The second version of Adelheid sampled a while after I already had the third version - so I guess I will need to compare them 'in reverse', so to speak... Flavoured with oak chips and infused with an apple brandy wine which cannot even be officially called calvados because it was produced in Belgium (by a distillery also producing beer) rather than the Calvados region in France. Thanks tderoeck for sharing. Gusher alert so be careful... Medium thick, pale yellow-beige, tiny-bubbled, bit creamy head, lightly misty copper robe with paler orange glow. Aroma of caramel candy, calvados of whatever kind indeed, rosewater, clove, dried lingonberries, persimmon, something strawberry-like somewhere, hazelnut oil, clay, nougat. Sweetish onset in a clean, sleek way, hinting at persimmon, lingonberry and red apple, softish carb, vinous and somewhat oily mouthfeel. Dry-biscuity, vaguely hazelnutty malt core, fairly dry and even lacking a bit in sweetness for this style, under growing but quite subtle apple flavours indeed amounting to a calvados impression. The alcohol becomes a tad peppery without burning away all the flavours - what you would expect from a brandy-infused ale, I guess; hops remain mild and superficial, and so does the woodiness of the oak chips, which, though noticeable, do not add all that much here. In all, decent enough Belgian style barleywine (which is a justifiable concept to me) but not so different from version three, perhaps a bit rounder? Whatever the case, both need a more layered, more 'deeply biscuity' maltiness and more 'oomph' in general - clearly barleywine is not really HopHemel's forte...

Bottle from Dranken Geers. Color: Hazy orange-brown amber, yellow-ish off-white head. Aroma: Malty, oak wood, fruity Calvados. Taste: Malty, a lot of oak wood and some vanilla kicking in, fruity and boozy Calvados. Some dark dried fruit and raisins. Moderate hopbitterness in the background. Over moderate sweet. Over medium body, below average carbonation. Dry and bittery finish. Nice.