This is my third sampling of the beers from New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado.  The 1554 Enlightened Black Ale is another excellent example of dark beer that isn't a stout or porter.  This beer has an excellent chocolate finish with a nice malt presence.  From the bottle:

1554 Enlightened Black Ale redefines the phrase keeping time in a bottle.  From an ancient, crumbling Belgian library book, our intrepid researchers found references to this obscure style dating back to the year 1554.  Overcoming obsolete script and units of measurement, our brewers discovered an ale with a surprisingly bright taste and a dry, chocolaty finish - one evocative of dark brews enjoyed in Belgian taverns 500 years ago.

I do pay attention to anything like this written on the beer bottle labels.  I also usually visit the brewery website to see if there is any other relevant information about the beer I'm tasting.  In most cases the information provides is useful and entertaining, and sometimes it's total bullshit ;)

Whether this be BS or not, this beer is a really good one.  It's really hard to get excited about these other New Belgium brews since I started out with the Fat Tire... that stuff really kicks boo-tay...