Commissioned beer intended to accompany dark chocolate; the back label even suggests letting a bar of chocolate melt in your mouth before tasting this. Not having any chocolate at hand, I am left with no other choice but to taste this beer as such, and establish if it is drinkable or not without the chocolate. Pours a hazy amberish copper with a fog of yeast becoming completely cloudy and dark brownish with deposit, under an off-white, moussy, fairly thick and stable, thickly cobweb lacing head. Aroma of toffee, raw red cabbage, medlar, overripe pear, candied figs, liquorice, earth and even a convincing hint of mushrooms, artisanal honey, hints of generic baker’s chocolate, banana, pepper, nutmeg, rotting autumn leaves and some varnish-like phenols; in all, typically Belgian dubbel, but not really flawed, just a bit stereotypical and lacking some finesse. Sweetish onset, estery, lots of overripe fruits, peach, banana, blueberry sourish edge, some brown sugar, spritzy carbonation; soft, smooth, fairly full maltiness, caramelly and toasted, nutty, but not chocolatey contrary to expectations. Spicy yeastiness throughout, accompanying the residual malt sweetness in the end and becoming a little bit powdery at that stage; deep, noble, leafy hop bitterness provides balance, but I get some solvent wryness as well. Bittersweet, even somewhat wry and harsh yeast and hops spiciness and maltiness remain after swallowing. This does not need chocolate to distract the tastebuds first: it is a perfectly acceptable Belgian dubbel, albeit a bit generic, with a bit too much ’dirty’ yeastiness and in need of more fine-tuning. There is basically nothing wrong with this, but would a big, roasty stout not have been a better choice to accompany black chocolate after a meal?

Anders bier festival Pours fuzzy amber . Good white head . Smell is bitter , bit hoppy . Taste is bitter , light . Bit dark malts . Sampled with chocolate ( like you are ment to ) the beer breakes the milky side down .

75cl bottle shared with Dutchdrebus and Ansjelaah @ weekly tasting. Clear red brown color, full sized off-white head that diminishes quite quickly. Smell malts, lightly raisins, lightly sweet. Taste lightly malts, lightly sourish, raisins. Fizzy carbonation, average body. Curious though how it tastes with dark chocolate. Why do I say this? Well, it’s on the label: 1. Pour the beer (no really?) 2. Let dark chocolate melt in your mouth 3. Swallow the chocolate with Brasser beer. Ah well, maybe some other time.

Bottle @ benzai. Brown colour with a big off-white head. Smells malty, sharpish, grains. Tastes malty, grains, fresh, slightly sour. Carbo is a bit much, medium body.