Rating: 7/5 *Last Rating/Review of 2014

2014 Black Damnation III Black Mes by De Struise Brouwers is a 13% ABV Belgian Imperial Stout aged for 3 months in 1995 Caol Ila (MES) Bourbon Whisky Barrels.

Label:
The Black Damnation series is a dark twist of Urban’s mind. His idea is to realize a dozen beers with the use of Black Albert, and over a period of two years, that are as black as hell, filthy rich in the nose and with a massive taste.

A massive Stout from Flanders
BD 666 Imperial Stout

==Introduction==

Time for another year to begin. It has been a great 2014 and more beers to come in 2015. This beer comes to me from www.craftshack.com which only had a very limited amount and I was only able to snag a single bottle. There a demand for the Black Damnation Series that I was never aware of and this is the first time I try it. The only thing is the price tag on this one (about $40-50 a bottle). I have seen this one in the past but I have never stooped to get it. Since it is the Holidays and I wanted to really see if this type of beer was worth the hype, I decided to splurge and bring it forth here so we can see if this bottle is truly its gold in price.

Thank you all for following me this far for almost 5 years since I started doing my own reviews for friends and then jumped to do them for the public and those who appreciate the true works of art and flavor experience. Cheers to you and your families, Have a Happy New Year and hope to bring more beers in the future to the site. Many thanks to my greats friends such as Aaron from Texas who has been hooking me up with great beers from his region, William and Richard who’s great home brews has sparked my motivation to start my own home brews soon and the beginning of NubisSanctum Ales. To you the readers, my family and friends, Bless you all and Hope to have a great 2015, cheers!!

Aromas:
Very Rich Dark Fruits and berries such as Raisins, Currants, Figs, Plums, Black Cherries, Raspberries, Pomegranite, Blackberries, Blueberries,Boysenberries,Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate, Strawberry Preserves, Toasted Rye Bread, Dulce De leche Caramel, Vanilla, Oak, Whiskey, Port Wine, Grapes, Bananas, Clove spice, Anise, Molasses, Licorice hints, Flan, Three Milks Cake, Blackberry Cheese Cake, Smokey Campfire hints, Marshmallow smores, Coconut hints, brown sugar, hazelnut, Black Cherry Yogurt, leather, tobacco and more.

Flavors:
Rich Dark Chocolate, Bakers Chocolate, Milk chocolate, Belgian Chocolate, White Chocolate, German Chocolate, Rich Dark Fruits like raisins, plums, figs, Dark currants, Dark Cherries, Black Cherry, Boysenberries, Pomegranite, Raspberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, currants, mango hints, dragon fruit, blackberry cheese cake, Rich Black Cherry Yogurt, prailines, raisin bread pudding,hazelnuts, bananas, clove hints, Port Wine, vanilla, dulce de leche caramel, deep smokey oak, marshmallow smores, campfire smokey hints, strawberry preserves, rye bread, milk sugar, maple, molasses, anise, roasted coffee, mocha, Kahlua, whisky, subtle coconut hints, pecan pie, leather, tobacco, licorice hints, cookie dough, oreo cookies, Cherry Dr. Pepper hints, earthy notes, flan, 3 leches/3 milks cake, brown sugar and ambrosia.

Aftertaste:
Leaving Rich Dark fruits and berry flavors, roasted coffee, earthy notes, leather, tobacco, oak, caramel, dark chocolate, dark cherry yogurt and whiskey notes that linger for a very, very, very, VERY LONG TIME. Yeah, it is pretty damn rich no doubt. No alcohol in the taste, pitch black as night body, syrupy yet super smooth mouthfeel, scarily easy to drink despite the ABV.

Overall:
A damn phenomenal beer that Drinks like a Dark Lord Imperial Stout but maybe even more. One of the Best Belgian Imperial Stouts. So infused with so many complex fruity yet dark flavors and pretty much drinks like a special syrup that just taints the taste beds to no end leaving such a mark of sweetness and roasty complexity that keeps going. Maybe damnation isn’t too far off as you been damn with a complex level of sweetness that just keeps evolving. WOW…Is it worth the ridiculous price? No way, then again maybe worth a try once. I think the only justification is the fact that it is an import after all. Trying at least one of the bottles is worth just a try if you really want to. However, if you have tried a heavy Russian Imperial Stout like Darkness, Dark Lord, Black Hole Sun, Serpent’s Stout and others, just infuse it with rich dark fruits and great Belgian Dark Stout Arts and oh yeah, 20 year old super fancy whiskey, then you will likely have this one although I can’t get over how damn smooth this one was. It drank way to easy and was damn scary. For something this high quality, maybe there is a reason for the price. You be the judge really, all I can say, You Only Craft Beer Whale Once…

Anime Corner:
Battleship Symbiotic Hime from Kantai Collection/ KanColle was used in this pairing since I wanted to display many aspects of the beer. The Flavors of the beer can be expressed through the colors where she , the Symbiotic Hime stands on Skulls as she takes in a drink. She also represents the dark but also the fruity crimson of dark fruit complexity from this beer. She is damn sexy! It is hard to see which best represents the Black Damnation aspect as well as the aging process it took for this beer to come to fruition. The skulls and machinery pairs well with the label as the skull almost looks like it is part of a machine. The schematics and wiring of the label are almost as complex as the dark recesses of the human mind. They also look digital in a way like the matrix. Like drinking something like this may break the code of reality, or something like that. Pretty much sums up the complexity of the beer in almost every aspect of the experience. Regardless of what it is, Symbiotic Hime represents the damnation like that of hell or the Devil’s water which is fits the beer over all. The reason I chose all of this including this beer as the last for 2014 has to do mainly with the unknown. We don’t know how complex the future will be as the years come and even in the height of the the uncertain and complex unknown future, we can take our past experiences with us and embrace whatever comes. Don’t see is as being damn for 2015, see this as a window of unlimited opportunities, good and bad for all as we hurdle and waltz through this complex reality called Life…and as we go, we an have more beers, so… Cheers!

Sources:
http://i.imgur.com/zPK1DVh.jpg
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2014/194/f/0/abysmal_area__3_by_flaurel-d7qjxjk.jpg