Explosive gushing upon opening to towering cream-tan head, full of yeast, lots of lace over deep dark brown beer. Coffee, mocha, very clear despite the huge head; some meatroast, meaty esters, dark brown farmbread with coffee. Quite bitterish, if mainly from the roast & the coffee, rather than hops. Slight stoutacidity. Finish has some chocolate, and almost sweetness. Leather. Well bodied, overcarbonated, very slick to chewy. Pity about the gushing. Rest is more than acceptable. Txs to Stef!

The third beer in the initial range of this new microbrewery in Kruibeke (near Beveren-Waas), a Belgian 'strong brown' - so effectively a quadrupel almost by definition, even if opinions on this matter are divided. Steinie bottle from Dranken De Moor in nearby Haasdonk, cheers Carl! Light gusher, but slow enough to remain manageable. Mousy, membrane-lacing, pale greyish beige, irregularly edged and slowly opening head, initially lightly hazy dark brown robe with translucent vermillion red glow, misty coppery dark bronze with sediment. Aroma of freshly baked brown bread, caramel, coffee grounds and even cold black coffee (from the added coffee powder, obviously), dried figs, burnt brown sugar, baked banana, dried apple peel, coriander seed, caramel, nutmeg, hints of brown rum, rusk, clove, crunched pecan nuts, dry earth, brown soap, tea, even vague cinnamon - and indeed, very subtle but recognizable when warming up, a vague touch of smoked wood. Fruity onset, dried banana, fig, raisins, red apple, hint of apricot, sweetish with a sourish undertone, quite lively carbonation, prickling but acceptable for a strong Belgian dark, fluffy and bit powdery-yeasty body; caramelly and brown-bready maltiness with a trace of brown sugar on top yet not going into overdrive sweetness, lingering dried fruit notes and explicit spicy phenols, coriander seed and clove, almost Christmas beer-ish. Meanwhile the dark maltiness acquires a light toasty edge and the aromatic effect of the added coffee comes in, albeit very subtly so; indeed a very, very subtle smokiness does develop in the end, as in smoked wood or smoked eel, but it remains faint enough not to shock the average Belgian beer drinker (alas). Earthy yeastiness in the end, lingering caramelly malts with that toasty and aromatic coffeeish edge and faint background smoky touch still continuing, earthy and herbal hop bitter note and warming, 'jenever'-like alcohol, which in all remains quite well in place. Sweetish but not sweet, spicy without going over the top (though one pinch more of it would have been too much), malty with well-hidden alcohol: this is a kind of amped-up dubbel and therefore almost by definition a quadrupel (or a 'massieve ale' as the old OBP used to put it) and far from the worst one on the market, especially since it indeed seems to contain a pinch of smokiness, which does set it apart from the rest. I can appreciate the fact that bubblegum esters and sugary sweetness are kept at bay here, compared with many other, similarly profiled beers. Very malty and spicy-phenolic, thoroughly Belgian strong ale, perhaps a bit crude still but it is clear that the brewers put effort in this one - I guess this is the one they really wanted to commercialize more than the two others even. The best of the three for me (each one judged in their own respective style), not without complexity and technically quite well executed; the coffee does add an extra touch, even if it does not change anything fundamentally and could just as well have been left out for me. Now for a real Rauchbier guys, what's there to lose?...