Small greige-ish head over deep dark reddish brown beer. Port, cookies, waffles, booze, melanoidins. Liquorice, melanoidins, chocolate, waffle syrup, molasses, dark(er) malts, and of course, portwine. For a 10% beer, a bit watery. Not very carbonated, quite slick. Not bad, not excessively sweet - but sweet all the same. Thanks to Stef!

The latest new addition (2019) to this series of barrel aged Préaris Grand Cru variants by Vliegende Paard, aged on port barrels for 18 months. From a sturdy 37.5 cl bottle with classy label, like the others. Thick, frothy and mousy, papery lacing, yellowish beige, audibly crackling, largely even-bubbled and stable head on a misty deep bronze-brown beer with ruddy-vermillion hue and swirls of fierce sparkling rushing through the whole. Aroma of halfripe pear, dried plums, old raisins, candi sugar, ripe banana, bubblegum even, hard caramel, brown bread, dried figs, cloves, indeed a whiff of tawny port but more subtle than I was expecting, some wet wood, hints of almond, red apple, cashew nuts, honey, dried rosemary, brandy, tea bags, bee wax, dry cookies, vague background whiff of coffee grounds. Sweetish onset, banana ester but not too 'pushy' and balanced by aspects of red apple, pear and peach, sourish undertone accentuated by the lively, fizzy carbonation, bit minerally and a tad rainwater-like as well; full, rounded body, bit bubblegummy, but the smoothness is impaired by a somewhat astringent alcohol effect early on. Caramelly, bit resinous malt sweetish middle, dry cookie- and brown bread-like edges, quickly developing a toasty bitterish edge (like we know from the regular Préaris Grand Cru and the other variants, of course), which merges with a herbal hop character in providing 'end bitterness' that struggles to balance out the overall sweetness - especially when indeed additional sweetness from the port comes in, however managing to remain relatively discreet. Some vanilla-like oak scent and drying woody tannins are certainly there, but could have been a bit more outspoken for me; that sugary sweetness from both candi sugar and port wine form an almost honeyish complex, which entertains in its play with the abovementioned bitter aspect - like a cat playing with a mouse, because the sweetness clearly prevails here. The details in the finish further include bubblegummy isoamylacetate that keeps lingering, caramelly maltiness and of course a warming glow of soothing, indeed lightly port- but also somewhat brandy-like alcohol, which fortunately manages to stay firmly in place and does not overrule the other flavours anywhere. For a 10% quad aged on port barrels, I think the tempering of the alcohol is one of this beer's most impressive qualities: the booze sustains and accentuates flavour nuances without becoming tiresome or agressive. Subtle notes of vanilla, caramel and honey grace the finish retronasally, but it must be said that the bubblegummy banana ester and typical candi sugar profile keep things very classically 'Belgian', reminding one of such evergreens as Chimay Bleu, Sint-Bernardus Abt 12 or Rochefort 8. Thoroughly Belgian quad and in that sense not spectacularly different or innovative to a well-versed Belgian palate but technically very well made, with the port barrel aging having been applied relatively subtly; I do not always like overt booziness in beers aged on liquor barrels, but in this case, I would have emphasized the port factor much more. I fondly remember the first barrel aged Préaris Grand Cru variants (seven or eight years ago) and those were a lot more 'noble' and expressive, whereas this one remains a bit... well, restrained. Still a very enjoyable quad, though, deserving of a good score on this site - but also one that ironically may become a lot more port-like when aged for a good five years in a cellar due to natural 'portorization'...