33cl can. A almost black beer with a beige head. Aroma of speculatius, sweet dark malt, nuts, caramel. Taste of nuts, speculatius, dark caramelized malt, chocolate, roasted bitter finish.

Weihnachtlich gewürzter Malzantrunk, süß, Röstnoten. Diese sind weich, fast cremig und nehmen dem Bier so die Ecken und Kanten. Schokolade, milde Herbe, weicher Malzabgang mit etwas Spekulatius. 10/9/10/9/11/9

Cinnamon, spices, gingerbread dough, alcohol, booze

Can sample at a tasting at Yoav's place. Black. Spicy cookies, honey, gingerbread, sweetish and bitter, alcohol.

Kakaod on siin palju, suhkrut ja rösti ka. Võrdlemisi happeline on see kraam ka. Ok.

LCI

Strong stout making use of the locally well-known 'speculoos', adding a kind of Low Countries 'terroir' to the familiar pastry stout family. Can from De Picker in Zele. Frothy and thick, plaster-lacing, pale mocha-beige, stable head on a black beer with waferthin burgundy edges. Aroma of indeed strong speculoos and even 'speculoospasta', 'pepernoot', milk chocolate (rather than white chocolate, alas), dried ginger, toffee, fondant, old cinnamon, whisky, gingerbread, elderberries, hints of black pepper, coffee grounds, incense, amaretto, bayleaf, ground hazelnuts and 'drop'. Sweet onset, bit sticky even, pear syrup, elderberry compote and raisins, some hazelnut purée, very light sourish and umami-forward 'marmite' accents here and there, medium carb, full and oily mouthfeel. Caramelly and toffeeish malt core with layers of hazelnut and black chocolate on top, but indeed the sweetness and spiciness of 'speculoos' gradually becomes more prominent, with all its nutmeg, cinnamon, clove and ginger associations, but also its sweetness; a light hint of 'drop' lags behind, while a deeply situated earthy hop bitter touch appears and roasted coffee bitterness fills the finish. The sweetness, too, lingers about in the end, yet never becomes obnoxious or overly sticky; amaretto-like alcohol remains tolerable as well for a beer of this kind of ABV. The speculoos effect has been delivered here without taking over everything, but I am still searching for that white chocolate a day later - in fact I had a few beers not pretending to offer white chocolate flavours, but doing so excellently. Generally speaking, this attention-seeking beer is a decent pastry stout, with enough going on inside to remain interesting from the first sip to the last. Works fine for me, but next time I hope the announced white chocolate will be there too!