Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7.5

15 September 2024. At 16de Brugs Bierfestival. Cheers to Anke, Kevin & Jerre!

Clove, liquorice, bayleaf, black olive. Very subtly sweetish fig, bitter bayleaf, umami black olive. Herbal & peppery hops, black pepper. Average carbonation, a bit watery. Lacks some body but okay.

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

24/X/24 - 44cl can @ ElManana+1’s place, BB: 20/VII/25, batch 24-025 (2024-1146) Thanks to ElManana+1 for sharing the can!

Pretty clear dark brown beer, small creamy beige head, unstable, falls down quickly, non adhesive. Aroma: very yeasty, spicy, peppery, a bit herbal, more spices, banana. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: spicy start, very herbal, orange peel, yeasty, ripe banana, some banana peel, pretty bitter. Aftertaste: dry and bitter finish, tea, a bit sourish, orange peel, herbal, banana, gentle roast, a bit oxidized, ok but not great.

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

A 'dark saison' (a concept I never fully understood) flavoured with orange and - far less common in beer - basil, an unexpected combo of flavours celebrating Misery's third anniversary. Very thick and foamy, audibly fizzing, pale beige, dense and tiny-bubbled, 'even' head, gradually opening and thinning to eventually dissolving entirely over an initially clear, dark chestnut brown robe (blackish at first sight) with mahogany edges, hazy with sediment. Weird, soupy aroma of indeed dried basil and a bit too much of it, bergamot rather than true orange, black tea, Pumpernickel bread, some dry caramel, unsugared chewing gum, thyme (but probably just that basil again), canned tomato soup, vegetable 'bouillon' even, toasted grains, hints of wet clay, fried eggplant, asparagus soup, porcini, Oxo, rye bread dough. Subduedly fruity onset, only very restrainedly sweetish with a vague sourish edge but primarily umami-dominated, faint hints of green pear, black olive, tamarillo and dried but decidedly 'uncandied' fig, otherwise rather clean, with lively yet fine-bubbled carb; smooth, almost oily mouthfeel. Cereally core with surprisingly very limited 'dark' effects, some toastiness and caramelliness are present especially near the end but frankly I was expecting more of that; meanwhile this 'soupy' aspect creeps up again, briefly reminiscent of asparagus cream soup but quickly turning to tomato soup the Italian way due to the basil. The orange, in whatever form it was used, remains suspiciously subtle and never shows its true identity, though there is certainly a vague background citrusiness here, buried far beneath the malts and the basil. Only in the finish does a toasty dark malt bitterishness take over, in a very agreeable way, without turning all dark chocolate- or coffee-like - a herbal hop element provides supporting bitterness at this point, though. The bouillon- and soup-like flavours, however, dominate both orthonasally and retronasally at this point, and this is something you will really have to like; I love cooking with bouillon and I can enjoy a good soup, but I do not really want to encounter their heavy umami flavours in my beer... Very odd concoction for an anniversary beer - perhaps playing it safe and showcasing some big ass barleywine or imperial stout would have been more appropriate, but there is no denying that this 'saison noire' is an original one; the basil seems to have been overdone while the orange remains understated, and both are plagued by a very strong umami element (Oxo) which, as said, is something I have a bit of trouble with. I have, so far, not been sincerely impressed by Misery, as sympathetic and creative as they are, and this one will not change that. Original for sure, but - and I am deliberately leaving the whole 'dark saison' thing aside here - not my cup of Oxo. I guess it was better from draft when really young... Well okay, have a point for originality then.

DARK, Brown Coffee anda White head
Spicy nose of Basil, Anis and peppermint over roasted malts. Taste Starts with funky, malty flavors. Followed bei the o.a. spices. Rather Long, decent bitter roastyness.

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

Draft @ BXLBeerFest'23. Bière brassée pour un étoilé de Liège en accompagnement de trois derniers plats déclinés autouir de l'orange et basilique.
Noire mais laissant apparaite qcq notes claires, col blanc-cassé.
Arôme est d'emblée sur une mousse qui apporte de fins effluves d'orange. Parfum délicat avec un apport léger de basilique, le tout sur un malté épeautre chocolaté qui rend très bien le volet rustique avec un côté orangette.
Palais sur les grains, léger grillé, chocolaté délicat le tout se p^rete très bien au volet de cette saison revisitée mais gardant une belle note rustique - ici, un léger apport d'épeautre chocolaté de malterie du Château donne une dimension vraiment unique à la bière.
Je note cependant une petite note d'esters banane en fin de bouche. Délicieuse.