Wässriger, mild alkoholisch holziger Beginn. Milde Whiskynoten, moderate Herbe, langer Nachhall. 10/8/8/8/11/8

50cl bottle. A clear dark reddish brown beer with a beige head. Aroma of riped cherries, plums. Taste of mid sweet riped cherries, plums, caramel, wood.

Bottle @ tasting with Roelzie1986, TomHendriksen and Inoven. Dark red-brown color with a dark red glare coming through when held into the light, average sized off-white to beige head. Aroma is malts, somewhat wood-tart. Don't get whiskey barrel aging. Taste malts, again a touch of wood-tart, somewhat sweet, though at the same time quite alcoholic. I don't like it. Meh.

Fles gedeeld met Tomhendriksen, Roelzie86 en Benzai. Donkerbruin bier met beige schuim. Geur van gebrande mout en hout. De smaak is iets zuur en houtig. De nasmaak is licht hoppig.

Fles gedeeld door Inoven, geprobeerd met Benzai en Roelzie1986. Het is een donker bruin bier met een crèmekleurig schuim. Het heeft een zurige wij achtige geur. De smaak is vol, gebrand en licht zuur met hints van eik.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Vissenberg Cuvée Médard (Whisky BA) (by Brouwerij Vissenberg):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 2/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 13/20, MyTotalScore: 3.2/5

30/V/17 - 50cl bottle from Willems (Grobbendonk), shared @ home - BB: 8/VII/18 (2017-686)

Clear purple brown beer, creamy beige head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: yeast, CO2, sweet, caramel, dried fruits, little dirty, bready, toast. MF: very lively carbon, medium body. Taste: surprisingly sour start, bit weird, sweet touch, caramel, bread. Aftertaste: malty, sweet caramel, yeast, sourish touch, some Oud Bruin acidity (lacobacilllus), some dried fruits. Half-decent beer, but not really a fan. Also: where has the peat gone? Maybe the barrel has been rinsed out before lagering?

Thanks to Kraddel! 500 ml. bottle sampled. BBF 8/7/2018. Dark brown amber, creamy overly big tanned head. Nose is weird plastic, soy sauce, varnish, almost salty peat,... Far too fizzy, far too carbonated, plastic, varnish, far more vinous than peated, smoke,... The appearance, carbonation, sourish taste,.... To me this felt infected, not good, things went bad here. It isn’t the worst but it isn’t good either.

Bottle. Pours very dark brown. Ok to small white head. Smell is dry, dome dark malts. Bit roasty. Ok. Taste is mildly smoked. Distant barrel notes. Mediocere brown ale underneath. Happy I can still drink this, but its not great.

Whisky barrel aged dubbel (because that is basically what this is), from a 50 cl bottle - unusual for Belgian ales - bought at Willems in Grobbendonk. Brewed by Vissenberg (now no longer ’Hobbybrouwerij’) and limited to 1350 bottles. Opens with a hissing sound and smoke coming out of the bottle neck, but no gushing. Thick, regular, pale greyish beige, very moussy head leaving some lacing here and there, very stable; initially clear, deep purple-tinged burgundy (brownish red wine) colour, translucent, hazy and more mahogany brown with sediment. Aroma of dried plum, elderberries, candied fig, dark raisin, chestnut, wet oak wood, old port wine, subtle whisky and even more subtle peat, butterscotch and toffee, caramelized brown sugar, gingerbread, sugared tea, hints of dry earth, brown rum, dried rosemary, maracuja, dried banana, vanilla (vague, just the oak returning), old ’speculoos’, cooked salsify, some very faint FFF. Fruity onset but relatively restrained in the esters, hints of dried banana, raisin, blackberries and redcurrant, mix of sweet and sour, with a slightly more ’vivid’ and berry-like sourish effect than usual in a dark Belgian; supple, smooth mouthfeel, medium carbonated, little bit resinous, perhaps slightly thinner than the average 7% Belgian ale. Caramelly and nutty malt core, sweet with traces of residual brown sugar sweetness accentuating the caramel character, but at the same time balanced by this berry-like sour flavor, further dried in the finish by a tannin-rich, oaky wood effect releasing some retronasal vanilla-like oak (wet oak furniture); some earthy, herbal hops add soft bitterishness and all the way at the back, between the lingering caramel and brown sugar sweetness and wood dryness, a subtle whisky-flavor emerges, establishing alcohol heat in the throat without actually becoming too wry. Interesting beer, matching the old Belgian brown (’dubbel’) style with the international craft beer trend of ageing beers on whisky and other barrels, and in this case, I think the experiment turned out quite well. This is technically more than correct and offers a certain depth and complexity of flavor, at least within its style; almost comes across as a light(er) version of the La Trappe Quadrupel Oak Aged series, and reminds me a bit of the oak aged Qantelaars bij Jef Pirens’ Oude Maalderij as well. Pleasant sipper, actually, coming from an attractive bottle - with the pipe-smoking gentleman on the label presumably depicting mister Médard, who remains otherwise unknown so his identity is anyone’s guess - my bet is on the grandfather of one of these young Vissenberg brewers...