McDef

Peated dark beer by Stefaan Beaumont, the man behind Schooiersbier who goes by the alias Stef McDef apparently, hence the name. Limitedly brewed last year by Steeman but following the same recipe as Steeman's own Knife & Fork, bottled in Vichy bottles and carrying 9.9% ABV; a second version has apparently been brewed afterwards but at Brouwerij Danny, bottled in Steinie bottles and with 9.0% ABV, yet with all the same ingredients. Complicated case, but certainly an interesting one... Anyway, I have the Steeman version in front of me, courtesy of tderoeck. Begins with very violent gushing, beer spouting out of the bottle upon opening - it's a good thing I opened this over the sink... Very thick and foamy, membrane-like lacing, very mousy, ecru-beige head over a misty, very dark chocolate brown beer, superficially blackish but actually still translucent with a deep, burgundy-red hue. Strong peat in the nose indeed - noticeable from a yard away - reminiscent of course of an Islay whisky and actual wet peat, cigar ashes, fresh seaweed, toffee, candi sugar, stewed plums, chocolate cake, candied figs, fresh thyme, brown bread dough. Fruity, sweet onset, dark candi sugar but nothing cloying, hints of dates, medlar and a whiff of banana, very lively carbonated (related to the gushing) but not too 'painfully' so - small-bubbled, as it were; essentially very soft, fluffy body harshened by this overcarbonation. Brown-bready and notably toffeeish maltiness, sweet with a toasted bitter edge coming a bit more to the foreground in the end, when it gets almost completely soaked up by this very pronounced, smoky and almost 'salty', iodine-like peatiness - combining with warming, glowing alcohol to create a very whisky-like effect. Bittersweet toffeeish maltiness (though much more sweet than bitter), fruity esters and a dash of herbal hop bitterness linger along. I never had Steeman's own Fork & Knife but assuming it is more or less the same beer (though even stronger apparently), I should probably begin to pay more attention to that brewery... This is quite a daring move for a local Belgian brewery, not far removed from the peaty beers produced by Dochter van de Korenaar, though unfortunately not at the same level of technical mastery. Still, in spite of the gushing and overcarbonation, this is a very enjoyable, powerful beer - provided of course that you really, really love peat(ed whisky), something even many experienced beer drinkers tend to eschew, from what I hear in the beer world. Not for the faint-hearted - or even the average Belgian 'speciaalbierdrinker' - but one worth noting, unknown as it may be. I am left wondering if the Danny version is an improvement of this one, or not - I should perhaps contact this Mr. McDef again and try to obtain a bottle through him.

11/X/19 - 33cl bottle @ Biernamaals bierfestival (Gent), BB: n/a - (2019-1723)

Clear red brown beer, small creamy beige head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: very peated, sweet impression, caramel, some ripe banana. MF: very carbonated, too much, medium body. Taste: very peated, nice roast, malty, little sweet, bitter touch, more peat, some caramel. Aftertaste: caramel, dry, very peated, smoky, some dark chocolate, more peat.