6.6

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Black. No head. Luckily the cinnamon spices are very restrained. It's more in the direction of burnt caramel/treacle. The bitter burnt notes offset the sweetness.

8.2

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

33cl can from Etre Gourmet web shop, my #5700. F: huge, spectacular brown, almost average retention. C: black, opaque. A: rich dark malts, caramel, biscuits, sweet dark dried fruits, bit porto, coffee, bit spicy. T: full malty base, oily mouthfeel, caramel, biscuits, coffee, bit coffee liquer, spicy, chocolate, very sweet and heavy but very nice for me, fully enjoyed.

7.3

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Gusher. Pours black, big to huge, tanned head. Smell is intense, roasty, speculoos indeed, one strong whiff of alcohol knocked out my ability to scent for a second, but I guess thats due to the big head and it's dissapearing volume ( to a much smaller, but still respectable foam ) , that released said alcoholic note. The second whiff is much more in balance, roasty and speculoos forward, with alcohol (still strongly present) in it's back. Taste is full, intense roasty, bit bitter. Speculoos is milder than thought. Bit ashy, but balanced, unlike most of the other Belgian stouts I experience as ashy. Overcarbonated, as was to be expected, but it doesn't ruin the beer. Perhaps would have enjoyed more speculoos in the taste for a beer named like this though. Alcohol does feel boozy, perhaps that could be tweaked down a bit

8.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

2 February 2020. At Brugs Bierfestival. Cheers to Anke & Pieter! Hazy black with a very thin, lasting, dark beige head. Intense aroma of espresso, coffee bean, freshly baked speculoos, cinnamon, clove, vanilla, pure fondant, toast, tobacco. Taste combines soft dried dark fruits with milk chocolate, cream & biscuity, indeed speculoos-like maltiness; the undercurrent is thoroughly spicy (cinnamon, clove), pairing well with bitter coffee, fondant & roasted nuts. Dry, earthy hoppy finish, excellent balance between sweet speculoos & cream & the bitter speculoos spices & dark coffee. Dash of warming whisky alcohol in the very end. Full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. I think the previous Nidhoggr version had a sweeter 'biscuit' profile, whilst this one is more balanced overall. Beer of the festival for me, without a doubt, and glad to have bought another can. Totem rocks.

8

BB 01/12/21;Can was under strong pressure, very carefully opening didn't prevent gushing;Moderate sweet aroma of toasted sugars, sweet bread, biscuits are noticeable, dry fruits, chocolate cookie, mild roast on the nose, no obvious sign of 13 % abv on the

1

A: wybuchowe. B: w zapachu jakis dziwny, przyprawowo, kanalizacyjny aromat C: odwazylem sie sprobowac przed wylaniem, to poza hujowa goryczka i posmakiem z apteki czy z mycia podlog, to fajne kawowe nutki i o dziwo spoko cialo ;) oczywiscie do wylania

7.5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Very hefty imperial stout flavoured with 'speculoos' (a kind of spiced dry pastry), the third beer from the 'new' Totem, in the same sleek and altogether sober house style cans they use nowadays. Basically a continuation of Nidhoggr Speculaas, even if the recipe is not entirely the same so not to be taken as an alias. Many thanks to Klaas, the brewer, for the can! Opens with quite some gas audibly escaping and upon pouring, forms an initially very thick, deep ruddy-brownish beige, regular, mousy, audibly fizzing head which collapses in seconds to a frayed, thin and irregular ring, on a jet black beer with only a glimpse of ochre at its edges. Strong bouquet of hot black coffee (on a Sunday morning, I'd almost add - almost), burnt raisins, melting unsugared black chocolate, beef stock cubes and reduced gravy, cinnamon and - somewhat less strong - ginger powder, whisky, moist black chewing tobacco, chocolate chips, damp earth, treacle, brown bread, gin, fried black olives, dry porcini, old crumbled cookies indeed - even if the spicing of 'speculoos' is more prominent than the cookie aspect of it. Evidently sweet onset, syrupy with vague fruity impressions that do not go beyond candied dates and old raisins, softly carbonated in an extremely full, dense, oily, viscous environment. Utterly full-bodied, massive layers of toffee, Caribbean black cake, toasted walnuts and bitter chocolate 'tectonically' sliding over each other from onset to finish, with the 'speculoos' spiciness deeply penetrating them, adorning them with cooked cinnamon, ethereal clove and old ginger powder impressions. Dense bittersweetness coats the mouth cavity, but just as the cookie sweetness sets in and things seem to go venturing in pastry stout territory, a powerful bitterness brings an end to that, consisting of coffeeish and black-chocolatey grain bitterness, peppery hop bitterness and eventually rather wry, whisky-like alcohol bitterness, while this beef stock-like umami aspect almost fills the nostrils retronasally. The warming effect of the alcohol, however, matches with the warming effect of the spices, which somehow became magnified in this environment; syrupy cookie-like sweetness, however, does wrestle itself heroically through the black masses and confidently accompanies the finishing stage. After the abovementioned beef stock recedes, the nostrils are indeed retronasally reminded of the 'speculoos' aspect, so that this whole beast of a beer fully delivers what it promises. I personally never liked actual 'speculoos', but in a context this intense and massive, I must admit that - as with its Nidhoggr predecessor - the idea of using it in an imperial stout, was quite an inspired one. The sweet-spiciness gets the last word here, but not before a full-fledged dark maltiness has conquered the mouth - and soul of the drinker. Every bit as intense and bold as I was expecting, though I haven't had Nidhoggr Speculaas often or recent enough to draw an accurate comparison with this version; if anything, this one seems even thicker, more dense and more massive. One to sip slowly - as I am doing on a Saturday at 2:00 a.m. - so treat this deceptively sweet-and-easygoing behemoth with respect. As for style: indeed pastry stout-ish, I guess...

8.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

6/II/20 - 33cl can from the brewery, shared @ home, BB: 1/XII/21 (2020-124) Thanks to Lee B. for the trade!

Clear dark brown to black beer, big creamy aery irregular beige to brown head, unstable, falls down quickly, non adhesive. Aroma: very roasted, chocolate, cocoa powder, very malty, lots of grains, cow fodder, some speculoos indeed. MF: soft carbon, medium to full body, creamy texture. Taste: pretty sweet, caramel, speculoos, malty, soft bitterness, very roasted, barley. Aftertaste: bit metallic, coffee, nice roast, very bitter, more speculoos, caramel, bit sugary.

7

Naomi says... " 't is goe!"... Mmhhh.