Deca's newest creation to date, an imperial stout - within their own Vleteren brand, but who knows, maybe the fact that Struise have worked with them in earlier years, may have something to do with them coming up with this kind of beer now? In any case, this is an entirely new beer created by Deca itself, so comparing it with Struise's Black Albert and other subsequent imperial stouts is probably unfair. Bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck, shared with Steve. Mousy, deep mocha-beige, medium thick, opening head on a very dark chocolate brown beer, as good as black in fact, but still with a clearly visible burgundy hue to it. Aroma of melting 'fondant' chocolate, coffee cream, plum jam, red apple, 'oude jenever', brown bread dough, tea containing dried apple peel, varnish, shoe polish, a hint of bubblegum, toffee, black peppercorns. Sweet onset, prunes and dried figs, medium carb, full body but perhaps less so than expected based on the ABV; walnutty and toffeeish malt body with a brown bread crust-like edge, toasty and bittering yet not too harshly so - in fact a caramelly sweetness even sticks a bit in the end, when the solvent effects from the nose return, though fortunately in weakened form so that they do not disturb me too much. Mild but clear and spicy hop bitterness in the end along with bittersweet maltiness and clear, warming yet not overly harsh gin-like alcohol; a 'wet toast' effect lingers, as was probably the intention. Like the more 'classically Belgian' Vleteren beers Deca offered before, a very solid brew, though in all respects a typical Belgian imperial stout if such a thing is conceivable: more a quadrupel with strong stout-like features than a die-hard Anglo-Saxon style imperial stout, if you get my drift. Enjoyed it nonetheless.

Bottle from Hopduvel. Hazy black, big, foamy, beige head. Aroma of chocolate sauce, burnt caramel, tobacco, sugared espresso, beef jerky, walnut, whisky. Taste has sweet prune & fig in a dark-chocolatey, burnt-caramelly, bit toasty malt body with an umami edge of charred meat and some bitter espresso. Earthy hoppy finish, lingering toast, tobacco and bittersweet sugared espresso; dash of warming whisky-like alcohol. Full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. Tasty & rich, although a bit roughly sweet.

Flesje thuis gedronken. Zwart bier met matig schuim dat snel weg trekt. Aroma van hout en koffie. Smaak van koffie deze blijft ook in de nasmaak nog hangen met zijn bitterheid.

33cl bottle from Drink Factory in Mons. F: medium, tanned, quick gone. C: black, opaque. A: dark malts, chocolate, bit dark dried fruits, caramel, toffee, red apples peels, coffee touch. T: full malty base, light roasted tones, bit dark chocolate, dried plums, dates, bit caramel, nutty, toast, decent bitterness, soft carbonation, not exactly IS yet IS with Belgium twist for sure, enjoyed.

Dark cream head, dense, over virtually black beer. Liquorice, jap , roast, but smelling very sweet and sugary. Sugared coffee. The same in taste; oversweetened coffee with liquorice. Raisins, dried dark fruit or figs. Good body, but not really full-bodied. Slick, sticky. Come on! Way too sweet for an Imperial Stout. Can do better. Thanks to Stef!