Terrapin Side Project The Dark Side
Terrapin Side Project #9: The Dark Side, a Belgian Style Imperial Stout. Come on over to "The Dark Side" for the latest brew in the Terrapin "Side Project" series. Brewed with evil intentions, this Belgian Style Imperial Stout is made with copious amounts of dark grains that make this beer as dark as the underside of Vader’s cape. "The Dark Side" is fermented with a unique Belgian yeast strain which sets this Imperial Stout light years ahead of its time.
3.7
220 reviews
Athens, United States
Community reviews
22 oz. bottle. Pours pitch black with a sizable, light brown head. The aroma is coffee, raw chocolate, molasses, ripe bananas, and figs. The flavor is very sweet, with roasted bitterness through the finish. The palate is medium, malty, creamy, and very effervescent for a stout. Overall, a very delicious and complex beer. I hope they bring this one back around.
Bomber. Pours a totally opaque black color with a large brown head- a good sign. The aroma is heavy roast and metal, even pushing toward sour, loads of plum and cherries. A lovely flavor dominated by sweet dark fruits, plum, raisins, berries, some chocolates, dry almonds, heavily roasted malts, very smooth. A bit of light banana esters and pepper. This is an awesome beer, a great FES. It’s smooth and tasty. I could drink a liter at least.
Black, tan head. Nose is coacoa, ashy dark fruits, rich dark caramel, it has a dusty roast malt character too. The cocoa is like coacoa krispies but not sweet. Quite nice. Flavor is a nice ashy dark fruit tartness, big coffee and roast malt, alcohol, some fruity yeast. Finish is big roast, some caramel and lots of tha wonderful burnt fruit. Nice soft body with great silky carbonation.
Got 22 oz bottle in a trade with CaptainCougar. Small beige head with some lace. Low carbonation. Nose of Chocolate, dark fruit like a plum. Taste is velvety, with chocolate and lots of dark fruit up front, leading to a slight, easy alcohol burn in the finish with a nice dry component. Very clean mouthfeel. As it warmed, the flavor continued to develop, but wasn’t terribly complex BUT you can’t pick up the high ABV at all! Really tasty, really smooth and very drinkable. A nice treat on Easter Sunday, thanks Tom!! This was great and I liked it a lot.
Bottle. Black pour with a tan head. Smell is sweet and full of roasted malts and a little bit of chocolate. Taste is kind of sweet and somewhat refreshing. This one may have been too cold, but it worked, and it was a pretty good beer. I dont know if this one gets made anymore, but I would buy some if I saw it.
Bouteille de 22 oz partagée lors d’une dégustation Ratebeer Montréal. Arôme: Légère odeur de céréales grillées. Apparence: La couleur est noire opaque. Présence d’un mince col beige mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût de chocolat et de céréales grillées avec une pointe de caramel. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement huileuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Légère présence de torréfaction en arrière goût. (Rating #3575)
bottle into my Narke tulip...Pours a light black, the head is light tan as well, light carbonation, a head of about half a finger that is gone right away, no lacing...The aroma and taste are both very light and almost boring. Light coffee, a little sweet, just blah. Light feel on the mouth, but this is decently drinkable. I crushed a bottle my self pretty quickly.
Pours a dark brown, good foam, B+ lacing .. . light burnt fruit, tar, and roasted bread crust .. . really nice use of the belgian yeast, an imperial foreign if there ever was one .. . abit thin but i liked it .. . irish rugby is boss! 24-8
Bottle someone shared at March BA Tasting. Pours black with a brown head. Nose is of licorice and roast malt. Taste is of licorice and roast malt. Mouthfeel is medium with some alcohol. Not bad.
My Bottom Line:
This Belgian-style Imperial Stout’s sweet chocolate and caramel flavors evolve into fruit and roasted bitterness.
Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam circles the mahogany-hued dark brown.
-This is not as attenuated as most Belgian-style Stouts, but that might suit most North American palates.
-Black beans seep from the malt, hop and yeast trio.
-The soft bubbling makes the prevalent sweetness even more apparent.
-This is not nearly as complex, or comforting, as most brews of the same family.
Bottle.
Poured from 22oz bottle. Pours very dark brown nearly black with a nice amount of tan head. Aroma is chocolate, dried fruit and alcohol. Taste is sweet, chocolate, dried fruit and some Belgian yeast taste. Good mouthfeel. This is a tasty beer. I will need to get more.
old review, has some weird fruitness in the nose but nuts and cocoa are dominate. taste is really solid with cocoa and yeast. overall a weird but good brew
In short: A fruity stout with too much soy sauce. Decent beer, nothing more.
How: Bottle 22oz. Consumed about 10 months after the beer release.
The look: Black body topped by a small tan head
In long: Nose is toasted dark malts and a cold cup of black coffee. Taste of burnt chocolate cake, barley, a lot of cold black coffee, some dark fruits, milk chocolate, some soy sauce, some molasses, some caramel. A little acidity in the finish. After-taste of soy sauce. Body is creamy but not particularly lively. Overall this is a beer without any flaws but it is also a beer without any wow! It is just there, easy to drink, easy to forget. Nothing special about this Dark Side. Also I think that “Luke. Come join me on the Dark Side. We have Twinkies here” would have saved a long fight scene and the dreadful sequel Return Of The Jedi.
A deep dark stout with no head. In aroma, loads of dark chocolate powder, cherry blossoms, warming alcohol. In mouth, a vinous sweet chocolate malt with maderized notes, a bit of soy sauce, interesting. On tap at Mr. Beery’s , Jan 3 2011.
Bottle. Pours a very dark brown/black color with a small creamy beige head. The aroma had dark fruits favoring plums, dark chocolate and a touch of cocoa, but was never bursting with any of these. The flavor had a bit more going on; dark chocolate, plums and other dark fruits, cocoa, all nicely balanced. Medium plus bodied with a smooth presentation.
Dark brown black, with a chocolatey aroma. Taste was the same with a thick and cloying fruity perfume that I found mildly revolting. I will have to try a bottle, since the taps may have been foul, though they were new.
Black with a lasting tan head. Aroma of licorice, malt, ink and soy sauce. Sweet flavour of licorice and roasted malts, with notes of soy sauce, caramel and toffee.
Black color/ light brown head. Smoky, fruity, belgian yeast, black licorice aromas. Full bodied with a smooth mouthfeel. Sweet black licorice, belgian spice flavors with some wine, tobacco.
lots of dark and charred malt flavor. a very definite smoked malt character as well, even though it’s not mentioned on the label, i think they may have tried to add a subtle amount for complexity.
Appearance: black with a miniscule head; top heavy draft pour. Small bubbly collar. Swirls with nothing much else.
Nose: tart and a bit bright; play off each other. Prunes, plums, and dates along with black root. More tartness leads into licorice with sour milk nipping at the back. As she warms up the nose really opens up with more sour followed by dry earthy black chocolates. Black earth, potting soil.
Palate: very clean mouthfeel; thin but not detrimentally so. Lots of sour lactose character which bleeds into and taints wonderfully all her dark fruits, pitted, and also complimentarily tart. Yeasty Belgian influence thanks to the Belgian yeast strain used. Burnt wood and earth late in the finish along with slightly charred baker’s chocolate. Tartness big in the middle; dries top of tongue while sides of tongue and cheeks tingle. Plum skins and grape skins. Just as the nose, her palate sours up as she warms up. Little apparent carbonation; not flat, just clean and well attenuated. Barnyard and horsey underneath.
Final Thoughts: very good. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but what I got was fantastic. Reminded me of the Madrugada Obscura from Jolly Pumpkin, another soured stout. Brisk, refreshing, and thirst inducing. I could drink her on a regular basis and never grow tired.
Poured a very dark brown into my goblet; rather short, cream-colored head with only a bit of lacing, and what was there was not terribly sticky.
The smell was nice--roasted malt, a bit of chocolate, and hints of Belgian yeast. I expected a bit more of the Belgian yeast presence, but while there were a few esters, not nearly as much as I would expect from something labeled a Belgian stout. Overall, the lack of yeastiness was somewhat made up for by the fact that I was a fan of the malt profile. The taste was very similar, with the yeast not coming out much at all until the brew was verging on room temperature.
The mouthfeel was fairly light for the style, and there wasn’t too much of an alcohol presence. Drinkability was nice, as the flavor continued to develop, but wasn’t terribly complex. Overall, a nice addition to the Side Project series.
Serving type: bottle
Reviewed on: 01-15-2010
Humle og grape, træ, harpiks,lakrids, sødmalt, rolig, lidt sød og lidt bitter.
Tæt kort skum.
Pours deep black with nice lasting tan head, aroma is nice chocolate, roasted malt, nuts, touch of coffee. Taste is velvety, with chocolate and molasses up front, leading to a roasted bitter finish with a nice dry component. Really tasty, drinkable.
Bottle at a recent BA/RB tasting. Colour... nearly black with no head. Nose... just like devil’s food cake! Palate... thick and chewy with zippy CO2, toffee, light bodied coffee and burnt grain with a lengthy finish.
Bottle @ Papsø-Grand-Tasting, September 2010. Pours black with a creamy beige head and lacings. Nose is sweet of roast and cocoa. Dry and roasted coffee flavor. Smooth. Good.
Pours dark brown/black color with tan head. Roasted malt and chocolate aromas. Roasty flavor with light chocolate and doughy Belgian yeast. Slightly acidic and dry. Medium to full body with moderate carbonation.
Bottle. Pours a black color with a small tan head. Has a sweetish roasted malty chocolate aroma. Sweetish roasted malty bitter chocolate flavor with caramel hints. Has a sweetish roasted malty bitter chocolate finish.
Bottle at Papsø’s - Thanks. Black - offwhite head. Burned, nice hoppy, fruity, smokey notes, nutty, light yeasty, light body. Nice.
Thanks to whomever brought this to gstoad’s gabFU party. this black pour was tasty with a nice roasty flavor.
Bottle 22fl.oz.
[ Trade by GAManiac ]. Clear dark brown black color with a average, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, light brown head. Aroma is moderate to heavy malty, roasted, dark roasted, dark malt. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and bitter with a average to long duration, dark roasted, mocca notes, light vanilla sweet. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20100912]