Keg at the six degrees north... Dark black... Thin tan lacing... Herbal banana smoke.. Tiny buyeric... Big sour front.. Light malts.. Long smoke finish

Tap @Luppolo Station (Rome). Black pour with an ivory foam. Nose: much wood and chocolate, aroma of rotten cherries. Mouth: watery, no real character, tart...chaotic.

Draft sample at ACBF 2017. Nearly black color, small head. Aroma of leather and dark fruit. Taste is sour roast. Interesting.

The second embodiment of Verzet’s Oakey Moakey, a blend of whisky barrel aged stout with ’sour stout’, i.e. fermented with lactic bacteria, which are also used in the different Flemish sour ales they make - interesting concept. At ACBF. Lacing, moussy, pale greyish beige head over a very dark bronze, hazy beer, black in general appearance but translucent on the edges. Fascinating aroma of blue cheese (creamy gorgonzola, even slightly more pungent roquefort), very old abbey cheese too, blackcurrant, balsamic vinegar, dry nut shells, bitter chocolate, wet leather, subtle hints at damp peat, whisky, wet wood. Estery onset, lots of blackcurrant and brambleberry sourishness, hint of maracuja, surrounded by a dry meaty and leathery umami flavor and supported by a drying lactic tartness which persists further on in the mouth, softly carbonated; deep nut shell- and burnt toast-like malt body with softer toffeeish edges underneath. The sourness dries the finish along with woody tannins, a subtle enough whiff of peat, whisky-like alcohol heat and a herbal hop dash, complex; the tannic and lactic factors work together to establish dryness which works very well for me. May pair extremely well with the more creamy variants of blue cheese but by itself a very interesting beer, more alluring even than the first version. I have told this brewer before and I will repeat it here: there are not enough sour ale variants on the general stout theme, certainly not in Belgium and not even internationally, but if any micro brewery in this region is well-placed to explore this new and promising hybrid style, it is this one, who has taken it on themselves to save the Flemish sour ale tradition from oblivion - by renewing it and lending it a modern, if not ’hip’ image. I will keep following these guys with great interest.

Draft - Buttery Cherry and soft oak. Jet black with a decent light brown head. Balsamic, Cherry and a touch of acidity in the finish. No roast, buttery and just not great.

Sampled from tap at ACBF 2017 as ’Verzet Oakey Moakey Edition 2016 Benriach Laphroaig’. Black with a beige head. Sweetish-sourish, fruity and roasty aroma of dark chocolate, coffee, vinegar, cherries and oak. Sweetish, sourish, slightly roasty and fruity taste of dark chocolate, coffee, licorice, oak, red grapes and some cherries, followed by a medium long, moderately tart, just slightly bitter, roasty finish. Medium body, slightly astringent and moderately effervescent mouthfeel, soft carbonation. Nice!

Sampled @ ACBF Vichte 2017. Sehr dunkel orange braunes Bier mit einer geringen beigen Schaumkrone. Geruch säuerlich holzig, Vanille, dunkle Früchte. Geschmack nach roten Beeren, holzig, bourbon, alkoholisch.

From tap. Pours hazy dark brown to black with a small tan head. Aroma is overripe fruity. Mild fruity. Slight earthy and iodine. Lingering fruity and subtle iodine finish.