Judge's Review: 81 Rating - Dark Subject Matter by Monday Night Brewing

Dark Subject Matter by Monday Night Brewing is being evaluated as a traditional Imperial Stout (2015 BJCP Category 20C). Black as midnight, rich as motor oil are two of the best phrases for this luscious beer that sits beneath a persistent brown, finely textured head.

Intense bread and deeply toasted brown bread dominate the nose of the beer with complimentary dark chocolate and a hint of tart cherries. Ever so slight resiny hops round out the aroma.

A biscuit malt backbone starts out the taste immediately followed by baker’s chocolate and slight cherry. The moderate hop bitterness helps to balance the beer although the fermentation is relatively clean and well attenuated. However, the beer finishes off-dry with an acrid, medicinal cherry aftertaste, which appears to be more of a pH phenomenon or too much roasted malt. The moderate alcohol emphasizes this quality.

Overall, Dark Subject Matter focuses a bit too heavily on the roast malt portion of its malt bill. It’s a bit rough around the edges but with minor tweaks could be a dangerous beer to drink, in a good way.