Vintage bomber (66 cl), the 2014 edition of this cider brandy barrel aged old ale, found at Dranken De Moor in Haasdonk in rural Flanders, who stores several Moor beers just because of the name, weirdly so, but very happy to have stumbled on this totally unexpected find. Lightly lacing, bit irregular, moussy, pale yellowish beige head, firm on the edges but slowly opening in the middle yet eventually dissolving into as good as nothing, over a very dark mahogany brown beer, practically black, with hazy burgundy edges. Noble, rich bouquet of hazelnut paste, chestnuts, dried figs, calvados, toffee, vanilla-ish oak, wet wood in general, old dusty cocoa powder, rum-soaked raisins, hints of wet leather, elderberries, Poire William, cold tea, toasted almond, cinnamon, black pudding, dried autumn leaves, liquorice candy, diluted coffee grounds, blue grape, dry dusty clay, brown bread crust and a subtle touch of port-like oxidation in its most flattering form, adding an extra, thin layer of complexity. Sweetish, clean onset, lots of dried fig and dried berries, black cherry touch, dim sourish undertone but dried fruit sweetness prevails, light dried porcini-like umami accent providing a nicely positioned meaty counterbalance agains the sweetishness; softish carbonation, smooth, slick, very supple and bit oily mouthfeel, with the right amount of thickness for the old ale style (i.e. feeling less thick than one would expect from an 8% ABV beer if it were any other style, like stout or quadrupel). Lean, fully nutty malt middle, toffeeish and very lightly caramelly edges providing sweetness but briefly thereafter countered by a lovely toasty bitterness (burnt toast, toasted walnuts), malt really shines here, while some of the dried fruit aspects linger on. Drying, spicy, warming and fairly complex finish: a continuation of the toasty and nutty malt bittersweetness, almost stout-like with even a subtle roasted black coffeeish touch in the end, a peppery, leafy hop bitterness adding late but effective and eventually quite long-lasting herbal spiciness, a touch of retronasal oxidation in its most noble shape, some drying woody tannins matching perfectly with the toasted aspect and the hops, and of course the expected, very warming yet hardly astringent afterglow of calvados-like alcohol, even a slight calvados-like taste that stays behind after swallowing, along with the nutty and toasty maltiness and something pleasantly ’powdery’ from the yeast, which, in combination with retronasal malt aromas, even comes across a bit as dusty, very old cocoa powder. This brewery shortly preceded the advent of American (or, in today’s context, ’international’) craft brewing in old England, but like e.g. Struise have done in Belgium, embraced it when it came along without ignoring the old and proud local brewing traditions; this is one such beer, an ’old ale’ (though perhaps a tad too dark and toasted for that - could pass for a porter or even a stout just as well) aged on barrels that previously held a local kind of liquor... Great idea in my book, one can sense both the connection with international trends here, and with the traditional, noble, old English roots. Beautiful malt-forward beer, barrel-aged in a very palpable yet still not overdone way; age, if anything, only made it a bit more ’deep’, adding a subtle amount of old port-like oxidation and (likely) mellowing the alcohol effect a bit. I’m always glad when I find a vintage bottle like this, since beers of this stature are best with a few years of proper aging behind them, and I rarely have the patience to do this myself anyway... Very nice beer, it may take some knowledge of the traditional English ’old ale’ concept to fully appreciate its subtleties, but there is no denying that Moor makes some very noble beers - and this is one of those. Apparently they have been doing this series since 2009 or so, so who knows, maybe another one will cross my path one day...

Draught at BeerGeek Bar. Dark brown to black colored. AROMA- brandy, sour cherries, dark fruit, chocolate, pralines. FLAVOR- neutral, moderately bitter, warming alcohol presence, chocolate, pralines, brandy, touch of fruitiness. Fuller bodied.
Great one.

Kveldens siste flaske med Steven, og hvilken højdare! Nesten helt svart med fint skum som varer. Vidunderlig, portvinsvinøs aroma og smak med mørke malter, rosiner, svisker, vanilje, kaffe, dessertsjokolade, lakris, hint av cigar(?), og alt dette i en lekker kombinasjon og trygg maltkropp, støttet av fatlagringen (Somerset cider brandy barrels). Lav bitterhet og farlig lett å helle innenfor snippen. Oh, it is good, isn’t it!