6.6

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6.5

Bottled 330ml. -from Sir William's Ljubljana, shared with Hrabren. Dark amber coloured, medium sized creamy beige head, alcohol and whiff of marzipan in the nose. Sweet malty, sugary, strong alcohol, some apples and light spicy with quite sweet finish.

6.3

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6

0.33 l bottle thanks to Ogi who brought it from Slovenia, shared with him. Unclear amber, small off-white head. Aroma is fruity, candy, estery, candy, apple and cherry. Hints of marzipan. Alcohol, spice flavour. Medium body, moderate carbonation. Tannic, spicy flavour too much alcohol. Finishes smooth and sweet.

7.1

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

Süßer, gewürzig malziger Beginn. Karamellig, überraschend leicht und süffig, süß, weiche Herbe. Gewürzig malzig bleibend, zum Ende deutlicher nach Alkohol, Nelke, langer Abgang. 9/11/10/10/8/10

7

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

330ml bottle. Cloudy, chestnut colour with weak ruby shimmer and average, frothy, slowly osteoporosing, minimally lacing, sulphureous head. Yeasty fruity and sweet-ish, caramel malty, slightly yeasty spicy aroma, notes of dried fruit, red fruit, cherry, red berries, raisin, fig, plum, a touch of plum butter, black pepper, coriander, weak Bourbon overtones. Taste is yeasty fruity and slightly yeasty spicy, slightly alcoholic, caramel malty basis with some residual sweetness, notes of dried fruit, alcohol soaked dried fruit, raisin, plum, fig, some treacle, a touch of coriander in the last third; a minimally warming, alcoholic touch throughout, even more alcoholic presence in the finish.
Dissolved sugar enriched, watery texture, smooth, simultaneously minimally dry and pungent palate, medium, mildly prickly carbonation.
Nice fruitiness, well controlled sweetness, a tad too boozy - solid

7

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

A clear deep reddish brown beer with a beige head. Aroma of dried fruits, red fruits, strong malt, caramel. Taste of dried dark fruits, plums, raisins, some wood, boozy finish.

6.8

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

Bottle from Drankenhandel Leiden. Lots of spicy Belgian yeast character with oak, soft bourbon, caramel malt, spices. Touch of candy sugar and dried fruits. Sweet with some warming booze in the finish. A true winter warmer.

7.4

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8

Flesje thuis gedronken.
Roodbruin bier met matig schuim.
Aroma is fruitig.
Smaak van braam, framboos.
Nasmaak is fruitig maar wel plakkerig in de mond.

7

#winter

7.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Hefty quadrupel flavoured with bourbon-soaked oak chips - just the right beer for a warm summer evening in August... Steinie bottle bought online somewhere. Thick and creamy, yellowish pale beige, densely moussey, regular, shred-lacing, stable head on an initially clear, mahogany brown robe with copper red glow, only lightly misty with sediment. Strong aroma of fried banana, candi sugar, toasted brown bread, hard caramel, bourbon, brown soap, some vanillin from oak wood (more outspoken than expected, considering only oak chips were used), plum jam, brown rum, fig compote, candied dates, old brown honey, sweet tawny port, almond, hazelnut oil, coriander seed (quite prominent - see the abovementioned soap), clove, vague hints of ketjap manis, bee wax, cinnamon, grass, dark green tree leaves, wood glue. Fruity, dense onset, but the flavours are a bit obscured by sharp (over)carbonation especially for this style; raisins, dried figs, prunes and banana, but also pear and red apple, with a vague sourish undertone no doubt established by the carb. Full, quite thick mouthfeel, deeply caramelly and lightly walnutty, brown-bready malts, sweet initially (dark candi sugar) but quickly sharpening into a more toasty bitter effect, a bitterness reinforced by the tannins from the oak and the alcohol; spicy effects show up, clove as usual but also hints of bayleaf, cinnamon, nutmeg and liquorice, paired with a leafy hop underbuilt. Everything here works together to counter the initial sweetness, but the bourbon effect, stronger than expected, blends sweetness and bitterness into a well-organised finish. The alcohol does become a bit tiresome and even astringent in the end, wry even on the root of the tongue - rather obnoxiously so after a while; meanwhile unnecessary coriander seed has built up its even more obnoxious soapy-spicy effect, keeping things firmly in the old Belgian idiom. A decent wintery sipper, in all - I guess I should have waited a month or four with this one - but the booze and the coriander seed are a bit too prominent for me. That said, the bourbon-soaked oak wood chips do add an extra layer of flavour which resounds well with the candi sugar, caramel and 'dried' fruitiness of the basic beer. Powerful winter quad with certain Scotch-like traits, but very clearly a case of muscle-flexing lacking in the kind of subtlety that can truly lift up a quad (see Rochefort 10 or Westvleteren 12)...

8.1

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle from HavnensVinOgTobak. Pours clear dark ruby brownish read with huge offwhite head. Aroma is intense malt, caramel, fudge, dried fruit, English wine gums, port wine, molasses, perfumed soap, vanilla, oak and spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, pepper). Taste is medium sweet, medium bitter, light acidic and faint to light salty. Body is oily with fizzy carbonation. Finish is long and mostly sweet but also with a nice bitterness and fruity sourness and with notes of malt, caramel, cookies, chocolate, molasses, English wine gums, ruby port wine, oak and spice (perhaps the high ABV comes through as pepper notes?). Very rich but still well balanced.