7.5

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

Doppelbock flavoured with cherries – we are far removed from Germany’s Reinheitsgebot here, so I had no idea what to expect. Bottle at Gist in Brussels. Medium thick, moussey, shred-lacing, off-white head on a clear dark chocolate brown robe with coppery glow. Aroma of dry caramel, black cherries indeed but not overpowering, dried cherry peels and stones, autumn leaves, raisins, diluted coffee grounds, touch of ‘natural’ haemoglobin-ish iron, brown bread dough. Sweetish onset, clean and focusing on black cherry sweetness in a ‘dried’ kind of way (not even candied), hinting at blackberry jam a bit as well; full, oily body, softish carb, smooth hard-caramelly, brown-bread-doughy and eventually mildly toasty-bitterish maltiness with a hint of tea-like herbal hoppiness in the end as well as retronasal dried fruit (not necessarily cherry though) and warming madera-like alcohol. Somewhat odd top-fermented Doppelbock – more a fruited Belgian strong dark ale of sorts actually (and indeed brewed with decidedly non-German abbey ale yeast), but interesting, original and enjoyable.

7.1

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

33cl bottle from Craft Beer Market de Namur beer store in Namur F: big, tanned, good retention. C: dark, opaque. A: roasted and dark malts, bit caramel, cocoa, chocolate, bit cherries, dark fruits. T: full malty base, dark malts, cocoa, chocolate, bit coffee, bit dark bread, cherries, red berries, decent bitterness, medium carbonation, good one, enjoyed.

7

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Pours very dark purpleblack. Small to no white head. Scent is sweet, candy sugar, dried fruits, roasted malts. Taste is full, cherry remains hidden, but delivers a fruity sense to the beer that would be hard to define when tasted blindly. Medium body, medium high carbo. Bit roasty. OK.

7

Sampled @ Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2022, Saturday Session. A slightly hazy orange golden beer with a beige head. Aroma and Taste of sweet malt, honey, berries, yeast.

7.2

Not anything like classical, a bit on the astringents sode. Billies 2022 fest