8.3

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

Slowly building beige head, as fast gone again over cloudy brown-amber beer. Punch-in-the-face phenols. Smelling as entering an Irish country pub with the turf fire fully ablaze. Pure peat indeed. Very phenolic, smoked mackerel, tannine-rich tea, probably warmed over the above turf fire. Preserved red fruit, dito apricot, and Islay malt, of course. Warming up, wood. Quite dense without being heavy, alcoholwarmth, very oily-slick. Not overcarbonated, this one. Another experience richer, thanks Malcroys.

8.9

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9.5

Bottle. Color: Lightly hazy red copper, very thin beige head. Aroma: Strong peat. Malty. Taste: Malty, strong peat, some caramel. Hoppy, moderate bitter background. Earthy. Ash. Heavily smoked bacon. Light hints of dried fruit. Light to moderate sweet. Over medium body, just below average carbonation. You have to be a strong peat lover to like this beer. Malcroys (Kevin de Vos) knows what he's doing, so warnings are placed on the website and on the label. Luckily I am a peat lover. Great beer, Kevin!

7.6

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

Strong dark ale made with 75% peated malt – an unusually high percentage even today, with peated malt becoming more ‘common’ in craft brewing. Last pour from the barrel at Billie’s Craft Beer Fest, cheers Kevin! Yellowish beige, moussy, open head lacing in dots over a very dark chocolate brown beer (approaching black). Aroma of indeed dry peat but strangely far less dominant than I was expecting based on what I read about this brew, dried figs, ground hazelnuts, bitter black chocolate, roasted pecan nuts, dried blackberries, brown bread, hard caramel. Sweet onset, dense with notes of fig, dried blackberry and old raisin, medium carbonation with very full, oily mouthfeel; sweetish brown-bready and deeply caramelly malt profile with slight chocolatey edge, remaining quite dry, with a lovely bready yeastiness trailing behind. The peat is of course there and adds an extra layer of dryness and spiciness, but again, it remains much softer and far less iodine-like than I expected, though admittedly very well-integrated into this nutty, bready whole; mildly spicy hops (though not very bitter at this IBU) and warming, whisky-like alcohol tie thing together in the end, making for a well-finished, original, cleverly structured, if perhaps slightly too sweet beer, which stylistically is perhaps best described as an idiosyncratic take on Scotch (or wee heavy). Solid sipper, one I would love to revisit at home – sadly it is only produced very limitedly and almost invariably gets sold out shortly after each new batch release.

6

Sampled @ Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2022, Saturday Session. A clear orange golden beer. Aroma and Taste of strong peated malt, whiskey, caramel.

5.9

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

12/XI/22 - on tap @ Billie’s Craft Beer Fest (day 2), BB: n/a (2022-1605) Thanks to all for sharing today’s beers!

Little cloudy amber beer, small creamy off-white head, stable, non adhesive. Aroma: all peat, nothing else. Ok then… MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: all peat, nothing but peat, no balance whatsoever, slightly sweet and sugary, and a bit sourish. Aftertaste: more peat, nothing but peat, meh. Just way over the top.