Melancholy Beast
BramBrass in Heestert, West Flanders, Belgium 🇧🇪
Brewed at/by: De MeesterStout - Imperial Special
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Score
7.54
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Bierridder (4318) ticked Melancholy Beast from BramBrass 1 year ago
jefverstraete (7489) reviewed Melancholy Beast from BramBrass 1 year ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 9
Bottle from Bierbazaar. Pitch black colour, brown foam, very syrupy texture. Complex and roasty, lots of coffee, bread crusts with sweet whiksy notes. Great old school feeling, bitter and roasty stout.
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Melancholy Beast from BramBrass 1 year ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bourbon barrel aged imperial stout ('BBA'), the original barrel ageing formula, which never gets old... Bottle from Van Callenberge in Stekene. Medium sized, greyish deep beige, moussey, regular head, slowly dissipating in the middle but generally well-retaining, over an ink black beer through which no light passes. Intense aroma of roasted chicory, cold black coffee, indeed bourbon, vanilla beans, oak wood, salmiak, pipe tobacco, molasses, pure chocolate, brandy, wet leather, fresh bayleaf, toasted walnuts, hints of dried prunes, haemoglobin, cigar ashes, toasted coconut, burnt paper, clove. Thick and dense onset, prunes, dates and raisins, sweet with very thin umami accent (porcini), medium carbonated with some minerally 'stings' here and there; very full, oily, almost syrupy mouthfeel, thick slabs of toffee, dark chocolate, coffee beans and toasted walnuts, bittersweet and completely mouth-filling with herbal notes of bayleaf, liquorice and clove on top, salmiak and tobacco even, ending with full-fledged 'oldskool' roasted bitterness (as in roasted chicory) and very active woody tannins, adding that typical oaky vanillin element, reinforced by the bourbon. Peppery hops support the roasty bitterness while the initial candied dark fruit sweetness also persists; meanwhile the bourbon becomes increasingly stronger, warming up the throat and thus highlighting the roasty, almost ashy aspect as well as the sweetness. Brewer Bram Neudt turned to old-fashioned American style 'impy' for this one, with more roasted bitterness but still very powerful dense sweetness too, making it even more old-fashioned American by giving it the old bourbon barrel ageing treatment - pioneered by the world-famous Bourbon County Brand Stout a couple of decades ago. And he did it right, with the same decadent thickness, boldness and robustness of flavours he applies to his other strong stouts - clearly the guy loves a thick black beer, and I think this is what he does best, performing on a quality level of international allure. Impressive - once again. Be ware of that liquorice aspect, though: it lingers for quite a while and will probably not be to everyone's liking (I personally do not mind it too much).
Gerbeer (8214) reviewed Melancholy Beast from BramBrass 2 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
330 ml bottle. Pours black with short tan head. Aromas of boozy oaky bourbon, roasted malts, and powdery dark chocolate. Flavors of green oak, booze, roasted malts and a bit of plastic. Interesting but not cohesive and not at the level of other BramBass beers I have tried.