Tap @GIST, BXL. Clear dark amber, offwhite head. Wood and sweet wine aroma, malty. Quite sweet flavour, wine barrel, sweet fruity, caramely malt, bitter finish. Sticky sweet.

One in a whole string of My Deer variations aged on different barrels, this one in white wine barrels (Puligny-Montrachet from the Côte-d'Or region in eastern France). Moussy, medium sized, greyish pale beige, breaking but relatively stable head on a misty caramel brown beer with peachy-amberish tinge. Aroma of red plum, medlar, oxidized white wine, ground hazelnuts, soggy brown bread, old biscuit, forest floor, wild lingonberries, fermenting pear juice, clear oak wood, tree branches, dried chanterelles, tea, solventy notes (varnish). Sweet onset with a sourish edge, fruity with notes of medlar, pear, lingonberries and nectarine, white grape influences underneath providing both extra sweetness and extra tartness, softish carb, full and vinous mouthfeel; smooth caramelly and bready maltiness with biscuity or even cookie-like sweet core, kept in place by this sourish white wine effect which gains strength towards the finish, strongly accentuating vinosity but also bringing woody tannins and extra 'grapeyness' into play. Vague herbal hop bitter notes and spicy phenols in the end, alongside this continuing sour-sweet fruitiness and some solventy effects (fresh paint), before a warming, brandy-ish alcohol effect rounds things off. Some 'wild' foresty notes here and there, too much solvent as well, but generally a very interesting, complex creation; the grapes add a musty, sourish quality, but clash a bit with the malts and hops of the basic beer, which I remember vividly as a true masterpiece of Belgian brewing. This one is supposed to up the ante, but wine barrel ageing does not improve just any beer and in this case, I still find the regular version better than this barrel aged variant. Still one I would recommend as an idiosyncratic addition to the Belgian beer map - and no doubt some cellaring could bring further improvement if done properly.

Combined rating: scores are the average result of two independent ratings, about 6 months apart.

13/IV/23 - 33cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ holiday home (France), BB: VI/2023, lot 19089 (2023-xxx)
Ap: 6, Ar: 8, Fl: 8, Txt: 6, O: 8, Total: 7.5

Clear copper orange beer, small creamy irregular off-white head, unstable, falls down quickly. Aroma: oh my, very nice, very floral, some peaches and apricots, very nice! MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: a bit sourish, sweet as well, very fruity, peaches, apricot, oxidized. Aftertaste: sweet, oxidized, nice acidity, very fruity, floral, honey, nice one! I really like this one!

10/IX/22 - 75cl bottle @ Belgian Beer Geek Gathering (Gent), BB: VI/2023, lot: 19089 (2022-1143) Thanks to sebletitje for sharing the bottle!
Ap: 6, Ar: 8, Fl: 7, Txt: 6, O: 7, Total: 7

Clear orange beer, small creamy irregular off-white head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: oranges, sourish impression, fruity, smells a bit infected? Spicy notes as well. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: sour start, fruity notes, some orange peel, alcohol notes, weird bit sticky sweetness, wood notes, some tannins as well. Aftertaste: more alcohol notes come shining through, sugary still, tastes like sweet wine (must be the Montrachet), wood notes, ripe banana, alcohol, ok, decent stuff, was afraid of infection when I smelled it, but either it’s not infected, or it was just in balance with the sweetness of the barley wine.

Bouteille 33cl, BB 06/2023 achetée à Dinant où il m'avait été conseille de les garder en cave, car encore trop jeune - avec quasi 2 ans, il est temps de voir en vertical ce que ces versions me réservent.
Couleur plus dorée que les trois autres versions, col fin et effervescent blanc retombant rapidement. Déjà sur les quatre, c'est bien le Porto Blanc qui sort son épingle du jeu en terme de visuel.
Arôme sur des effluves également assez organiques - un peu mielleuses qui semble arriver avec l'age avec des pointes d'amande, de raisin, et une petite touche de pomme verte.

Palais sur une effervescence plus aérienne, subtile sur le fruité avec un léger effet funk venant de la barrique - même une petite touche croissant au beurre, noisette et un corps qui se fond au bouquet avec une fraicheur latente fruité et organique mielleuse.
Cependant, une fine douceur latente persiste après chaque gorgée. Force est de constater qu'avec cette série la barre était mise assez haute avec des vins fortifiés hauts en sucre résiduels - surtout de voir comment cela allait se traduire au niveau des barriques. Franchement, sur les versions essayées toutes étaient plaisantes, les subtilités sont tout de même là pour que chacune soit unique.

Pours rather clear blonde, small white head. Scent is rather tart, some oak - but not specifically wine-like, let alone specifically P-M. Taste is full, tart, refined oak, mildly recognizable as chardonnay. Medium body, medium carbo. Lovely beer, though I had higher hopes for specific aroma's of this highly acclaimed wine's barrel.