:28 | More by civicm87

tommyguz

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -17.9%

05-09-2013 01:57:16 | More by tommyguz

MacStinson

Michigan

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

05-05-2013 01:38:39 | More by MacStinson

BeerRefugee

Oklahoma

3.68/5  rDev -7.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.75

Pours a very dark brown with a creamy tan had with good retention and lacing. Moderate aroma of coffee, toast and toffee. Flavor is similar with hints of coffee, bitter chocolate, raisins and toffee/brown sugar sweetness. Mouthfeel is a little thin and finish is slightly astringent. Would this beer to be a little more full-bodied, but the flavor is very good.

Serving type: bottle

04-30-2013 20:54:17 | More by BeerRefugee

twax

Florida

4/5  rDev +1%

04-14-2013 19:04:19 | More by twax

bmwats

Louisiana

3.66/5  rDev -7.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 500 ml bottle into a footed tulip.

A: Medium-dark brown. Pours a slight brown white head, which quickly liberates itself from reality leaving only a faint ring. No real lacing.

S: Pungent malty tone with some black cherry, tea leaf, and.... cinnamon rolls?

T: Very light malt character, slightly kriekened, with a little musty peat.

M: Sticky and a little shallow.

D: Goes down easy.

Atmosphere is good. Decent hue, but a very slight head and no lacing. Nose is a great malty, sweet cherry and fresh pastry combination. Flabby and a little shallow slightly sweetened malty tone, balanced with a bit of pungent peat. Overall, this is a pretty good quaff.

Serving type: bottle

04-13-2013 03:34:15 | More by bmwats

HawkeyeJosh

Arkansas

4.75/5  rDev +19.9%

04-06-2013 02:47:14 | More by HawkeyeJosh

Oakenator

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +1%

03-30-2013 22:58:51 | More by Oakenator

Chugs13

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

03-10-2013 20:06:44 | More by Chugs13

Bouleboubier

Pennsylvania

3.76/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

(poured into a fat tulip - this bottle seems to me to have been at least 6 months old, if not more, and possibly handled poorly sometime in its history...normally, this beer is pretty good - was a bit off here...)

A: really dark on the pour - appears to be a dark, ruby-brown...nice 1" head on pour that poofed out quickly, leaving barely a slimy collar

S: like an old Eastern European Baltic-style porter...really predominantly fruity, bright and berry-like, matched against a background of light-roasted coffee and a dab of cocoa....i'm wondering if they use a lot of finishing hops or ferment at a higher temperature than normal...perhaps a little oxidized...some mild fig, mint, and cordial/medicinal notes....seems weaker than it should be

T: lightly leathery, mildly soured coffee...just as fruity as it smells - sour cherry?...light cocoa and bittersweet in the aftertaste....bold composition of flavors, yet mellow in their dynamics (if that makes sense)....once again, Baltic porter-like

F: light-ish, clean, but curiously hearty....some silky or slickness as it comes along

O: I've had a better bottle than this, and on cask, it's quite nice-r

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2013 03:35:17 | More by Bouleboubier

RWACKO

New York

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

03-01-2013 00:57:33 | More by RWACKO

Lovely85

Florida

4.25/5  rDev +7.3%

02-22-2013 03:40:58 | More by Lovely85

StJamesGate

New York

4.1/5  rDev +3.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Ruby black with puffy beige head that keeps a film.
Oily coffee, Christmas pudding, and chargrilled steak on the nose.
Strong coffee and dark cherries, dried apple, raisin skins and fig relish, a roasty hit, and some bark and earth hops. Some sour malts, a bit of treacle, and hints of woody vanilla, too.
Prune finish and lingering stone fruit tartness.
Medium thinking about full, oily, good bit of chew, cleansing fizz.

More darkness than the usual Scottish ale but more fruit than a porter. Enough carbonation to never cloy and a very reasonable strength. I'd prefer more hops, but not really what this is about.

Couldn't ask for more in February.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2013 22:44:33 | More by StJamesGate

matjack85

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%

02-02-2013 06:39:29 | More by matjack85

CommanderOfAwesome

California

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%

01-25-2013 03:57:36 | More by CommanderOfAwesome

KStark

British Columbia (Canada)

4/5  rDev +1%

01-21-2013 00:00:41 | More by KStark

bluejacket74

Ohio

3.96/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

500 ml bottle. Served in a pint glass, the beer pours dark brown with a half inch tan head that stayed around for a while. There's a decent amount of lacing. The brew smells like caramel malt, toffee, dark fruit, roasted malt and a bit of leather and chocolate. It tastes like peat, roasted malt, dark fruit, minerals/salt, chocolate and some coffee. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's a bit creamy and slick with moderate carbonation. I liked this brew, and at $4.99 a bottle I'd buy this one again in the future.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2013 01:38:44 | More by bluejacket74

Bix

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +1%

01-10-2013 15:58:56 | More by Bix

K-Shep87

4.75/5  rDev +19.9%

01-03-2013 02:31:46 | More by K-Shep87

cliff1066

Virginia

4/5  rDev +1%

12-28-2012 01:22:43 | More by cliff1066

mdagnew

United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

4/5  rDev +1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

500ml bottle bought from The Vineyard, Belfast...

Poured a deep amber colour. Slightly off white head poured fairly loose and frothy then faded quickly to patchy covering with thick edging. No real carbonation... wispy lacing...

Aroma - Quite a lot of toasted bready malts, dried dark fruits (raisins, prunes, also some apples), some light peat / tobacco notes, toasted nuts, leathery traces, sweet muscavado sugar notes, grassy hints...

Taste - A bit of a let down after the decent aroma... watered down lightly toasted malts, dark fruits (raisins, apples, figs), fruit / malt loaf notes, metallic traces, some saltiness, light smoke...

M&D - Quite sharp and dry... light bodied... Fairly drinkable and sessionable...

Overall - A decent enough Scottish ale... worth a try...

Serving type: bottle

12-27-2012 13:56:57 | More by mdagnew

JDBarca10

3.75/5  rDev -5.3%

12-22-2012 08:19:34 | More by JDBarca10

MN_Beerticker

Minnesota

4.5/5  rDev +13.6%

12-20-2012 17:01:24 | More by MN_Beerticker