Bottle, 0.75l, shared with friends. Aroma of coconut, bourbon, wood, caramel and dried fruit. Pours hazy dark brown color with thin quickly diminishing light brown head and soft visible carbonation. Taste starts with sweet and rich roasted malt and dried fruit, following is dominated by coconut and alcohol with smooth and warm mouthfeel. Full body, thick creamy texture and soft carbonation in palate. Coconut bomb...

‘Imperial brown ale’ flavoured with coconut, classic 75 cl Bruery bottle from De Caigny, shared with Goedele and Siska. Medium thick, pale greyish, moussy head dissipating fairly quickly to an open ring and some dotty lacing, over an initially clear, warm copper-hued mahogany bronze beer, hazy with sediment. Aroma of a lot of coconut indeed, but in combination with the chocolatey features of the malt, lending it an almost Bounty candy-like aspect; further, less prominent impressions include melting caramel candy, dried plums, peach, sweetbread, brownies, baked banana, brown rum or amaretto, candied orange peel, ginger powder, wet wood, some sweet bourbon. Sugary sweet onset with aspects of marmalade, yellow raisins and fig, light sourish edge and soft carbonation, with a full, vinous, pleasantly rounded mouthfeel, though perhaps a tad less ‘thick’ than expected based on the very potent ABV. Supple, bit oily, caramelly malt body with marmalade- and honey-like sweetness continuing, turning almost marzipan-like in the end and eventually fully laden with coconut; a citrus peel-like hoppy fraîcheur shows up in the end but does not outbalance the sweetness. Light end bitterness and mellow wood tannins, followed by a very rum-like, warming alcohol glow, as is to be expected from a beer this strong; the lingering flavour remains more akin to rum than to bourbon, weirdly. Very desserty, super strong brown ale, to be taken in small sips like a sweet barleywine (which is probably a more accurate style label than brown ale). Lovely and complex ‘bière de dégustation’, but may be a bit too sweet for many.

750 ml. Aroma is astringent bourbon, coconut, earth, chocolate, wood, vanilla, licorice. Smells a bit like a boozy Mounds candy bar. The astringency fades quickly, leaving a really nice smelling brew. Pours nearly clear brown but looks amber in the light. Taste is sweet, finishing bitter, with flavors matching the aroma with coconut and licorice standing out in particular. Nice.