7.2

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

Bottle shared by the brewer, cheers Bruno! Thick and rocky, pale yellowish beige, lacing head over a very dark burgundy coloured beer, but still completely translucent, lightly hazy. Pleasant aroma of toffee, milk chocolate, candied fig, dry banana, bayleaf, peach, pepper, liquorish, some beef stock and indeed a very subtle whiff of coffee powder - perhaps a tad too subtle to my personal taste. Restrained candied and light banana sweetness in the mouth, not cloying and well balanced with subtle sourish and umami hints, touch of dried porcini, but the sweetness dominates, also further on in the mouth as a smooth, caramelly malt sweetness builds up, evolving quickly to bittersweet and toasted (rather than roasted coffeeish, actually); soft spicy notes and a dash of mild, herbal hops round things off, while the alcohol remains warming, but otherwise as good as unnoticeable. The coffee, subtly applied here, shows up only after swallowing, when indeed a light, genuine coffee powder flavour sticks to the back of the tongue. Probably the best of Bruno’s beers in my opinion, but more a coffee-flavoured dubbel or quad than any kind of stout. Enjoyable, certainly now that the beer is matured on extra coffee powder as originally it was only added to the boil; now the beer contains more lively coffee aromas, making it considerably more interesting.