33cl bottle into the correct glass in Den Toogoloog on 23rd October 2024. Dark brown, beige topping. Malty with a coffee and chocolate feel, earthy and nutty, light bitterness in the finish.

The dark one in a new series of Belgian beers at least conceived in the coastal town of Nieuwpoort - whether it is also physically brewed there, is highly doubtful. Towering high, cauliflowery (tetra iso-extract?), very foamy, pale brownish-beige, very densely moussey, tightly cobweb-lacing, stable head on an initially clear, deep but translucent coppery-bronze beer with maroon brown glow, misty and a bit deeper brown with sediment. Aroma of toasted brown bread, toasted walnuts, dry caramel, dried prunes, green pear, roasted chicory, clove, moist nutmeg, damp earth to even a touch of forest floor, iron (confirmed by the 'hand test'), moss, unsugared chewing gum, some 'freshly fermented farmland' or FFF as I call it, overripe turnips, dead tree leaves, dandelions, beetroot. Dryish but crisp onset, estery with some medlar- and prune-like fruitiness but remaining - for a dubbel - relatively subdued in sweetness, with a persistent sourish undertone; a metallic effect of added iron (for foam retention) shows up all too early at the party, accompanying a medium-carbonated, medium-full and medium-entertaining brown-bready and hard-caramelly maltiness with grainy edges, working towards more toasty bitterness. That sourish undertone only grows stronger in the finish, even becoming a bit annoying, while phenolic spiciness (clove and nutmeg) and herbaceous, tea-ish, earthy hop bitterishness unfold, making for an earthy-spicy, yeasty and leafy ending, in which this sourishness still persists, along with that brown-bready malt effect. Drinkable, but not too well balanced with a blemish here and there - most obviously that added iron for increased foam stability, often a sign of something having gone a bit awry during production. Apart from the unattractive and, frankly, somewhat misogynistic name of both brewery and brand, these elements hardly elicit any sympathy from my part. Not one I would mourn if they suddenly decide to cease operations, as several Belgian microbrewers are apparently doing recently - and point off for not revealing where the beers are actually brewed.