Dark Prophet - Funkwerks

Yokoono76

Colorado

3.05/5  rDev -14.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

A: beautiful dark chestnut color, thick head quickly dissipates. Some sludgy cloudiness halfway though glassful.

S: reminds me of muscat grapes, but not as sweet. Also has a slight banana scent. Overall, a nice aroma. Heavy alcohol on the nose. My husband commented part way through the tasting, " reminds me of aqua net, with the fruity alcohol scent".

T: definitely taste the bourbon! nice coffee notes, dark cherry, roasted malt, slightly nutty, metallic feel on the tongue after swallowing, a mild sweetness that I can't identify.... Maybe grapes? Can taste the alcohol after ingesting, but not overwhelming.

M: nice hearty and heavy feel. Carbonation compliments the heaviness of the brew.

O: my first impression is confused, my palate doesn't really know what to do. The initial swig doesn't taste the best. However, some other flavors do surface like a rich coffee, dark cherry flavor follwed by a roasted malt... I like that part! I think I paid $15 for the bottle, if it were less expensive I might buy it just for variety, but this would otherwise not be something I would buy again. It's not a bad beer, but its not a great beer either. it's certiainly unique, but something just doesn't speak to me. It leaves me wanting... There is no prophetic message here.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2013 01:01:05 | More by Yokoono76

DavoleBomb

Ohio

3.14/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.75

Poured into a snifter.

3.75 A: Deep caramel brown color. Two fingers of frothy beige head. Retention is pretty good, especially for the ABV and a short ring of lacing is left.

3.5 S: Overall, I'm not a huge fan of Belgian beers being aged in bourbon barrels, but this one seems to have a good balance. The bourbon adds just a light leathery component with hints of earth and mineral. The base gives mainly dark fruits - currant, plum, raisin, figs, and dates. Molasses, caramel, and brown sugar. Oak and vanilla underneath. It's good, but I'm not sure the barrel makes this any better.

3.0 T: The taste sees the bourbon take a larger role. Instead of complementing the brew, it interferes with the base flavors. It just doesn't work. Boozy with leather and mineral. A moderate amount of astringency as well. The dark fruits found in the nose are there, but they fall second to the bourbon. Same goes with the molasses, caramel, and brown sugar.

3.5 M: Light to lighter medium body. Good spritzy carbonation. Nice creaminess. This would be great here, but the astringency lingers on the finish.

2.75 D: Another example of a perfectly fine beer being overrun by a barrel. Belgian and bourbon rarely works well and this is just another example of this.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2013 01:15:15 | More by DavoleBomb

jtladner

District of Columbia

3.75/5  rDev +5.3%

05-19-2013 02:14:39 | More by jtladner

itsthepleats

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -1.7%

05-18-2013 18:25:42 | More by itsthepleats

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.81/5  rDev +7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

750ml bottle, another awesome goodie brought back from greater Denver by doktorzee this past week. It's actually more near the diurnal opposite of everything espoused on the label. Oh well.

This beer pours a slightly hazy, dark red brickish amber colour, with three fingers of very tightly foamy, quite creamy beige head, which leaves a half-wall of broadly splattered soap-scum lace around the glass as it slowly sinks away.

It smells of rather sweet caramel/toffee malt, astringently woody whisky notes, sort of stripped of their overt bourbon booze associations, though the vanilla and spicy does come through, with some faint dry red wine notes, and a soft black fruitiness. The taste is bready caramel malt, a muddled dark orchard fruitiness, faint earthy yeast notes, tame dry cocoa, and subtly woody oak.

The bubbles are rather soft and understated, the body a decent medium weight, and agreeably smooth, despite the intransigence of the wood and lingering acidic fruit esters. It finishes off-dry, the caramel and barrel essences providing a certain offsetting wavering sweetness.

An agreeable enough new world version of this veritable Belgian style, slightly enhanced (Iron Man style!) by the Yankee preponderance for gaming the system, what with the bourbon barrel treatment. Saying that, the mostly ethereal quality here is the near 10 points of ABV. Huh - good on them, I suppose.

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2013 03:20:50 | More by biboergosum

Kenzie

Utah

4.75/5  rDev +33.4%

05-10-2013 16:38:21 | More by Kenzie

Kuemmelbrau

Louisiana

3.25/5  rDev -8.7%

05-10-2013 02:54:49 | More by Kuemmelbrau

DerwinWentworth

Utah

3.25/5  rDev -8.7%

05-06-2013 23:05:15 | More by DerwinWentworth

Haybeerman

Colorado

3.25/5  rDev -8.7%

05-05-2013 21:28:35 | More by Haybeerman

JMBSH

Colorado

3.75/5  rDev +5.3%

05-05-2013 04:50:15 | More by JMBSH

VikingsFan1215

Minnesota

3.75/5  rDev +5.3%

04-29-2013 17:04:01 | More by VikingsFan1215

CanisMajor

Indiana

3.25/5  rDev -8.7%

04-28-2013 19:28:24 | More by CanisMajor

incubuscience

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev +5.3%

04-20-2013 22:48:39 | More by incubuscience

Misanthropy_Sipping

Nebraska

4.41/5  rDev +23.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5

This seems sacrilegious... Not the beer, but the current rating on the beer and the fact that people could rate this below 3.0.

What the hell?

Personally, I enjoyed this beer. A bit costly, I agree. But I am very pleased with it's balance above all things. There was a lot of thought put into this to make sure the beer shines in all the directions it should.

Pours a nice deep amber brown, verging on a bit of a heavy rust color when held to the light. The head sticks around as a good, thin slightly dark khaki.

Smells slightly earthy, slightly boozy, with a bit of whisky. There is a really nice brown sugar, molasses scent to it and there is a dark fruit presence with maybe a hint of candied raisins. The smell is pretty gentle. The sweet candied smell is the most prominent. Maybe a hint of oak to it.

The taste brings in dark fruits and earth, it's almost immediately a bit dirty in taste which intermingles with the base of bourbon which is not immediately sweet either. I taste a little brown sugar, a little molasses, caramel and even smaller amount of chocolate. And what chocolate there is, it is very dark and dry. I get some of the candied raisin coming through and the booze kind of over hangs once you get into about the halfway point. A great oak flavor which dries out with a very great subtle vanilla character.

The last thing on taste I have to point out is that there is an odd saison sort of thing lingering in with the body. Go figure... Funkwerks does saisons! Tons of saisons and how is one not to expect a little saison in this... maybe the bottle even mentions this. And mentioning this I have to say that maybe this is a bit of a duel beer. It does noticeably make me think of a few, really nice lighter bodied Belgian dark ales I have had. While at the same time it is reminiscent of a few dark saisons I have had. It's a crossroads sort of beer.

Getting into the body, it is light for the alcohol content, but not watery or dull. The body matches perfectly with the mellow and even flavors that come through. It's not overly warmed by the booze and that matches the body as well.

One thing I have to give high praise to is blend. If this were a full on bourbon barrel, it would be blinded. It would likely be nothing but bourbon. But the blending and partial aging was a good idea. It adds flavor but lets the rest of the elements come through.

I wish the flavors were a bit more vigorous overall, but I think it is very good Belgian style. I will be buying this agin to cellar for a bit as mentioned on the bottle. Definitely worth a try if you enjoy a good saison... and a good Belgian dark.

Serving type: bottle

04-10-2013 03:06:20 | More by Misanthropy_Sipping

cvm4

Mississippi

3.38/5  rDev -5.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

A - Pours a deep dark tea in color with a light khaki head.

S - Sweet bourbon & oak, light yeast, pomegranate and vanilla.

T - Sweet throughout, bourbon shows up, molasses, some charred notes and dark cherries.

M - Medium mouthfeel & carbonation. A bit cloying.

O - A bit muddled, somewhat of a mess and very sweet throughout.

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2013 00:36:31 | More by cvm4

stampfler07

Georgia

4.25/5  rDev +19.4%

04-02-2013 01:52:19 | More by stampfler07

blindpiggie

Colorado

2.75/5  rDev -22.8%

03-26-2013 23:45:44 | More by blindpiggie

MarkyMOD

Colorado

3.75/5  rDev +5.3%

03-11-2013 04:32:26 | More by MarkyMOD

Vonerichs

Illinois

2.76/5  rDev -22.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.75 | overall: 2.75

Hazy and flat caramel color body.

It has an odd aroma that's a combination of wet leaves, vanilla, and funky yeast.

Yuck. This combination does not work well at all. The funk and bourbon notes clash and what's left is a foul musty taste of compost.

Mouthfeel is viscous but flat.

It's just a mess of a beer that I couldn't recommend to anyone.

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2013 17:29:34 | More by Vonerichs

kylemckinnis

Oregon

4.25/5  rDev +19.4%

02-24-2013 01:29:24 | More by kylemckinnis

Twal

Colorado

3/5  rDev -15.7%

02-15-2013 03:51:35 | More by Twal

denver10

Colorado

3.94/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 4

Redoing this this review for the 2013 version. Not sure if its a development of my palette or that this years version is a significant improvement (I would guess its my palette coming around to it), but I really dig this years version a lot more than last years.

Pours a chestnut, mahogany with a reddish hue and a nice light brown head. A nice big aroma; nice, sweet bourbon, some smooth dark cherries, pomegranate, some dark bread, oak, and sugary vanilla. Flavor offers bourbon (though the bourbon came out much stronger on tap than it did via the bottle), oak, dark cherries, dates, caramel, and some vanilla in the finish. A fuller mouthfeel, not too carbonated. Overall, enjoyed this so much more this year than last years. Also enjoyed this more on tap than from the bottle. Glad I gave this a second chance for sure.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2013 00:44:03 | More by denver10

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.5/5  rDev -1.7%

01-17-2013 22:54:44 | More by Thorpe429

StubFaceJoe

Colorado

3.75/5  rDev +5.3%

01-13-2013 02:11:50 | More by StubFaceJoe

DaveHack

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +12.4%

10-20-2012 16:31:47 | More by DaveHack