Zwarte Piet Donker

24/07/2015 - 33cl bottle @friends. Thanks Jerre & tderoeck for the gift/trade Clear dark brown, no head Dark matls, caramel, ripe fruits, some coffee and chocolate. sweetness.

Sampled @ O.B.E.R. Kerstbierfestival 2014, Essen. Rötlichbraunes Bier mit geringer beigen Schaumkrone. Geruch röstmalzig, fruchtig, würzig. Geschmack röstmalzig, Karamell, reife Früchte, würzig.

Sampled at Kerstbierfestival Essen 2014. Red-brown color, medium sized beige head. Smell and taste malts, lightly sweetish, brown or dark malts, some caramel. Average to medium body and carbonation. Not bad.

330 cl. bottle @ O.B.E.R. Kestbierfestival 2014. (Thx!) Politically incorrect name #XX :) Black, little tanned head. Nose is soy sauce, gravy, oily thick syrup. Taste is gravy, soy sauce, malts, herbs, warming,… Body is lighter than you would expect. Too much soy sauce etc. for me dominating pretty much all of the flavor.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Boelens Zwarte Piet Donker (by Boelens):
Aroma: 6/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 5/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 9/20, MyTotalScore: 2.8/5

6/XII/14 - 33cl bottle @ De Graanmaat (Sint-Niklaas) - BB: n/a (2014-1466)

Note: what better day to drink these, than today, right? :p

Clear dark brown beer, creamy dark beige head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: sweet, dried fruits, dusty, band-aid, overripe banana, chemical touch. MF: soft carbon, medium body, smooth texture. Taste: pretty bitter, quite a chemical and dirty bitterness, overripe fruits, mocha and coffee touch (more burnt malts than what we're used to in most Belgian brews, so that's good), dusty, caramel, in general pretty unpleasant. Aftertaste: bitter, bit hoppy, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, unpleasant bitterness, quite some alcohol, yeast, rubbery, bit dirty, rotten fruits and overripe banana.

The dark counterpart of Sinterklaas Blond, referring to Saint Nicholas’s coloured assistants, who are the subject of controversy nowadays. Like the blonde one, only available at Den Antus and other Sint-Niklaas pubs from November 11th to December 6th and served in the same mitre-shaped glass which was especially developped for the occasion. Original recipe so not an alias. Pours a hazy, very dark bronze, blackish even, with good fizz, under a sticky, moussy, yellowish light beige head. Aroma of caramel, coffee powder, cloves, coriander seed, gingerbread, bayleaf, pear, chocolate, whisky. Tastes fruity, red berries, dates, apple and banana, smooth and slightly oily mouthfeel, caramelly malt backbone, sweetish and a bit resinous, retronasal spiciness (primarily drying coriander but I suspect ginger has been applied as well), bitter chocolate malt in the finish and something roasted and coffee-like, but subtle, with ’European’ leafy hop bitterness and some warming, whisky-like alcohol. Stylewise, this is a typical Scotch-based Belgian winter ale. Enjoyable, though perhaps lacking a bit of body for the style.