8 July 2020. Random Wednesday Tasting; cheers to Anke & Tim! Hazy black, very thin, foamy, tan head. Aroma of mandarin jam, dried mandarin peel, fondant, chocolate powder, chewing tobacco (pruimentabak), prune, beef jerky, smoked sausage, Jaffa cake. Taste has sweet prune, jam, Jaffa cake, lots of sweet mandarin throughout, sourish brambleberry underneath, turning bitter, powdery, hints of chocolate & tobacco with a soft gravy-like umami edge. Dry, earthy hoppy finish, dried fruit & jam lingering, sweet tobacco & well hidden brandy alcohol. Medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation. Really good effort, flavoured but not quite 'Pastry', could have done with some more body.

Kawowokakaowy, lekko kwaskowaty, owocowy, zero ciala, dosc wytrawny, zero alko. Ufo troche, bo pije sie jak speciality kawke nagazowanana. Posmaki kwasnoowocowe. Ufo. Ale bdb. Zwlaszcza skala ukrycia alko kosmos. Aha, owocowosc ciemna, nie klementynki

The fifth one in a series of one-offs by new Brussels superstar La Source, an imperial stout apparently inspired by Pim's cakes, flavoured with cocoa and homemade marmalade (from mandarins)... Can from BeerFreakChick (delivered at home fourteen hours or so after ordering - cheers to that, Dinka!). Greyish pale beige, mousy head, fizzing away like the foam on a glass of coke until only seconds later, nothing but a microscopically thin ring around the glass remains; black robe with hazy burgundy-brown edges. Aroma strongly dominated by the marmalade, sharply zesty, tangy and spicy-sweet, under which a range of further impressions lurk: cold black coffee, 'fondant' chocolate bars with orange filling, gravy, beef stock powder from a jar, hints of cola, walnuts, kahlua, blackberries, nougat, tea, prunes. Spritzy onset - the carbon dioxide is clearly not too well 'bound' here - with minerally effects, a bit too sharply so for a pastry stout in fact; sweet with sourish edge, black cherries, dried brambleberries and stewed plum, but thinly and cleanly so, paired with an outspoken, gravy-like umami effect - yet soon freshened by that marmalade element, bringing in a bittersweet, candied orange peel-like tanginess; full, oily body, but thinned by both the coarse carbonation and the alcohol. Slick caramelly body, smooth and a tad nutty with toasty bitterish edges, however the added cocoa quickly takes over, feeling very genuine, with a strong black chocolate aroma retronasally, which - mingled with the marmalade - indeed superficially results in a Pim's cake-like effect. This cocoa and marmalade combo accompanies a medium long, warming finish, in which spicy hop bitterness and toasty malt bitterness provide body and fullness; brandy-like alcohol warmth is unmistakable, but even so, it refrains from becoming overly hot, dominant or wry. The malts as such could and should have been more 'thickly' chocolatey: this beer lacks a bit of body for the intended style and that powdered beef stock- or gravy-like umami effect did bother me a bit as well too, leading to a somewhat messy general impression (and point off for looking like a glass of coke with dirt in it). That said, the intended marmalade plus cocoa effect is obvious enough and clearly the star of the show, even against an insufficiently detailed background. I think a lot more could have been made of this, a Pim's cake-themed stout would be a great addition to the pastry stout banquet if done correctly, and Source has already proven that they can make a big, fat pastry stout with their Ours, but this one is certainly 'different' and surprising. Enjoyed it, everything considered, but fortunately I like marmalade...

33cl can de La Source - Covid home delivery. BB 19/03/2021.
Brune foncée quasi noire, col fin blanc-cassé/moka assez effervescent et retombant rapidement.
Arôme offre de suite de belles effluves de clémentine. Nez fin malté caramel, café, chocolaté - cacao. Le fruité de clémentine perce bien et apporte une belle dose de fraicheur.

Palais est épais malté note avoine, caramel avec note plaisanter de chocolat et poudre de cacao, pointe de torréfié en retrait. Le tout sur de belles notes fruitées de clémentines qui offre un côté agrumes plaisant sans vraiment avoir l'amertume ou aigreur d'autres agrumes.