Cherry Island

(Bottle) Brownish black colour with brief, frothy, beige head. Malty, roasty nose with dark bread, chocolate, cherries, almonds, coffee and vanilla. Malty, roasty, sweetish taste with notes of dark bread, chocolate cherry truffles, almonds, coffee, raspberries, vanilla and a mild cacao bitterness in the finish. More than medium body, sweet (not as much as feared though). A slight berry tartness in the background. Rich, tasty and well balanced. Very nice.

From bottle at Mout Bierfestival Nijmegen 2020. Aroma is roasted malt with cherry, almond, and chocolate. Medium sweet, some roasty bitterness. Medium body, could be a lot thicker. Cherry chocolate, good stuff.

Bottle. Black body under a thin beige head. Aroma has medium roasted, dark malt, dark chocolate, cherry and almond. Taste is medium sweet, dark, smooth roasted malt, dark chocolate, almond and mild, sweet cherry. Alcohol is well hidden, moderate bitterness. Fine body and smooth aftertaste. This was a perfect match to my vanilla ice-cream.

BD 27072020. Black, bit of light brown foam. Smells sweetish, some random red fruit. Body is thin, but flavours do linger. Tastes roasty with some fruit, almost more strawberry-like than cherry. Little bit of almond memories. Quite weak on all fronts.

From tap at Dok’s Hall 16 in Ghent, a fruit porter by one of eastern Europe’s great stout and porter specialists. Yellowish beige, moussy, opening head, blackish robe with mahogany glow. Aroma of black cherries and candied cherries, blackberry coulis, coffee, fondant chocolate, rainwater, Belgian chocolates, kahlua, even hints of cola and liquorice. Sweet, candyish onset, ‘bonbons’ and candied cherries, blackberry coulis, light minerally carbonation, full and smooth body; toffeeish, pecan-nutty and black-chocolatey malt layers filling the mouth cavity, bittering a bit but the sweetness prevails. Spicy liquorice, vanilla and black pepper hints in the finish, long-lasting malt nuttiness and warming rum-like alcohol – the combination of which again reminds of Belgian chocolates. Fruit stouts and porters can go either the ‘wild’, sour way or the clean, sweet, ‘candy’ way and this one clearly belongs in the latter category without becoming a pastry stout; classically designed fruit stout in that sense, but just as desserty and delicious. Well done for this kind of beer, not lacking in complexity even from tap (I wonder what this tastes like after a few months, cellared in a bottle…).

02/VI/21 - on tap @ DOK Brewing Company (Gent, BE), BB: n/a (2021-440)

Clear dark brown beer, small creamy beige head, unstable, falls down quickly, non adhesive. Aroma: nice, good roast, bit oxidized, chocolate, coffee, caramel, vanilla. MF: soft carbon, medium to full body. Taste: rather sweet start, good roast, coffee, dark chocolate, soft acidity, caramel, sugary. Aftertaste: alcohol, little smoky, some overripe fruits, dried fruits, earthy, tobacco, some red forest fruits, soft acidity, lovely beer!

Bottle. Pours black with a small head. Aroma is sour cherries, dark malts with chocolate and coffee, light almond and caramel. Medium to big body. Flavour is rich and sweet, chocolate, lot of almond, light cherry. In the aroma cherry is more dominant, in flavour it is almond. Medium bitterness. Nice! Like the additions here.

Bottle sample at a tasting at Lior D's place. Thank Stas. Black. Marzipan, cherry liqueur, some chocolate, licorice, soy sauce, sweet, some caramel, some umami, alcohol.