Bellwoods Brewery Donkey Venom (2018-)

Donkey Venom (2018-)

 

Bellwoods Brewery in Toronto, Ontario, Canada 🇨🇦

  Sour / Wild Beer Regular
Score
7.32
ABV: 8.5% IBU: - Ticks: 32
One of the first aged sours to leave oak at Bellwoods, Donkey Venom is a complex beer that we've brewed and blended many times over the years -- constantly subject to our relentless process of refinement. At its roots it's a rich, dark ale, but the time it spends in barrels with brett and bacteria harmonizes the ingredients, yielding bright levels of acidity and complimentary fruit flavours. A hybrid style of sorts, that defies simple categorization.
 

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7.4
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

Saurer, dunkel malziger Beginn. Moderat röstig, beerig, konstante starke Säure. Süffig, spritzig, minimal bitter, vollmundig. Kirschen, langer Nachhall, gut! 10/11/12/11/9/12

Tried from Bottle on 11 Jan 2026 at 21:19


7.8
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

A very dark reddish brown beer with a tan head. Aroma of red wine barrel, raisins, strong dark malt. Taste of sour red berries, red wine, vinegar, wood.

Tried from Bottle on 08 Jan 2026 at 09:23


8.1
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 6.5

2019 vintage bottle shared with Nari and Gabor Gábor. Poursbrown with a finger wide beige head. Nose is led by funk and leather with hints of dried fruits and chocolate and a touch of woody spice. Taste is light to moderate tartness, it shows dark malts and dried fruits, funk and leather, some berries too. Closes with a funky, tart finish, has a light to medium, dry body and soft to average carbonation.

Tried from Bottle on 17 Mar 2025 at 11:59


6.4
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

This was a BIG beer. Not sure of the alcohol, but it felt like atleast 12%. Aroma of sour malts, coffee, cherries, and booze. The mouth feel was thick and oily, and the carb was almost gone. The finish was warming and boozy, with tart, charred malts. Interesting, but not my thing.

Tried on 28 Feb 2025 at 05:38


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle pour at Farmhouse Fest 2024. Pours black with beige head. Aroma has some sour roasted malts and dark dried fruits. Flavour has dark cherries, sour blackberries. Really nice.

Tried from Bottle on 13 Aug 2024 at 23:34


8

This one has been in the, ahm, cellar for a while now. Bottled Aug 03 2022. Pours dark with a little tan head. Nose is wine barrel and a littlw socks. Taste is amazing. Thick rich malt, cherries, oak, vanilla, a little coffee with some moderate funk. So much going on. How is this gem out of production. Le sigh.

Tried from Bottle on 26 Jul 2024 at 22:46


6.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

bottle, 2019 version. tasted april 3th 2024 purs dark brown, brown head, looks like an ordinary porter or stout. mild and not that strong brown ale aroma with notes of sourness and tartness and black berries. Like a Belgian brown ale, not sour, then add some blackberries and in the end add some US fruit beer sourness. hard for me to describe. faint note similar to licorice. sorry to say, but the flavor reminds me most of european attempts at stout or porter that went unplanned sour. decent flavor, you can sense that the dark beer itself is potent and full of flavors, but everything has soured up, making the details harder to discern. Also wood, roasted malts in there. very complex, but I can't help but think of beer-mistakes rather than great sours.. I know this should be a great sour, but it's missing this sense of direction, of focus, of .. idk. whats' with the roasted malts.. As I said very complex and some people might like it just bc of that, cause there is a lot to explore and it could well be a pretty awesome sipper.

Tried from Bottle on 03 Apr 2024 at 19:03


7.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

500ml bottle. Pours an opaque black with a medium, creamy, short lived, tan head that laces. Sweet aroma of roasted malt, dark chocolate, prune, red wine, Brett and oak. Sweet flavour of roasted malt, licorice, prune, balsamic vinegar, Brett and oak in a dry, tart finish. Medium body with a sticky texture and average carbonation. Complex and delicious.

Tried from Bottle on 13 Aug 2023 at 05:06


7.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

500ml bottle. 2019 vintage. Dark brown, almost black, slightly sour and funky with some berries, bretta notes, oak, vinous cherries and vinegar. A bit all over the place, but still manages to be quite balanced.

Tried from Bottle on 29 Jan 2022 at 20:31


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

Brownish color and a nice off-white head. Tart nose, acidic, fruity, dark berry, cherries. Hint of dark chocolate at finish.

Tried on 18 Aug 2021 at 19:48