The final of the four beers that Buckbean Brewing sent to me is their Very Noddy—or more properly, “Doug’s Very Noddy 40th Birthday Lager.”

Ostensibly they are calling this an “Imperial Schwarzbier”—10.5% alcohol and it’s basically a doubled-up version of their Black Noddy:

Brewed specially for owner Doug Booth’s 40^th birthday, this Imperial Schwarzbier has twice the malt and hops of our Black Noddy Lager, creating a deep black color, rich, nutty malt flavors and a smooth hop bite. A symphony of balanced intensity!

Unless we see more of this showing up, I think it’s safe to say the Very Noddy is a “reserve” type beer with a limited run. I notice a number of bloggers have received and reviewed it, but there’s not much more about it online.

Appearance: Very black, red at the edges when held to the light, with a substantial head of tan foam.

Smell: Dark but clean; roasted notes and a whiff of dark chocolate.

Taste: Very similar to Black Noddy with a thicker presence of dark chocolate and a touch of alcohol burn. More sweetness to it. Creamy notes, cocoa powder.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full bodied, still relatively light, and finishes fairly clean—a bit lip-sticky and sweet.

Overall: Very tasty, different—they’ve pumped up the Schwarzbier to strength, but is there much difference with a Baltic Porter?

This beer is limited enough that it’s not on BeerAdvocate yet. And RateBeer only has 8 reviews, scoring 3.22 out of 5 but not enough for a percentile.