7

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

Creamy lightbrown fair mostly lasting head. Very dark red amber colour. Moderate malty and hoppy aroma. Moderate sweet very intense moderate bitter flavior. Long finish. Creamy palate. Share or drink slow.......

7.1

Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 6.5

Opaque deep brown to black with a small beige head. Dark malts, burnt bread, dried dates & figs, treacle, chocolate, burnt sugar. Pretty sweet. Almost cloying. Dense. Below expectations.

7.9

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

22 January 2025. At Café Congé, Ghent. Cheers to the Hotel Columbo quiz team!

Cloudy black, small, foamy, beige head. Aroma of pralines, treacle, molasses, candied date, dark honey, cold chocolate sauce, varnish, dark fudge, vanilla, brandy. Taste has very sweet candied date, fig & prune in a thick dark-chocolatey, dark fudge- and molasses-like malt body, only slightly balanced by a spicy note that ends with a herbal hoppy note in the finish. Dried fruits & sweetened fondant linger as well as a firm brandy-like alcohol warmth (which I expected to be even stronger at this ABV). Medium to full body, syrupy texture, soft carbonation. Dangerously sweet, too much for the style obviously, but the end result is too delicious to let that influence the score.

6

A very dark brown beer with a beige head. Aroma of sweet and strong dark malt, chocolate, vanilla. Taste of intense sweet dark malt, chocolate, dark fruits.

5

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

Sehr süßer, kirschig-malziger Beginn. Deutliche Süße, Toffee, cremig, intensiv. Langer, süß-malziger Abgang, zuckrig. 9/11/6/6/8/6

7.9

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

Bottle. Dark brown, almost black. Aroma: sweet, lots of oak, caramel, rum, esters, wood varnish, tawny port, strong, powerful. Taste: sweet, caramel, oak, port, powerful, sharp, rum, strong, burnt sugar, good.

7.2

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

Bottle from Beers of Europe. Pours black with a thin tan head. Aromas of chocolate, christmas pudding, hazelnut. Taste is toffee, wood spice, dried fruit. Sweet, boozy finish.

7.6

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

One of Verzet's latest, an impressively strong imperial stout; shared with Craftmember. Medium sized, pale yellowish beige, moussey, initially quite well-retaining but eventually dissolving head, blackish robe - but actually very dark chocolate brown with ruddy hue. Intense aroma of hot chocolate sauce, cognac, dry leather, vanilla, brown rum, Belgian chocolates, plasticine (oddly), shoe polish, natural rubber, white port, caramel cookies, furniture wax, sesame seed. Very sweet onset, dark-sugary, Sultana raisins and candied figs, with a thin sourish edge (a bit balsamic) that lasts till the very end; soft carb, vinous mouthfeel more than syrupy - in fact feeling thinner than expected for such a strong beer, possibly because of the alcohol itself. Dark-sugary sweetness continuing over chocolatey, brown-bready and toffeeish layers of flavour, with tannic woodiness appearing in the end, as well as a late hop bitter note with remarkably leafy character - almost like a 'false note' in this symphony of sweetness and booze. Spicy Christmas pudding elements further adorn a warming finish, feeling like liquid Belgian chocolates, but also bringing back some of those orthonasal solventy scents (shoe polish) and something clay-like; the finish is extensively warmed by port- and brandy-like alcohol, but strangely this alcohol does not become astringent or unpleasantly wry at any point. This whole concoction thus maintains a remarkably high degree of drinkability, much more so than I was expecting - though the almost cloying sweetness would be a factor against that. Rather odd construction, not entirely balanced and somewhat dark barleywine-like in lacking the roastiness and oily thickness I expect from an 'impy' - in any case too sweet and too strong for my personal liking, but nowhere unpleasant and remaining interesting till the last drop.

7

#Gist

7.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Dark brown, almost black. Nose of raisins, fortified wine, red fruit, vanilla, very sweet, some balsamico but not in a tart way. Unique.