Tasting The Truth

Beer O’ The Week: Dark Truth

Boulevard explores the Dark side with stout

Wamp’s Wisdom

(PHOTO: J.T. WAMPLER) Dark Truth is one of Boulevard Brewing Company's Smokestack Series and comes in at 9.7 percent alcohol.

Dark Truth Stout from Boulevard Brewing Co. in Kansas City pours black with no highlights and a creamy tan head. My trick to find the color of a black beer is to light a match behind an edge of the glass, thereby giving away a dark beer’s actual color.

This beer seems to actually pull the light into it like a black hole.

Aroma is mild with chocolate, hazelnut and a hint of coffee. A burst of roasty malts, chocolate and raisins hits the palate like a brick, but the finish is clean and dry with just a hint of espresso.

This a good stout but it seems to have a bit of an identity crisis. The malts are English, the yeast is Belgian and the hops are German.

The combination works. Dark Truth is one of the brewery’s Smokestack Series and comes in at 9.7 percent alcohol.

Pair with dessert featuring dark chocolate and cherries.

Rating: 4 caps

Rico’s Reaction

Dark Truth made a big mess all over my countertop. I was overeager pouring the beer into a tall pilsner glass and stout erupted everywhere in a foamy volcano of sticky suds. Remember, kids, pour slowly.

Once the brew settled and the cleanup was done, I was treated to rich chocolate and coffee flavors with just a hint of sweetness.

Dark Truth is another excellent example of a dark beer along the lines of Jamaica Stout, Old Rasputin and Anchor Porter. On top of that it’s one of the best named beers I’ve come across.

It’s not quite as good or as memorable as the other beers in the Smokestack Series — Tank 7 Ale and Double Wide India pale ale — but it’s still an excellent entry as Boulevard Brewing stretches its abilities and strives for ever greater beers.

Rating: 4 caps