Pours a reddish amber. It would be dark for Belgian golden, but it’s pretty light for a BSDA. They should just call this a Belgian ale and leave it at that. Small to medium off-white head. Fades to not much after a couple minutes. Just a bit of lacing. The aroma is raisins, pepper, caramel and some nutty, toasty malt. There’s also a light spice touch, almost like a woody cinnamon, possibly the flowers coming out in an odd way. The taste is pretty sweet with a bunch of toasty malt. It dries out some in the finish with a woody, floral aftertaste. Peppercorn spice throughout, pretty strong. Slight medicinal note - I’m not normally a fan but it works well, here. For the floral side, I wish there was a bit more rose and less jasmine, which I’m not a big fan of in beer. That said, the flowers are much more restrained than I expected. Stillwater does a very good job with not overdoing oddball ingredients in their beers. Little booze evident, just some warmth at the end. Decent bitterness towards the finish, sort of a leafy tobacco flavor. Mouthfeel is pretty light for the abv and initial sweetness. Overall, it’s a pretty good BSDA, but despite the complexity, I’m left a bit unsatisfied. The flavors just don’t quite play off each other well, for my palate anyway.

Draught @ CBC. Pours deep golden with a offwhite head. Aroma of malt, caramel, nuts, dark fruits, alcohol. Flavor is rich malts, caramel, nuts, sweetness, dark fruits, light hops, alcohol. Full body, soft carbonation, warming alcoholic finish. 040513

Sample from tap, CBC 2013. Hazy,almost muddy brown colour with a small off-white head. Sweet aroma with yeasts, dark, dried fruits, candid sugar, spices and rich caramel malts. Full body, sticky, soft carbonation. Finishes longlasting, lightly bitter with a rich sweet fruitiness lurking behind. A hint of alcohol. Interesting.

Bottle at Brasserie V. Unfiltered amber-brown body. Big off-white/beige head. Sweet raisin, dark fruit pungent aroma, quite intense, Quad-like. Brown sugar and dark fruit all the way. Pretty nice beer, maybe a little sugar forward. Funky burnt chocolate, sort of an Eastern European feel at times. Fruit and nut overload. Lacks subtlety, but makes up for it in quality and richness. Prune. Not as balanced and smooth as other Stillwater beers, but very Belgian. OK. Tastes like an Imperial Belgian Buckwheat ale.

Max’s Taphouse, Baltimore cask: I tried samples of this from tap and cask and opted for the cask, which I got poured into an imperial pint (oh my!). Pours a dark brown with a beige head. Aroma is molasses, fruits, spice, and a good bit of yeast. Alcohol is quite high, but is also quite well covered. That being said, there is certainly a bite in this. Some burnt flavor in there with the molasses. Loads of fruit. Hella lot of maltiness. I got a hangover a few hours later, but it was worth it. Good beer.

Pours hazy deep amber into a Sam glass. Tan micro head with excellent retention tophats and craters. Sweet caramel and nut aromas. Sweet chocolate and caramel upfront turning to a sweet hot chocolate and brine finish.

Nice bottle from Stillwater via Belgium. Pours brown that grows a dark, murky tea color, with a billowing offf-white head that is damn sexy. Smells good, with a dark, toffee-and-apple tinted nutty nose that veers into English Brown Ale territory. Tastes nice, easy, very sippable and spicy yet with no trace of the 10% booze. Starts sweet, with a fruity wheat-ale tinged front, before delving into Anglo territory, again mimicking an English Brown with a caramel-apple and damp malt undertone. Verges on too sweet, but the spicy-dry finish cleans things up nicely. Still, the fruitiness builds as it warms, meaning this 33cl bottle is plenty for now.

Bottle. Dark brown colour with a beige head. Aroma is alcohol, dried fruit, malt. Flavour is alcohol, dried fruits, roasted malt, yeast, spices. Nice beer.