8

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

Donkerbruin bier met weinig schuim. Smaak is zoet met een ietwat zoute bijsmaak en licht bitter. Chocolade, karamel en pinda maken het af.

8.3

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

"Russian imperial salted caramel roasted peanut stout", according to the label on the can - so a flavoured imperial stout rather than a true pastry stout, containing (among other ingredients) salted caramel, peated roast barley and Challenger and Magnum hops. Thick and frothy, pillowy, audibly crackling and visibly deflating, yellowish-beige, eventually breaking to near-dissolving head on a jet black beer with thin, misty chestnut brown edges. Aroma of melting black chocolate, indeed peanut butter or rather whole roasted peanuts, pecan nut pie, strong espresso coffee, salted caramel indeed easily recognizable, vanilla, nougat, toasted whole-grain brown bread, fudge, praliné filling, whisky, coffee 'pralines', Chocotoff, mocha ice cream, vague background notes of chewing gum and dust, but not in a disturbing way at all. Raisin-sweet onset with sourish undertone, nothing annoyingly sticky, quite effervescent for this style even with some minerally side effects but subtly so, hints of ripe plum, ripe banana and date; full mouthfeel, oily but not as viscous as I was expecting, with layers of dark maltiness sliding over each other: 'fondant' chocolate, coffee pastry cake, roasted peanuts or even walnuts, brown bread crust - with indeed this salted caramel addition providing a pinch of very subtle saltiness, but everyone who loves to cook knows what the balancing effects of even a pinch of salt can be. In this case, it counters the sweetness, paving the way for a played out bitterness in the end, going full roast but still keeping things in the coffee-coloured realm and not turning all ashy and 'burnt' as is often the case in Belgian-made strong stouts. A leafy hop presence and very whisky-like alcohol further accentuate this roasty bitterness (which seems guaranteed these days if the "imperial stout" designation on the label is accompanied by the word "Russian"), but traces of vanilla, chocolate and caramel remain, so that the finish does not become overly bitter (though in itself I would not have had anything against that). Something vaguely 'juicy' (as in reduced elderberry juice or something alike) pops up in the end as well, keeping things exciting. Brewer Giovanni Christis is obviously a passionate strong stout lover, considering most of his range consists of imperial and pastry stouts and their many variants, but as the Antwerp stout specialist that he is, he does not always convince me entirely; this one, however, almost hits the jackpot for me, being balanced even at this 'height', intelligently constructed and interestingly layered in flavour. The only reason I use the word "almost" is because of that whisky-like booziness in the end, something I am rather sensitive to; for that reason alone, I would personally pass for a whisky barrel aged variant of this Abyss of Darkness, if intentions are there to create one. In this basic form, though: among the best of Galea's many stouts so far, in my humble opinion.

8

33cl can at Station 1280. A black beer with a beige lacing. Aroma of intense sweet dark nutty malt, caramel, chocolate. Taste of sweet chocolate, caramel, vanilla, maple syrup. Nice.

7.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Can from Hopduvel. Cloudy black, unstable, frothy, beige head. Aroma of fondant sauce, dark fudge, salt, peanut, chestnut, vanilla, prune, tobacco, mocha. Taste has sweet prune & fig in a malty body of fudge & fondant, bit salty, toasty & nutty notes. Earthy hoppy finish, more apparent salted caramel & peanut, somewhat ashy & powdery too, with warming liqueur-like alcohol. Full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. Intense Porter, rather sweet and nutty.

7.3

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

Pours black, no real head. Scent is peanut-heavy, roasty. Taste is full, chewy, darker malts. Fairly sweet, heavy on the peanut adjunct. mild bitterness. Medium carbo, not overly complex nor thick. Could be further improved with a more intense base, but the peanut aroma makes this quite yummie as it is already.

7

Lci, taster

7.4

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

Bottle sample during Gents Bierfestival '21 - shared with Tderoeck.
Brune foncée/noire, col moka, huileux doré au verre.
Arôme au bouquet malté, grillé, douceur de pastry se ressent de suite en rétro sans pour cela être surfait - note peanut butter avec un léger retrait rappelant les fruits noirs.
Palais est épais, onctuosité marquée par une un léger côté lactose, onctuosité 'pastry' du peanut butter, grillé en fin de bouche et un côté fruits noirs et léger feuille de tabac apportant une petite sécheresse.

8.3

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

21/VIII/21 - 33cl can @ Gents Bierfestival (Gent), BB: n/a (2021-903)

Clear dark brown to black beer, creamy beige head, pretty stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: oh my, lovely stuff, lots and lots of dark chocolate, caramel, vanilla, more chocolate, lovely smell! MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: sweet start, lots of chocolate, caramel, sweet touch, more caramel, gentle roast. Aftertaste: soft roast, nice stuff, overload of dark chocolate, very nice, bit sweet, some vanilla, some sweet ripe banana.