Bottle from Stacks. Hazy black, stable, small, foamy, beige head. Aroma of bourbon, liquorice, raisin, pear, mocha, fondant, dried banana, wet wood, vanilla. Taste has sweet pear, dried banana & fig in a dark-chocolatey, dark fudge-like malt body with a whiff of vanilla and some bitter liquorice. Herbal hops in the finish, soft coffee roast, dried fruits, warming bourbon alcohol and more retronasal vanilla. Medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation. The barrel treatment works well here, offering a drinkable Ale despite the considerable ABV, but this is indeed not an RIS.

Bottle at home, black beer, small head. Aroma is metallic, malt, roast, wood, bourbon, bread/malt, sweet, raisins, dark ripe fruit, pear. Taste is the same, sweet, fruit, pear but in a festini like pear not natural, malt, roast, vanilla, bourbon, wood, bitter, liquorice and roasted bitterness in aftertaste. This beer goes almost everywhere in flavour. nice one.

Imperial stout (a ‘dark’ one as the label redundantly specifies!) brewed by Hoevebrouwers in Zottegem and part of a series of barrel aged stouts commissioned by a whisky club in Bruges (BWC). This one is already the fourth in this series apparently, at a volume of only 190 l (about 575 steinie bottles) in total; it was aged on barrels of Buffalo Trace (American bourbon), but also partially on barrels of the whisky club’s own single malt whisky (Ryggia). Thanks Craftmember for sharing. Medium thick, dense, greyish off-white, stable head, very dark chocolate brown robe with burgundy glow – but still translucent under daylight, so not really looking like an imperial stout. Aroma of fresh vanilla-scenting oak wood and a lot of it, caramel, wood glue, varnish-like solvents, liquorice, bourbon, raisin bread, candied fig, toffee. Sweet, rounded, rather cleanish onset, medium carbonated, hints of ripe pear, raisin, date and medlar all sprinkled with brown sugar, slick body, full but not oily, though a tad glueish perhaps; caramelly maltiness with a blood-like iron accent at the edges, candi sugar, some brown bread with – tucked away at the back – only a very light coffee aspect, but no true roasted bitterness. Instead, boozy sweet bourbon, vanilla-like oak and liquorice- and even slightly clove-like spiciness unfold, together with a herbal hop bitterish note and a considerable amount of solventy effects (wood glue, fresh paint) which remain rather dominant. Being the traditionally oriented Belgian style brewery that they are, I do not have the impression that Hoevebrouwers have a good understanding of what an imperial stout actually is; if anything, this is a Belgian strong dark ale, with quadrupel- to Scotch-like features but nothing truly stout-like… Too bad, and point off for missing the intended style, but with some ageing, I think this beer does have some potential, as it does not show any off-flavours or other noticeable errors either. It is just not what it promises in terms of style and this will be a bit disappointing to many craft beer geeks, in my opinion. Still enjoyable enough to give the other ones in this series a try, though.