Bottle at Cambridge Winter Beer Festival, Friday 20th January 2017 in company of FatPhil and Anna Smokey nose, some cinder toffee and a nice spicy edge. Some chocolate, good beer. . A6 A4 T7 P3 Ov14 3.4

Bottled @ cafe Derat, small sample. Dark brown color, medium frothy head. Aroma of spicy belgian yeast, slight roast, molasses, cane sugar, caramel. Quite sweet in taste, caramel, toast, slight roast. I would never guess this a stout, but more a typical belgian dark strong ale.

Flaska från demolenbeershop. Riktigt mörkt brun med lågt beige skum som snart försvinner. Doft av kraftig rostad malt, kaffe, choklad, lite tjära. Krftfull smak men väldigt väl balanserad. Stora ganska kärva smaker av tjära, torv, kaffe choklad möter en lätt sötma med lite lakrits, honung och mörkt bröd som mynnar ut i en torr men inte särskilt besk avslutning. Gediget och riktigt gott.

Clear brown black colour, beige head. Aroma of coffee, caramel, cacao, malts. Sweet malty flavour, caramel, soy sauce. Finish chocolate, caramel, red fruits.
(from 33cL bottle @ Cat’s place. Thanks for sharing, Cat & Koen!)

The stout from the Kale Ridders, probably the ’official’ version of the (hobby brewed) Nocturnus they offered on a ZBF a few years ago, with thick and lacing, dense and creamy, light beige head and very dark chestnut brown colour, as good as black. Aroma of coffee grounds, baker’s chocolate and fondant, cured meat and even a hint of beef broth, dried banana, walnuts, black peppercorns, clear iron, some soapy wheat, parsley, bayleaf, hint of sweet port wine. Restrained candied sweetness in onset, banana, bubblegum even, but paired with a ’deep’ and dull kind of sourishness probably coming from the wheat, soft carbo, thick and oily mouthfeel, caramelly and chocolatey malt flavours nicely intermingled and leading to a more coffeeish roasted bitterness in the end, where earthy, herbal hop bitterness helps to create drought; a warming glow of whisky-like alcohol appears in the end as well. Pretty straightforward, yet thick and strong enough to be close to an imperial stout; lacks some complexity though.

Bottled@Tuulensuu, Tampere (old backlog). Murky reddish brown colour with a mediumsized off-white head, that leaves some lace. Aroma is mild roasted malts, some chocolate, a bit alcohol as well as some spicy yeast to it. Flavour is chocolate, roasted malts, mild liquorice, some spices as well as a mild touch of alcohol to it. Quite bodied, but still a quite simplistic stout.

Fonefan 300814. Dark brown colour with a beige head. Aroma is molasse, chocolate, coffee, roasted malt. Flavour is yeast, coffee, roasted malt, sugar, coffee, yeast, molasse, chocolate. Nice beer.