Bottle.Dark brown colour with medium head.Aroma of roasted caramel and toasted malt light chocolate and coffee note good full body and malty finish.

Fles 33cl thuis. Stevig, liquorice, pruim, pure chocolade, kruidig, rood fruit, bittertonen, lichte zoeten, wat anijs, klein zuurtje, wat blauwe bes, wat droog, redelijk koolzuur. (6-10-2023).

33cl bottle from Albert Heijn Knokke-Heist supermarket. F: medium, tanned, good retention. C: dark, hazy. A: malty, wheat, bit roasted tones, chocolate touch, dark fruits, caramel, dried fruits. T: full malty base, caramel, chocolate, bit coffee, dark fruits, nutmeg, bit leaves, nice balanced harmonic bitterness, medium carbonation, good for the style, enjoyed for sure.

Dark brown colour, beige foam. Nose of caramel, dried fruit, sweet with light bitter finish.

Beige-yellow, slightly irregular head, slowly receding over finely carbonated black beer with orange and brownish highlights. Sweetish roasted nose, meatroast, gravy, mineral, but also some drier notes going towards ashes. Dry with a notable liquorice/ I jap /I flavour, ending bitterish-burnt. Rather sharp MF, together with the spices enhancing this burnt flavour. Well bodied if not really thick, but viscous, chewy impression. Some alcohol, certainly backthroat after some time, good carbonation. I'm in doubt about this one. The sharp ending of each sip is counterproductive to the appreciation. And I neither like a thruckload of liquorice. Txs to Stef!

Top-fermented Doppelbock from Rotterdam - after all this time of the year is Bock season in Holland; bottle from the Albert Heijn supermarket in Lokeren. Moussy, thick and foamy, cobweb-lacing, frothy, pale beige head on a very dark caramel brown beer with burgundy glow. Aroma of brown bread, hard caramel, old walnuts, dry tree leaves, nutmeg, tea, chewing gum, something vaguely meaty (proteins), touch of hazelnut and quite pronounced iron (head stabilizer), further aspects of dried fig and tomato concentrate. Clean and sleek in the mouth, sweetish with some dried fig and vague raisin but nowhere too sweet, lively carbonated with slick, rounded body; brown-bready and caramelly malt core sadly edged by this metallic iron aspect, but developing an interesting toasty bitterish tail further on - atypical for a Doppelbock. This finishing bitterness is even supported a bit by a leafy, herbal hop dosage, higher than is typical for any kind of Bock. Warming gin-like alcohol closes things off in the end. Atypically ending quite bitter and too obviously metallic to be truly great, but other than that, a solid enough offering especially seen the fact that it comes from a supermarket shelf. Decent enough, all things considered.