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Infusco
Rock Art Brewery
- From:
- Rock Art Brewery
- Vermont, United States
- Style:
- Belgian Dark Strong Ale
- ABV:
- 8%
- Score:
- 78
- Avg:
- 3.37 | pDev: 23.74%
- Reviews:
- 53
- Ratings:
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Mar 28, 2016
- Added:
- Nov 26, 2006
- Wants:
- 3
- Gots:
- 3
Inspired by a unique yeast’s ability to gently weave character and flavor into the beers if ferments. A sweet body balanced with a big alcohol warmth and a touch of hops. Lingering rich flavors add to the complexity. Try aging this one for a year or two at cellar temperatures and compare the flavors that will emerge.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Reviewed by mactrail from Washington
2.13/5 rDev -36.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5
2.13/5 rDev -36.8%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5
Pours a dark near black color in the glass. Looks innocent enough.
Tastes like a hosed-down house fire from last week. Murky, burnt grains, with a peculiar sweet undertone. Bitter without any actual hop flavor. Strong and intense flavors wear out their welcome quickly. This was one of the bottles at our Strong Beer Tasting that no one came back for seconds to.
From the 22 ounce bottle purchased at Total Wine in east Tucson. Of course they would sell Rock Art products since the label gives it a Southwestern appearance. They even shelve it with the other Arizona beers, like they know of even care what they sell. I would avoid everything from this brewery after tasting three of their products.
Jan 15, 2013Tastes like a hosed-down house fire from last week. Murky, burnt grains, with a peculiar sweet undertone. Bitter without any actual hop flavor. Strong and intense flavors wear out their welcome quickly. This was one of the bottles at our Strong Beer Tasting that no one came back for seconds to.
From the 22 ounce bottle purchased at Total Wine in east Tucson. Of course they would sell Rock Art products since the label gives it a Southwestern appearance. They even shelve it with the other Arizona beers, like they know of even care what they sell. I would avoid everything from this brewery after tasting three of their products.
Reviewed by jtierney89 from New Jersey
1/5 rDev -70.3%
look: 1 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1
1/5 rDev -70.3%
look: 1 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1
Pours a deep mahogany with lace of grey head. Smells of dates, dark berries, and burnt leather and kerosene. Doesn't smell like something consumable.
It doesn't taste all too consumable either. Big body with a heavy date taste along with a nice burnt leather alcohol finish that lingers. Probably not finishing this bottle. What happened here with this beer? I normally like rock art.
Jan 10, 2012It doesn't taste all too consumable either. Big body with a heavy date taste along with a nice burnt leather alcohol finish that lingers. Probably not finishing this bottle. What happened here with this beer? I normally like rock art.
Reviewed by beerthulhu from New Jersey
4.22/5 rDev +25.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
4.22/5 rDev +25.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
A: Coal black pour with a quickly diminishing fizzy khaki colored head that offered no lace.
S: Soft smoky charred wood, dark roasted barley, and some silty black coffee roast for the nose’s sake.
T: The flavor was hearty, dark, and rich, filled with roasty malts, and a silty minearality of charred wood and a fine sweetened dark coffee roast. Brief glimpses of toasted citrus peel come mid way offering a bitter roasted treat of citrus hops. Oily roast finish, passing citrus mentions, and a smooth eloquent roast makes for a dark, yet smooth bitter/sweet ordeal. Dark fruit of figs add accents as well some tea like bitterness rounds things out with an alcohol warmth.
M: Black oily roast, full bodied, coffee like texture that leaves you with a lasting dark roast bitterness.
O: Overall the label says it best, this aint no mommas boy or daddys girl drink. Darkly roasted beast filled with a earthy bitterness and campfire minearlity smoothers your tongue with a charred coating. Bitter, yet eloquently smooth, makes your tongue beg for more. Drinks like a smoked dark ale.
Dec 22, 2011S: Soft smoky charred wood, dark roasted barley, and some silty black coffee roast for the nose’s sake.
T: The flavor was hearty, dark, and rich, filled with roasty malts, and a silty minearality of charred wood and a fine sweetened dark coffee roast. Brief glimpses of toasted citrus peel come mid way offering a bitter roasted treat of citrus hops. Oily roast finish, passing citrus mentions, and a smooth eloquent roast makes for a dark, yet smooth bitter/sweet ordeal. Dark fruit of figs add accents as well some tea like bitterness rounds things out with an alcohol warmth.
M: Black oily roast, full bodied, coffee like texture that leaves you with a lasting dark roast bitterness.
O: Overall the label says it best, this aint no mommas boy or daddys girl drink. Darkly roasted beast filled with a earthy bitterness and campfire minearlity smoothers your tongue with a charred coating. Bitter, yet eloquently smooth, makes your tongue beg for more. Drinks like a smoked dark ale.
Reviewed by threeviews from Florida
4.08/5 rDev +21.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
4.08/5 rDev +21.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
Poured from a 22oz bomber into a snifter.
A- Pours a deep, deep copper color without much of any head. The label reads, "Dark Ale..." and that is what you get.
S- Complex: smoke, tobacco, toffee, oak...and as it warms sweet caramel comes to the fore (while the smoke mellows). If nothing else, consume (i.e. sip) this brew at nothing-less-than cellar temperatures to balance out the aromas (of which the smoke dominates when cold). Despite it being listed as a Belgian beer, the usual breadiness that is generated from the yeast does not come through.
T- Again, comples and balance with this brew is key to its enjoyment. Everything in the taste can be found with the smell. Smoke, tabacco, sweet caramel with a nice dry, oaky finish. Despite the 8% ABV, the alcohol is nicely hidden. Like the smell, the (supposed) Belgian yeast profile is not detectable...possibly due to the strong flavors imparted from the malts.
M- Possess a moderate carbonation which complements this brew well. Your tastebuds are left jumping all over the place from the smoked and caramel malts used resulting in a long lasting finish.
O- I have never been a fan of smoked malts (like Bamburg)...up until now. This is one bold, complex brew as well as one of the most daring beers I have sampled in a long time. Not an everyday selection, but ill I try this again?...of course!
I'm not one to cellar beers, as I have been largely unhappy with them as compared to fresh. However, I might just have to try that with Infusco and see if cellaring will be kind to this concoction.
Once again, nicely done Rock Art.
Nov 10, 2011A- Pours a deep, deep copper color without much of any head. The label reads, "Dark Ale..." and that is what you get.
S- Complex: smoke, tobacco, toffee, oak...and as it warms sweet caramel comes to the fore (while the smoke mellows). If nothing else, consume (i.e. sip) this brew at nothing-less-than cellar temperatures to balance out the aromas (of which the smoke dominates when cold). Despite it being listed as a Belgian beer, the usual breadiness that is generated from the yeast does not come through.
T- Again, comples and balance with this brew is key to its enjoyment. Everything in the taste can be found with the smell. Smoke, tabacco, sweet caramel with a nice dry, oaky finish. Despite the 8% ABV, the alcohol is nicely hidden. Like the smell, the (supposed) Belgian yeast profile is not detectable...possibly due to the strong flavors imparted from the malts.
M- Possess a moderate carbonation which complements this brew well. Your tastebuds are left jumping all over the place from the smoked and caramel malts used resulting in a long lasting finish.
O- I have never been a fan of smoked malts (like Bamburg)...up until now. This is one bold, complex brew as well as one of the most daring beers I have sampled in a long time. Not an everyday selection, but ill I try this again?...of course!
I'm not one to cellar beers, as I have been largely unhappy with them as compared to fresh. However, I might just have to try that with Infusco and see if cellaring will be kind to this concoction.
Once again, nicely done Rock Art.
Reviewed by silentjay from Massachusetts
2.2/5 rDev -34.7%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
2.2/5 rDev -34.7%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2
pours a muddy brown with a smallish head that quickly recedes to absolutely nothing at all. It looks completely flat.
not yeasty, like the bottle description would suggest, in the aroma. pure smoked malts.
smokiness again is most dominant. burnt bacon, peat smoked malts...some dark fruits and chocolate and black pepper and some firewood.
very flat with a medium body and a lingering smoky finish.
I must admit, I'm not a big fan of smoky beers, and this one was a bit too smoke dominant for me to enjoy.
Oct 03, 2011not yeasty, like the bottle description would suggest, in the aroma. pure smoked malts.
smokiness again is most dominant. burnt bacon, peat smoked malts...some dark fruits and chocolate and black pepper and some firewood.
very flat with a medium body and a lingering smoky finish.
I must admit, I'm not a big fan of smoky beers, and this one was a bit too smoke dominant for me to enjoy.
Reviewed by BeerdedEric from New Jersey
4.42/5 rDev +31.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
4.42/5 rDev +31.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5
Not much of the way of head, it fades very quickly but what I did notice was a khaki color. A dark crimson body color. Although, there is a lack of head there is some nice lacing.
I get a sweet vanilla, hazelnut, toffee and caramel. This has a really nice aroma!
Wow! Chocolate which I didn't smell at all. Also caramel, toasted bread, toffee, dark fruits I'm thinking raisins (also slight bourbon taste?)and smoke. Not much of the way of hops, mostly roasted flavors and malt. Very tasty!
Medium body, medium carbonation but fits well with the beer. A little dry feeling.
Another fine tasting brew from Rock Art. I really enjoyed this beer, I don't know why it received decent ratings. I did taste something interesting, I saw no mention of it but I believe a distinct bourbon flavor was noticeable. I did notice a smoky oak flavor that someone mentioned. Nonetheless a very tasty beer!
May 05, 2011I get a sweet vanilla, hazelnut, toffee and caramel. This has a really nice aroma!
Wow! Chocolate which I didn't smell at all. Also caramel, toasted bread, toffee, dark fruits I'm thinking raisins (also slight bourbon taste?)and smoke. Not much of the way of hops, mostly roasted flavors and malt. Very tasty!
Medium body, medium carbonation but fits well with the beer. A little dry feeling.
Another fine tasting brew from Rock Art. I really enjoyed this beer, I don't know why it received decent ratings. I did taste something interesting, I saw no mention of it but I believe a distinct bourbon flavor was noticeable. I did notice a smoky oak flavor that someone mentioned. Nonetheless a very tasty beer!
Reviewed by krisandajt from Pennsylvania
3.63/5 rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5
3.63/5 rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5
This brew comes courtesy of mymrnngjckt, who has provided me with most of my top shelf brew. Top notch BA...
Appearance: Pours a a surprisingly dark, murky black color that reminds me more of a good stout than a Belgian Ale. Not too much head, but I'll attribute that to my girly girl pour. There's some decent retention, and the lacing ain't too shabby neither.
Smell: The comparisons to a stout don't stop with the appearance, the nose is rather chocolaty. This particular bottle is about 2 years old, so I don't know if age has played a part here, but still...chocolate. There's also a slightly smoky characteristic to the brew, and a slight yeasty sort of quality.
Taste: The smoky quality comes through, but the chocolate doesn't. There's a bit of dark fruit, but it's not as potent as I thought it would be given the style. To be honest, if you told me this was a smoked beer, I'd believe it. Still, it's not a bad brew.
Mouthfeel: A medium to full body, which given the other qualities of the brew is surprising. Good carbonation, the beer has a smooth almost creamy texture.
Overall (Drinkability): It's not exactly what I expected, but it isn't terrible. I haven't tried it fresh, so I don't have much to compare it to. I don't think I would turn down another, but I don't think I'd look particularly forward to trying another.
Apr 09, 2011Appearance: Pours a a surprisingly dark, murky black color that reminds me more of a good stout than a Belgian Ale. Not too much head, but I'll attribute that to my girly girl pour. There's some decent retention, and the lacing ain't too shabby neither.
Smell: The comparisons to a stout don't stop with the appearance, the nose is rather chocolaty. This particular bottle is about 2 years old, so I don't know if age has played a part here, but still...chocolate. There's also a slightly smoky characteristic to the brew, and a slight yeasty sort of quality.
Taste: The smoky quality comes through, but the chocolate doesn't. There's a bit of dark fruit, but it's not as potent as I thought it would be given the style. To be honest, if you told me this was a smoked beer, I'd believe it. Still, it's not a bad brew.
Mouthfeel: A medium to full body, which given the other qualities of the brew is surprising. Good carbonation, the beer has a smooth almost creamy texture.
Overall (Drinkability): It's not exactly what I expected, but it isn't terrible. I haven't tried it fresh, so I don't have much to compare it to. I don't think I would turn down another, but I don't think I'd look particularly forward to trying another.
Reviewed by jlindros from Massachusetts
3.92/5 rDev +16.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
3.92/5 rDev +16.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Had as part of the Central NE BA Meetup, from '07 I believe.
A dark raisin murky brown color with a light head.
Nose of dark malts, aged malts, sweet smoked wood, choc covered raisins, light licorice, cherry wood, sweet molasses, brown sugar, lots of dark fruit, complex.
Taste is sweet aged malts, light Belgian candi sugar, light booze, little bitterness from the malts, lots of smoked apple and cherry wood, smoked raisin even, molasses, caramel, touch of minerality, finishes smooth with lingering smoke and sugars, as well as fruits.
Mouth is medium bodied, soft and delicate not so strong anymore, with decent carbonation for the age.
Drink is decent, light booze, touch of sticky malts, aged malt taste too.
Feb 28, 2011A dark raisin murky brown color with a light head.
Nose of dark malts, aged malts, sweet smoked wood, choc covered raisins, light licorice, cherry wood, sweet molasses, brown sugar, lots of dark fruit, complex.
Taste is sweet aged malts, light Belgian candi sugar, light booze, little bitterness from the malts, lots of smoked apple and cherry wood, smoked raisin even, molasses, caramel, touch of minerality, finishes smooth with lingering smoke and sugars, as well as fruits.
Mouth is medium bodied, soft and delicate not so strong anymore, with decent carbonation for the age.
Drink is decent, light booze, touch of sticky malts, aged malt taste too.
Infusco from Rock Art Brewery
Beer rating:
78 out of
100 with
65 ratings
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