Babeleir de Bretagne

Vom Fass bei der Berliner Bierinsel Event im Eetcafe linda carrell 2015-07 getrunken. Ein gut gemachtes Stout. Die Schaumbildungn schön hellbraun, cremig und feinporig so wie es sein muß. In der Nase noch etwas verhalten doch dann am Gaumen leichte Milchkaffee- und etwas Schokoladenaroma. Leckeres Teil!

Christmas stout from 2014, so a bottle of about one and a half year old, apparently a one off; one of those rare oyster stouts made with oyster shells thrown in, only the second one in this weird but historical substyle made in Belgium, to my knowledge (with oysters from Bretagne). Thin but dense and moussy, pale yellowish beige head retaining well on the edge of the glass and in patches in the middle; colour is a very dark wine red burgundy, black in general appearance but still translucent on the edges. Rich and strong aroma of bitter cocoa, cold black coffee, wet leather, dried seaweed, cured meat, quite a lot of iron but still feeling ’naturally’, nut shells and roasted peanuts, black olive, minerals (probably the oyster shells), charred wood, pipe tobacco, dried fig, port. Sweetish and ’cleanly’ fruity onset, candied cherry, raisin and date but also a bit of pear, surrounded by a soft but strong umami flavor (cured meat, dried mushroom) and a minerally accent which I suppose represents the oyster shells again, but no really distinguishable saltiness as promised on the label. Smooth, bit oily but otherwise unexpectedly ’thinnish’ malt body, slick, very nutty, very toasted and bittering with bitter chocolate qualities, not too ’ashy’ and though nicely bittersweet, still retaining more sweetness than gaining bitterness. Malty, toastedly bittersweet finish with a dash of spicy, leafy hop bitterishness thrown in but fairly gently so, ending with some warming, whisky-like alcohol, which otherwise does not intrude in the overall flavor profile. Nice bittersweet, rounded stout, but lacking a bit of body for its ABV and - though hard to compare since there are not too many oyster stouts around - lacking a bit of the saltiness or ’subtle ocean taste’ the back label mentions. Yet, all things considered, a fine beer by all means and another interesting offering from BBP.

Bottle at home. Pours black, nose is meaty, chocolate, roasted, taste is similar, chewy toffee.

Medium rust-cream head that takes some time to build; jet-black beer. Strange nose with tar, felt, black cardamom, wood, mussel/oystershells, dried seastar. Sweeter flavour than expected. Again wood & cardamom, but also (sweet) chocolate. The oats are also recognisable. Quite creamy, velvety feel; good carbonation; very slick to oily; medium bodied at least. More than decent stout.

Bottle at Pibar, Lausanne
Dark brown color, almost black. It has a decent sweet chocolate character, very lightly salty, not fishy. A bit dusty.
Nice.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Brussels Beer Project Babeleir de Bretagne (by Brussels Beer Project):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 14/20, MyTotalScore: 3.4/5

13/I/15 - 33cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker) @ home - BB: 12/XII/16 (2015-42) Thanks to Erwin for sharing the bottle!

Clear purple brown beer, small irregular beige head, unstable, dissipates quickly. Aroma: bit dusty, lots of caramel, banana, dried fruits, mocha, sweet. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: sourish, mocha, some coffee, yeasty, green banana. Aftertaste: little off, bitter hops, mocha, coffee, cocoa powder, overripe banana, bit unpleasant, something off.