5 July 2019. At Dok Brewing Festival. Cheers to Anke & Ghent beer crew! Thanks to the brewers for sharing this! Hazy black with a lasting, thin, unstable, frothy, beige head. Aroma of milk chocolate, mocha, vanilla, wet wood, candied dates & fig, whisky, macadamia. Taste is medium malty sweet, dates wrapped in chocolate topped with nuts & vanilla, giving a woody touch, bit sourish underneath, developing more bitter tones of (dark) chocolate powder, toast & tea leaves. Dryish, herbal hoppy finish, lingering dark fruits & everlasting chocolate, nicely warming whisky-like alcohol. Full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. Thick, sweet & boozy but balanced and elegant.

Special, strong (indeed 'imperial') barrel aged edition of 40FT's Deep - there is apparently also a 'Deeper' in between - tasted from a 75 cl bottle of two years old, generously shared by the brewers at Dok Brewing Festival, cheers guys! Mousy, pale yellowish beige, opening, thin head on a jet black beer. Intense nose of hot chocolate sauce made with cognac, coffee liqueur, kahlua, toffee, hot black tea, toasted walnuts, hazelnut oil, whisky, soy sauce, bayleaf, solventy glue-like effects. Sweet, condensed onset, candied dates, light beef stock-like umami accent, soft carb, very thick and oily mouthfeel; indeed profoundly deep, walnutty and bitter-chocolatey 'black' maltiness, sweet and thick with a toasty bitter edge that develops into more mature proportions towards the end, accentuated by drying woody tannins, a huge but non-astringent whisky-coloured alcohol glow and lingering chocolateyness. Light herbal and spicy hop bitter notes, some sugariness and solventy, glueish accents as well, but none of these elements overpowers the tight blend of chocolatey malts and whisky. Beautiful imperial stout the American way, think BCBS, KBS and their likes, very ambitious and well-executed. Among the best beers of the festival even if it was not officially on the menu - heck, this is even among the best English stouts I had in years.