This beer pours pitch black in color, almost opaque, with a finely beaded tan head. The first impression reveals a potent roasted barley character more reminiscent of a stout with complementing dark chocolate and espresso. The body is thick, rich and slightly sweet; again showcasing a prominent roasted character with supporting chocolate, caramel and coffee. The finish is moderately bitter with an expected sharpness and lingering roasted and chocolate maltiness. This is a very pleasant, rich and aggressive dark beer, but the prominent roasted character seems more stout-like and this beer is lacking the desired light hop character of many exemplars of the porter style.