Nonniversaire - Calvados Edition - 2017

The calvados barrel aged variant in this series of new Belgian barleywines, bottle from The Beer Shop. Loosely knit, moussy, pale greyish beige, bubbly head needing a bit of forcing to develop, retaining as a thin, irregular crown over a clear, deep and warm mahogany brown-hued copper coloured beer, darker and misty with sediment. Strong, very desserty, sweet but complex aroma, yellow raisins soaked in rum, calvados indeed but not too sharply so, strong candied fig, honey liqueur, some wet dog, stewed apples, baklava, gingerbread, overripe medlar, caramel sauce, strawberry candy, "honingwafels", pancakes, sweet sherry, anise, peppermint leaves, ketchup. Very sweet flavour like the others in this brand, sticky caramel sauce- and honey effects with candied pineapple and candied date fruitiness, light sourish apple-like accent; brown sugary sweetness keeps weighing heavily over a softly carbonated, thickly vinous, caramelly and pleasantly peanutty malt sweet body; alcohol is apparent early on as heating 'stings' on the tongue and condenses to a big warming (yet strikingly non-astringent) glow at the back, very liqueurish - the calvados having been remarkably well integrated in the overall sweetness of the beer. Light woody notes and, in the end and with sediment, a touch of herbal hop bitterishness and yeast earthiness. Candied apple, sweet sherry, honey and vanilla-ish oak (but no strong tannins) linger after swallowing. A liquid dessert like the others, very sweet but in a refined, 'praline'- and liqueur-like way, very unlike the more 'classic' Belgian barleywines (Bush Ambrée, Stille Nacht) in being cleaner and less yeasty, clearly international in general make-up. Could accompany or even replace any dessert - or 'digestif'... I love this series, what a great idea to launch a bunch of big, clean, syrupy barleywines aimed at restaurants rather than pubs when starting a new brewery - this is Belgian brewing art at a high and inspired level.

January 2016 @home - 50cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck. Amber brown beer with very small head. Nose is dried fruits, caramel. apple. Taste is apple, dried fruits, some caramel, sweet and sweet sour. Full of taste. Just a pity the barrel doesn’t come through.. As expected after test tastings.

Thanks to PriorL! 500 ml. bottle sampled @ “Tim’s orgasmic Trillium tasting”. Now this is a clear departure from the kind of beers that new breweries usually enter the Belgian beer market. Cheers to that alone. This one was a rather pricey one for a new & unproven brewery. Pours deep amber, little mocha head. Nose is sweet oxidation mixed with spirit, dried fruits, booze, warming Calvados layered on top, strong oxidation, huge sweetness, quite a bit of alcohol with some apple & pear syrup, thick syrupy. Taste is akin to an old, oxidized & sour barley wine, sour red wine & red grapes with strong spirit (let us say Calvados), hugely sweetness, warming alcohol, sour candy, warming, almost like they added a dash of Oud Bruin to this one, sherry-like oxidation, big caramelized apples, pear & apple syrup, hugely sweet & syrupy. Carbonation is low to very low. Sweetness is out of this world, mixes interestingly with some sourness (is this intentional, nothing in the bottle suggests sourness) but it does work. Interesting oxidation akin to a very old Barley wine & big spirit-qualities. Challenging, possibly not entirely intentional. I rather like it but it is hard to drink, I can see this one working as a sipping beer, would take a long time to drink.