Angry Beast - Clown Shoes

emerge077

Illinois

4.03/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Black in the glass, with a compact layer of tan foam that resembles the color of tea stained parchment. Creamy surface texture, and a sticky halo of lacing in the glass. Long lasting coverage on the surface.

Smells vaguely like marshmallows, woody barrel, vanilla and a bit of dry chocolate.

A hefty dose of charred black malt, mild carob and soy, woody barrel notes with a light bourbon bite. Nicely blended and well integrated, medium bodied but not overly sweet, comes across a bit lighter than it is. Mild notes of ash, tobacco, leather, oak, coffee, charred marshmallow, dark bakers chocolate. Drying finish with lingering traces of woodiness and hints of whiskey. Overall this drank pretty good.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2012 03:57:05 | More by emerge077

Jasonrm72

Colorado

4.75/5  rDev +18.8%

05-02-2013 20:02:06 | More by Jasonrm72

Kelp

New Hampshire

3.75/5  rDev -6.3%

04-29-2013 05:48:41 | More by Kelp

Seakyden

Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev +6.3%

04-03-2013 01:25:03 | More by Seakyden

Sparky44

Illinois

4/5  rDev 0%

03-24-2013 03:15:13 | More by Sparky44

match1112

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -12.5%

03-17-2013 16:01:22 | More by match1112

316nuts

Alabama

3.5/5  rDev -12.5%

03-11-2013 18:44:21 | More by 316nuts

Psychmusic

Rhode Island

3.75/5  rDev -6.3%

03-10-2013 19:05:30 | More by Psychmusic

Thren

4.25/5  rDev +6.3%

02-01-2013 21:34:54 | More by Thren

jlindros

Massachusetts

3.68/5  rDev -8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a slightly darker colored fluffy 1 finger head with big bubbles popping but fades slowly otherwise, nice lacing and nice legs to go with it, pitch black thick beer.

Nose is pure dark malts, black malt and roast mostly I think. It has a light baker's chocolate and fluffy nougat as well. Some roasted malts, with a bit of coffee, caramel and very dark crystal malts, syrupy dark sweet malts, some booze, and a bit of earthy spicy hops.

Taste starts with syrupy semi sweet rich dark malts. Some fluffy nougat and caramel out front, with dark heavy crystal malts, and a bit of a chalky black malt char. The black malt really dominates, with that powdery char flavor, wants to go acrid but doesn't quite get there. A bit of cocoa nibs in there combines with the chocolate for a little candy bar action, with some roasted malt bringing light coffee as well. Booze is there with some warmth but doesn't seem like 11% as the big malts and some sweetness balance well. Hops bring light earthy and hint spicy flavors, with some bitterness, but just as much bitterness coming from the charred malts. Finish is sticky and syrupy but fairly dry, lingering dark malts, little syrupy, with light cocoa and caramel, little black malt and char as well, a bit more of the spicy hops coming through with medium bitterness lingering.

Mouth is fuller bodied, rich and thick, decent fluffy carb, some warming booze that is hidden fairly well.

Overall OK but not great. More like a hodgepodge of lots of dark malts just thrown together, which gets borderline acrid and overpowering. A bit of chocolate and caramel saves it for being at least a decent beer, and fluffy carbonation and nougat flavors are nice as well. Hops don't destroy either which is nice. The booze is hidden well for 11% as it's balanced fairly well. However, just a meh kinda beer overall, and gets boring very quickly.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2013 03:32:30 | More by jlindros

MasterSki

Illinois

4.05/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Bottle purchased a while back from Binny's Lakeview. Served in a Russian River tulip.

A - Tan foam settles to a thick collar and spotty lace. Dark brown-black body. No real surprises here.

S - A nice mix of caramel, chocolate, vanilla, roast, anise, and some hints of smoke and charred malts. Bourbon character is mild, but present in the periphery.

T - The taste is similar, with nice chocolate, roasted malts, caramel, and oaky vanilla. Bourbon character is again quite mild, belying the blended nature of this beer. Alcohol is pretty well-hidden.

M - Smooth, medium body, with a nice creamy texture and some oaky dryness in the finish. Drinks lighter than the listed 11%, as the alcohol is very well-concealed, a trend I noticed with these Clown Shoes stouts.

D - I could have stood for more barrel and bourbon presence, but this is still about as enjoyable as regular Vampire Slayer. Not sure if I'd pony up the extra few bucks for what appears to be a very small percentage of barrel-aged Blaecorn Unidragon added to the mix, but I wouldn't turn this down either.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2012 20:35:44 | More by MasterSki

AgentZero

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -6.3%

12-28-2012 22:27:43 | More by AgentZero

sendbeer

Georgia

3.75/5  rDev -6.3%

12-26-2012 00:12:40 | More by sendbeer

bsuedekum

Missouri

3.75/5  rDev -6.3%

12-19-2012 06:01:18 | More by bsuedekum

Massbmx

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -6.3%

12-08-2012 23:42:18 | More by Massbmx

TheSevenDuffs

Ontario (Canada)

3.83/5  rDev -4.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Thanks to Robbie for this bottle. Bottled in 05/2012. Poured in to CBS snifter.

A -Black with one finger of espresso coloured head that immediately dissipated to a ring around the glass with a few scattered bubbles.

S - Roast and a noticeable hop bitterness up front. A big sweet milk chocolate aroma is present as well. The barrel qualities are barely noticeable. Light oak and bourbon in the background.

T - Follows the nose. Huge roast presence and a noticeable bitterness (from the Blaecorn) that gives way to milk chocolate, charred oak, molasses and a light coffee flavour. The barrel is extremely subdued and I didn't know to look for the barrel flavours, I doubt I would have guesses that this was barrel aged. Very faint vanilla and bourbon in the background.

M - Medium body. Creamy. Light carbonation.

O - A well made and tasty imperial stout but a poorly made barrel aged RIS. Would love to try this one with more barrel character.

Serving type: bottle

11-16-2012 03:07:37 | More by TheSevenDuffs

SawDog505

New Hampshire

3.93/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured aggressively into a 16 oz snifter, bottled 5/2012. Pours a slick completely black, with a two inch tan head, that leaves patches of lacing. Smell is massive, roasted expresso, bourbon, anise, dark fruit, smoke, and dark chocolate. Taste is all of those things, with expresso, bourbon, and dark chocolate, standing out most. Body is maybe medium, nice amount of life for its hefty ABV, a little dry, and a sipper that goes down kind of easy. This is a nice beer, I am a fan of Clown Shoes, and they did it again.

Serving type: bottle

11-16-2012 01:40:28 | More by SawDog505

imperialking

Illinois

4/5  rDev 0%

10-22-2012 17:59:53 | More by imperialking

THECPJ

Delaware

3.5/5  rDev -12.5%

10-16-2012 03:40:49 | More by THECPJ

FullObs

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -6.3%

10-11-2012 15:20:07 | More by FullObs

rab53

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +12.5%

10-06-2012 02:13:30 | More by rab53

johnnnniee

New Hampshire

4.03/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Bottled 5/2012
Pours a solid black with a smallish tan head that slowly dissipates to a cap on top. Smells of chocolate, caramel. molasses, roasted grain, brown sugar, light bourbon and vanilla, with a hint of vanilla and licorice. The flavor is fairly sweet with lost of sugary caramel, brown, and candy sugar. Roast, lots of vanilla, dark fruit and chocolate provide some depth then there's a hint of warming alcohol and a bit of earth. Medium to thick body with a sweet almost syrupy mouthfeel and a moderate level of carbonation. This is a blend of beers I think, it's got a lot going on and I really enjoyed it. Somehow I wish I had picked up more than one bottle of this.

Serving type: bottle

09-18-2012 22:20:05 | More by johnnnniee

BrownNut

Florida

3.79/5  rDev -5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

May 2012 bottling. Four months old. Bottle to tulip. Served initially cool.

A - 4 - Standard opaque black, somewhat textured tan head.

S - 4 - Milk chocolatey, slightly winey, faint hint of coffee, something buttery and baked - a crust or cookie. Something unidentifiably savory.

T - 3.75 - Initially that winey note from the aroma shows up, transmuting into dark chocolate. If I really work for it, I can get the faintest hint of bourbon, which teeters on the edge of being a faint fruit note. The usual acrid char note in stouts is there but subdued. At the end you're left with some generic booze fumes wafting up the throat with a bit of chocolate and a light mix of wood and char that could easily pass as just the usual char.

M - 3.5 - Surprisingly light bodied compared to what you'd expect. South of medium. Finishes just shy of dry, and that may be more of a wood/cocoa effect.

O - 3.75 - A good stout with nice flavors, but missing some depth in my opinion. I was expecting it to have more of a rear end and to be thicker and more viscous given its parentage of Vampire Slayer and Blaecorn Unidragon. I think both of those are better than this. Also, the Blaecorn Unidragon used in this blend is said to have been aged in bourbon barrels. I'm a fan of a lighter touch with wood than a heavier, but I don't really detect much wood or any bourbon in this one, and I wanted to.

Serving type: bottle

09-17-2012 03:49:01 | More by BrownNut

bassist286

Massachusetts

4.25/5  rDev +6.3%

09-12-2012 01:49:26 | More by bassist286

bryang002

Illinois

4/5  rDev 0%

09-07-2012 20:05:59 | More by bryang002