Dark Soul 21

4/XI/23 - 33cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: n/a, 2021 vintage (2023-894)

Little cloudy dark brown to almost black beer, much darker than I had expected. Small creamy beige head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: sugary impression, pretty roasted, peated, dirty, funky. MF: soft carbon, medium to light body. Taste: sourish start, berries, soft roast, lots of peated whisky, more acidity, bitter, very smoky. Aftertaste: a bit fruity, sourish, peated malts, a little chemical, a bit fruity, some strawberry jam, decent beer, liked it better than expected when first smelling it!

Sour stout infused with Lagavulin single malt, by this young Kortrijk brewery. Waferthin, yellowish beige, open and interrupted ring of tiny bubbles but no real head, very dark chocolate brown robe (as good as black) with thin, hazy, mahogany brown edges. Aroma of very obvious iodine-peated single malt whisky (the Lagavulin dominating the beer, in other words), blackberries, sour cherries, brown bread, old shrivelled walnuts, lighter touches of soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, rye bread crust, clove, dried passionfruit flesh, nutmeg, tea. Dark-fruity, tart onset, lots of blackberry, elderberry and some sour cherry but vague pear as well, sweetish in its core with lactic-sour edges, soft to almost flat in carbonation, full and vinous mouthfeel. Brown-bready and toasty malt core, more bitter than sweet but ongoing dark fruitiness and tartness lend it a vinous, almost red wine-like aspect; roasted bitter note in the finish but in an ashy way (wet ashtray) rather than in a coffee-like way. Drying but fruity sourness continues yet leaves room for the malts to unfold, while spicy aspects show up, clove- and nutmeg-like - but not necessarily evoking gingerbread, contrary to what the label states. Over all this hovers a strong iodine-like and very recognisable Lagavulin peatiness and booziness, reinforcing the phenolic effects to an almost 'clinical' (band aid) level, while that dark-fruity tartness adds further vinosity to the finish, like reduced mulled wine; hops provide a deep, earthy bitter note at the back. Ends boozy, but in a 'friendly', warming way rather than the crude wryness I was fearing and in spite of the Lagavulin being very present in both nose and mouth. Not many sour stouts have been made in Belgium and even abroad they are a rather marginal phenomenon, "sour stout" sadly still not enjoying general acceptance as a style, at least not in the way e.g. "sour IPA" does; the frame of reference for judging this beer is therefore limited, but based on previous experiences with similarly conceived beers, I have to admit that I expected a lot worse from this one. Granted, the lack of head and carbonation need to be dealt with and the Lagavulin could have been a bit more subtle this iodine-like peat effect will certainly not be to anyone's liking, but this creation is in any case bold and original; packed with flavour, it misleads the drinker into thinking he is having an 'oud bruin' at first, then turns things into a very dark malty direction reminiscent of porter and finally binds everything together in a very classic "sour stout" finish. For me, the Lagavulin infusion (or infusion 'tout court' - an all too popular trend in Belgian brewing these days) could have easily been omitted, but this beer has guts, you've got to hand it that, and that alone is worth of an extra point in my book, especially in a country presently teeming with redundant run-of-the-mill blondes and tripels. Maybe it wasn't all intentional, maybe the brewer just got a batch of infected stout and decided to throw in whisky in order to cover the error and pretend it was all part of a well thought-out plan, but who cares: Benoit has balls, and this is not the first time this brewery pleasantly surprises me (it's the second...). Interesting one, better than expected to be honest.

28 August 2021. At Bier van Ollier Festival, Sijsele. Cheers to Anke, mom, dad & Dirk!

Hazy black, thin, tan head. Aroma of raisin, date, gingerbread, cinnamon, sweet whisky (rather than actual peated), wood, almond, chestnut, vague dry-cured ham. Taste has sweetish date & raisin, sourish cherry, almond-malty body that is slightly toasty too, vague vinegar note. Herbal hoppy finish, cookie spices, wood, dried fruits, warming whisky alcohol, only very slightly peaty. Medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation. A bit of everything, and perhaps somewhat messy, but at least rich in tastes and original.