7.5

Nutty. Choc. Good stuff. Sweet and thick.

8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2023, Saturday. Very dark brown beer. Aroma and Taste of blueberries, vanilla, dark chocolate malt, coffee.

8.6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9.5

Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2023, Saturday. Very dark brown beer. Aroma and Taste of chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, wood. Very good.

8.3

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

Blend of English style barleywine with imperial stout, as such aged on bourbon barrels and additionally flavoured with vanilla. At BCBF ’23 – after a long wait, because seemingly everybody there wanted a sample of this hyped brewery’s beers… Yellow-beige, moussy, open ring for a head on a very dark, blackish-chocolatey brown beer with copper red glow. Noble bouquet of caramel liqueur, hazelnut oil, bourbon, clear vanilla but feeling ‘natural’ and linked to the oak wood as well, maple syrup, yellow raisins, cinnamon, nutmeg, candied orange, cognac, Belgian chocolates, eggnog. Densely sweet onset, fig jam and yellow raisins, even hints of lychee and melon somehow, softly carbonated with very full, almost syrupy mouthfeel, in which layer upon layer of caramel, toffee, molten black chocolate and hazelnut build, filling the mouth completely with an opulent, desserty sweetness. A kind of ‘blonde’ sugariness and sweet vanilla accompany a growing oaky woodiness, shifting impressions towards tawny port, madera and caramel liqueur before bittersweet bourbon subtly enters, all flavours being tied together in a long, rich, soothing but consistently sweet finish. Very desserty in its sweetness and syrupiness, but given that this was more or less the intention, what you get in the glass is a truly wonderful beer, a liquid Belgian ‘praline’ of high class and decadent indulgence – I may, perhaps, not be able to finish a whole bottle of this, but its perfect composition in every detail made the one tasting glass I had at BCBF one of the most memorable ones for that particular edition. Very stimulating to obtain a few bottles from this brewery, rare and expensive as they may be here in Western Europe.

7.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Pours black, no real head. Scent is sweet, BBA. Taste is full, roasty, sweet, bit hot. A red-fruit like character, acidic touch behind all the sweetness. Nice.

7.6

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Pours black, small tanned head. Scent is hot, bourbon. Taste is sharp, very sweet. Coockie dough, chocolate. Bourbon. Quite nice.

7.5

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Pours black, no head. Scent is mild, somewhat roasty. Taste is full, roasty, bit sharp. Boozy. Some nuttyness indeed, but not in an oxidative manner. Decent.

7.5

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

Pours dark, unclear brown. No head. Scent is full, strawberry indeed. Some caramel. Taste is full, smooth sweetness. Mild acidity from the strawberry-also providing a lot of aroma.

7.5

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

2023 version Pours black, no head. Scent is juicy, sweet, roasty. Taste is full, roasty, boozy, grainy, dried fruits. Chocolate and vanilla. Very enjoyable, but a bit to the thin and boozy side.

7.4

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

Pours black, small, very dark head. Scent is bit of coffee, roasty, full. Taste is full, roasty, warming chocolate, coffee, hazelnut. Fairly hidden. Decent, but expected far more TBH.