7.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Hefty imperial stout from a craft brewery in Rome, assisted by Voodoo - which has enough experience with the style, so this can hardly go wrong. Bottle with red wax over the crown cap, difficult to remove as usual, bought from Bier Bazaar in Ypres. Thick and densely creamy, ruddy dark mocha-beige, audibly crackling, regular head slowly dissipating and eventually all but disappearing under influence of the alcohol, ink black robe with not much more than one millimeter of burgundy off the edge. Concentrated, initially rather 'closed' but gradually opening, 'thick' bouquet of freshly baked cookies, chocolate crisps, molasses, walnut paste, petrichor, wet clay, dried blackberries, hard caramel, black coffee of two days old, beef stock cubes and British brown sauce, distant Chinese black bean sauce even, chewing tobacco, tamarind syrup, wet leather, shoe polish, a whiff of brown rum or slivovitz but otherwise little of the considerable alcohol that lurks underneath. Equally dense onset, dried prunes, a vague hint of candied cherries but without much of the sweetness, alongside a British brown sauce-like umami accent - but sweet and umami both remain well in place here, neither overruling the other, and kept in check by an underlying, dull but effective sourish touch; finely tingling carb, very full and creamy, indeed 'viscous' mouthfeel. Layers of unsugared chocolate-, hard caramel- and walnut paste-like dark maltiness glide heavily over the tongue, again rather dryish and remaining low in sweetness; more and more roasted bitterness develops in the end, like roasted chicory and burnt raisins, filling the last stage with an ongoing earthy bitterness - yet avoiding ashy effects, and pairing well with a deep cigar-like smoky hint, some background spicy nutmeg- and clove-like phenols and a black-peppery hop bitterness - though in this case it is clearly the roasted bitterness, rounded as it may be, that maintains the upper hand and clearly remains dominant over the hops. More astringency is of course added in the tail, where a hot, glowing, wry slivovitz-like alcohol effect sets in - I knew I had it coming seen the ABV of this beer - and thins the last stage with an almost burning effect. Luckily, by the time that happens, the rest of the flavours has passed correctly, without being marred by the alcohol - so it is a problem only in the final stage, so to speak. Deep roasty and even vaguely cigar-like smoky notes linger retronasally, propelled forward by the alcohol. A demanding 'bière de dégustation', probably pairing well with a good cigar, asking time to be appreciated; intensified old school is a way to describe its character, because immensely powerful as it may be, we are far removed from the sweet black sugary syrup imperial stout has all too often become these days. Have a point for that alone - and let this be an advertisement for Voodoo's expertise in this field as well. Too bad that it had to be 13.5% ABV, the alcohol did bother me a bit and hindered drinkability - this could have functioned so much better at, say, 9 or 10% ABV as well...

8

Mooi dik. Smaak blijft goed hangen. Smaak had intenser en spannender gekund. Prokenten prima verstopt.

7.6

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

0,33l bottle from Alko. 12%, according to the little sticker added by Alko, I guess. BBE 11/2022. Almost black beer with quite small head. Aroma has chocolate, coffee and roasted malts. Flavor has dark roasted malts, some coffee, dark berries and small amount of chocolate. Okay.

7.6

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

330ml bottle. Heavy, sweetish and roasty with some syrup, chocolate, cocoa, rye, licorice and dark berries, hints of tar and coffee. Okay.

8.1

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

12 % ABV. Smell of cocoa. Dark brown colour, brown head. Aroma of cocoa, roasted malt, tar, some ash. Alcohol, peat and vanilla in finish. Very bitter with alcohol sweetness. Flat carbon, thick texture.

7.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6.5

(Bottle, 0.33 l - batch 69 - 12 % ABV - BBE 11/2022, from Alko, 20200628) The beer poured black and oily. Its head was small, dense and lightly brown. Aroma had burnt malts, dark chocolate, cocoa powder and ash. Palate was full bodied, oily and warming with medium carbonation. Flavours were burnt malts, dark chocolate, ash, liquorice and bitterness. Aftertaste was burnt, boozy and bitter. A too boozy brew with balanced burnt flavours and scents.

8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Bottle @ OAK Wine and Craft Beer, Naples. Pours cloudy very dark brown with small tan head. Clear aroma of coffee, roasted malt, yeast and chocolate, wit faint touches of chili. Bitter, roasty onset, giving way to sweet notes of yeast and chocolate and touches of malt and caramel. Estery and lactic afteraste, with notes of chocolate and hints of chili. Warming alcohol presence. Well-balanced, potent but perfectly enjoyable. An excellent beer.