Dying Within
White Pony Microbirrificio in Piove di Sacco (PD), Veneto, Italy 🇮🇹
Brewed at/by: Brouwerij Het NestStout - Imperial Regular
|
Score
7.12
|
|
Sign up to add a tick or review
Alengrin (11561) reviewed Dying Within from White Pony Microbirrificio 9 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7.5
Ultra-strong coffee stout aged in bourbon barrels. Another White Pony still brewed at Gaverhopke, so I open this over the sink with utmost care, but lo and behold: no gushing at all (though a fierce hissing sound did come out upon pulling off the cap). Greyish beige, dense, creamy head, dissipating in the middle but retaining well on the edges as a moussy rim but still all but gone after ten minutes; opaque black colour, with only the slightest hint of chestnut brown on the edge. Strong aroma of damp earth, FFF (dry manure), old coffee filters and cold black coffee, thick soy sauce, moldy nut shells, bitter chocolate, cured meat, beef stock cubes, fresh paint, dried banana, lots of leather, cold tea, wet newspapers, soaked bayleaf, lots of wet wood, old dry pipe tobacco, fried mushroom and, hovering above all this, the expected aroma of actual bourbon. Intense umami onset, lots of beef jerky- and dried porcini-like flavors with a hint of raisin-like sweetness on top and elderberry-like sourishness underneath, fizzy carbonation attracting way too much attention and adding further sourishness but calming down after a while. Apart from being fizzy, the mouthfeel is evidently very thick and ’heavy’ as well, requiring a bit of effort to travel towards the throat. Middle phase has thick layers of nutty and (bitter) chocolatey malts, quickly gaining a coffeeish roasted bitterness above the basic roasted barley sourishness; this coffee experience is further enhanced by actual coffee turning up retronasally in the end, along with a heavy dose of bourbon and wood. Drying wood tannins in the end, lingering coffee and (very) bitter chocolate flavors, spicy hop bitterness and, unsurprisingly, alcohol heat, though I must admit I had been expecting more astringency seen the towering ABV - in fact, the alcohol retains its bourbon flavor quite well, instead of ruining the palate completely. Wood tannins get the last word, as this beer ends bone dry. A hard nut to crack and a bit of a challenge to drink: very robust, if not rough, with unpleasant damp earth and even farmland notes in its aroma, low in drinkability and clearly overcarbonated for the style, but still among the more interesting ’old’ White Pony beers I had so far. I was close to giving up on at least the older bottles that were still produced at Gaverhopke but this one, though clearly far from flawless, does intrigue me and may convince me to purchase some other older White Pony bottles of the same league. Apart from the aforementioned flaws, however, I do think this could have done with less alcohol: this kind of ABV only sharpens the flavors, but also the off-flavors, and it takes a really great beer to carry the heavy load of 15% ABV and still be elegant and drinkable. This is clearly not one of those beers - but as said, it fascinates me somehow, in its daring boldness and roughness. It also seems to be one of those cases where a below average beer becomes significantly better with barrel ageing, not sure if there is a non-BA version of this, but if there is, I am not too inclined to taste it, as it will very likely have these earthy, manure- and unpleasantly coffee filter-like aromas to a higher extent, unmitigated by the soothing properties of the Heaven Hill barrels...
madmitch76 (40205) reviewed Dying Within from White Pony Microbirrificio 10 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
15th March 2015
Opaque black - brown beer, good pale tan head. Very airy palate, semi dry with modest fine carbonation. Tangy dark malts. Fruity bourbon with powdery dark chocolate. Mild spice. Tangy fruits before a light semi dry finish. Not bad at all.
77ships (14509) reviewed Dying Within from White Pony Microbirrificio 10 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Thank you! 330 ml. bottle sampled @ post-ACBF 2015 train ride. Blackish brown, little mocha. Nosse is herbal, soy, mocha,… Taste is mocha, very big on soy, bitter herbs, sugar, charcoal, boozy, dry herbs, still lacking in flavours for this ABV. Very bitter, charcoal. Med. Not for me, I don’t get the current 95/100 score.
Leighton (34888) reviewed Dying Within from White Pony Microbirrificio 11 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Bottle shared at the Park Inn - Brussels. Many thanks to Dennis. Pours deep black-brown with a thick, creamy beige head. Pleasant moderate espresso nose with notes of dark bread and burnt sugars. Medium to big sweet flavor with pretty well rounded dark malt character, nips of booze, some burnt wood, light smoke, some vanilla. Medium to full bodied with average, massaging carbonation. Warming finish with aome bittersweet cocoa, more burnt wood, slight earthy bitterness, milk chocolate, faint coffee grounds, some alcohol warmth. Good stuff overall.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle. Pours black tan head. Nose/taste of bourbon, espresso, vanilla, oak and chocolate. Medium body.
Kraddel (15810) reviewed Dying Within from White Pony Microbirrificio 11 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 9
Bottle At Barely Legal Tasting Room Pours pitch black, small , dark head . Awesome view ! Smell is mostly coffee-bitterness , bourbon only in small touches . Taste is very interesting . First of you get a straight coffee taste . Bitter, intense, but not bad ( I dont drink coffee and in beer its love or hate for me. This is a love ) than it fades to alcohol warmth ( youd expect it to be 10 ) , than it turns to roasted malts ( a bit bitter ) , in all its aspects ( coffee again but slightly different , chocolate ,.... ) Bourbon is very hidden ( too hidden , perhaps ? ) but i do get some oak in the finish . The thing that bothers me here, is the overcarbonisation . Something I have never had with a high ABV pony beer ... it leaves out much of the first tastes , and does not go well with a 15 % beer ( or ANY beer, for that matter ) Mouthfeel is medium . Its mostly the aftertaste that does it here, so to fully enjoy, its best to drink slow , and leave hangin for a longer time . Which is a good thing to do at this ABV . Appart from that, this is a real easy drinkin beer for 15 % . Hard to believe this aint like 10 ... Good one !