DuClaw Exile 1 (Imperial Chocolate Rye Porter) - DuClaw Brewing Company

Kegatron

Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

22 oz bottle into a couple of tulip glasses.

Pours black, with 1 ½ fingers of mocha head. This retains with some robust edging that throws up a foamy cascade of lacing which slowly creeps down the side of the glass and hangs in patchy swathes. The rye pops in the nose but is undercut by notes of green citrus, chocolate, and roasted coffee. It still has a nice spicy presence here though in the nostrils.

The taste is bittersweet chocolate, some tangier toffee notes, and rye, which all stick to each other with a spicy sweetness on the palate. This spreads out and melds rather nicely with the coffee flavor that is present, along with a firm citric bitterness that runs down the middle of the profile. This finishes bitter with a final smack of spice and sweetness at the end. The mouthfeel is medium to fuller bodied and crisp feeling on the tongue, with more of a thick prickly chewiness then that fills out the back. Alcohol is well hid here in this bottled version (label has this at 8%) and adds just the right amount of fullness here to the body.

I liked this. I thought that the rye worked rather well here with those other Imperial Porter flavors and that bigger body gave them all a solid presence to latch onto in the mouth. I might have to grab an extra bottle or two of this.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2012 17:00:27 | More by Kegatron

thain709

Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had oh cask during Baltimore Beer Week 2011. I was surprised this wasn't entered yet.

A - Served with a darker shade of brown body with some light ruby highlights at the bottom...the light brown head was bubbly and thin and didn't stick around for long...a few patches of lacing were left

S - The nose was full of roasted chocolate malt...some whiffs brought forward a melted chocolate aroma...some vanilla sweetness as well...the spice was very, very subtle

T - There were a lot of similarities on the palate that were found in the nose...the malt was fully roasted and never came across as burnt...both milk and dark chocolate flavors could be found...the milk chocolate had a melted chocolate flavor while the dark chocolate provided a slight bitterness...there was some vanilla hanging in the background...again the spice was subtle, but it came through a little towards the end as the beer became even warmer

M - Full bodied...the roast characteristic was big in this one...it coated the palate nicely leaving a lot of chocolate around...a little smokiness/char came out too

O - When I saw the words DuClaw, Imperial, and Chocolate I was hoping for H.E.R.O, but instead I found this nice treat...the chocolate really comes through, but the rye is hard to find...I feel the two would have made a nice partnership, but the rye decided to hang back

Serving type: cask

10-17-2011 16:34:23 | More by thain709