Totem Speculoos Stout Barrel Aged 2021 (13%)

Speculoos Stout Barrel Aged 2021 (13%)

 

Totem in Evergem, East Flanders, Belgium 🇧🇪

Stout - Pastry - Imperial Special
Score
7.79
ABV: 13.0% IBU: - Ticks: 4
Imperial Stout brewed with speculoos cookies and lactose aged in second fill bourbon barrels.
 

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8.3
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 8

4/XI/21 - 33cl can from the brewery, shared @ home, BB: n/a (2021-1241) Thanks to Klaas for the can!

Pitch black beer, big solid creamy beige head, very stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: lots of CO2, malty, grains, cow fodder, chocolate, caramel, gentle roast, cookies, speculoos. MF: soft carbon, medium to full body, smooth creamy silky texture. Taste: nice roast, little sweet, caramel, lots of coffee, dark roast, pretty bitter, hoppy, resinous, some caramel. Aftertaste: more alcohol, some chocolate, very bitter and almost peated notes in the finish, dark roast, coffee, some banana peel, alcohol burn in the finish, dry and hoppy as well, think I preferred the regular and rather sweet version of the Speculoos Stout.

Re-rating:
19/VII/22 - 33cl can, shared @ home, BB: 1/XII/23 (2022-891)
Ap: 4, Ar: 8, Fl: 8, Txt: 6, O: 8, Total: 7.3

Clear dark brown to black beer, big fizzy crackling beige to dark brown head, unstable, falls down immediately, non adhesive. Aroma: coffee, good deep roast, slightly spicy, hint of vanilla and cinnamon, some chocolate, bread crust, toast. MF: soft to no carbon, medium body. Taste: sweet start, alcohol, a bit sugary, caramel, more alcohol, boozy, a little bitter, some chocolate notes. Aftertaste: alcohol, boozy, vanilla, soft bitterness, pretty sugary, sweet, and yet a dry finish with some tannins. Let's say this is not a good beer to age... I'll leave up my original scores.

Tried from Can on 04 Nov 2021 at 21:00



8.3
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Pours black, small to medium small, darker tanned head. Scent is full, nice roast, speculoos indeed. Lovely. Taste is full, speculoos, bit 'weird' bitterness. highly aromatic. Chocolate, cocoa, mild barrel. Pretty damn good !

Tried on 27 Aug 2021 at 09:09


8.4
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Brand new Totem beer (still without official label even at the time I am writing this), the barrel aged variant of their highly distinct Speculoos Stout – I’m in for a treat. Thanks to Meeki for the can! Moussy, thick, mocha-beige, dense head over a black beer with wafer-thin mahogany edge. Expressive and powerful nose still brimming with ‘speculoos’, clove, toasted almond, cinnamon, dried ginger, gingerbread, lots of oak furniture too of course, brandy, old chocolate cake, hints of dried blackcurrant, smoked sausages or smoky-sweet barbecue sauce, biscuit, nutmeg. Sweet onset, yet nothing sticky, deep dark fruit jam effect (elderberry, blackcurrant), softly carbonated, very full and viscous mouthfeel – creating stickiness; thick layers of toffee, fondant and molasses ensue with a pecan-nutty edge accentuated by all that sweet and aromatic speculoos spiciness, mostly clove and cinnamon, blending with a retronasal vanilla-ish effect from the oak. The wood also adds tannic aspects but only very mildly so; a lot of peppery, brandy-like alcohol heats the finish, eventually becoming a bit astringent. Different, powerful and complex, a huge beer in many respects, but tuning down the booziness a bit and perhaps even ageing it a bit longer on wood to create more oakiness and soften the speculoos spices a bit, would perhaps improve this great beer even further. One I will certainly drink again when it is sold in its definitive form.

Tried from Can on 02 Jun 2021 at 10:27