6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottled. Deep rubyish brown colour with a mediumsized off-white head. Aroma is tart fruits, some berries, wood, mild earth and some grains. Flavour is sweetish berries and floral tones along with some toffee and mild wood with some slight spiciness as well. Wooden and slightly spicy tones in aftertaste.

7.2

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Gulden Spoor’s Winterbuk (seasonal variant of Netebuk) aged on whisky barrels for no less than seven years – I had to blink my eyes and read this twice before being convinced… Thanks to tderoeck for sharing. Ecru-beige, dense, mousy, membrane-lacing, eventually breaking head on a dark chestnut brown beer with ‘rusty’ burgundy hue. Aroma of blackberries, old wet wood, toffee, glue, faint ‘oaky’ vanilla, candied figs, very old tawny port, plum wine, hint balsamic vinegar but low in whisky. Fruity onset, estery with sour cherry and blackberry notes as well as something balsamico-like, clearly soured by all those years in the barrel; medium fizz, smooth caramelly and chocolatey malt base with a nutty edge; the sour streak stretches till the end, eventually even becoming a tad astringent, but there are lovely tannic woody aspects and an old madera-like oxidation adorning the finishing stage as well. Ends considerably boozy, indeed whisky-ish but in a rather ‘dim’ kind of way, not too harshly so, with nutty, earthy and woody impressions lingering about for quite a long time. An interesting case: so many years in a barrel has effectively turned a Scotch-like beer into something of a strong ‘oud bruin’, with the oxidation being limited to elegant maderisation rather than obnoxious ‘rustiness’. Gulden Spoor beers tend to be classic, but they are usually very well executed and sometimes, as is the case here, genuinely fascinating.

6.6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

11/I/20 - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte), shared @ home, BB: n/a, bottled: II/2018 (2020-35)

Clear dark brown beer, small creamy beige head, unstable, bit adhesive. Aroma: pretty oxidized, dried fruits, some alcohol, some solvents. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very sourish, very oxidized, dusty, madeira, super acidic, probably infected in the barrel. Aftertaste: lemon juice, dusty, acidic, some caramel, spicy, bit peppery, dark fruitsy, dusty bit weird, interesting at least.

8.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle from Bierhalle deconinck. Dark red brown colour, beige foam. Nose of a sour redbrown, vinous, some balsamico, lactic sourness. Taste is sweet, woody, hints of vanilla, berries and red wine. Very nice and well balanced flemish red.

8

Amai, das goe!!! 😀