Ardenne Stout

Barrel-aged stout with roasted spelt, makes me curious. Creamy, dense but opening, beige head, colour as good as black, only showing a warm, hazy mahogany hue around the edges. Nice and convincing stout aroma, very roasted indeed, with hints of black coffee, charcoal, bitter chocolate, clear wet oak and even light vanilla-ish tannins, bayleaf, cigar ashes, dried figs, black pepper corns, juniper berries, medlar, ginger, coffee liqueur, tar, soy sauce, pipe tobacco, toasted bread. Concentradedly sweetish onset, dates, baker’s chocolate, dried banana, but countered with basic sourishness, black olive-like umami flavours and a relatively spritzy carbonation (in fact a bit overcarbonated for this style); creamy, oily maltiness ensues, caramelly at first with an irony edge to it but not disturbingly so, chocolatey and roasted, a bit ashy and more ’edgy’ and spicy than usual (probably because this is spelt), sourish even; the roasted bitterness creates a thick, warming, deeply bittering but still gentle finish in which warming, rhum-like alcohol plays a supporting role, as well as the oak, which is unmistakably there but not overpowering though it does have a notably drying effect, and pleasantly peppery hop bitterness, spicy in the throat but in good balance with the rest of the palate. Elaborate stout, unexpected from this brewery, with a lot of complexity and boldness; perhaps a bit overcarbonated and the sourishness of the spelt can come off as a bit too much and a bit dirty, but this is a beer with balls, and certainly a good one to counter the idea that Belgian breweries do not make good stouts (along with the black Struise creations, of course, and a few others). What a pleasant surprise... I hope more like these will pop up in Belgium, we sure need this kind of uncompromising brews nowadays!

Black colour, tan head. Sweetish aroma, caramel, brown sugar, roasted malts. Bit sweet flavour, chocolate, roasted malts and caramel. Quite fizzy. Finish caramel, malts and brown sugar.
(From draught @ ZBF 2015, Leuven)

Bottle. Black pour, small off white head. Aroma of sweet milk coffee, roasted malt and chocolate. Taste is mildly sweet, with coffee, oak, vanilla, chocolate and a little red fruit. Good belgian strong stout.

Bottle - black pour with tan head. Roasted malty aroma and taste, chocolate, caramel, dried fruits, nice mouthfeel, dry roasted finish.

33 cl bottle. Pours hazy dark brown to black with a small tan head. Aroma is roasted malty and dark malty, light liqourice. Toasted malty, overripe fruity. Dark roasted malty and dry chocolate finish.

Bottle from Dranken Geers, Oostakker, Gent, Belgium, and had this at Lynn and Barry’s, Merton, Saturday 13th December 2014. Pours dark brown, bitter, roasty, and really full on, not much sweetness here in fact despite the harsh roastiness, there is a little fruity and floral edge. Picking up a hoppiness that comes through the roastiness. Pretty good stout, I like the label. A7 A4 T7 P3 Ov14 3.5

Bottle from Beergusto web shop. Dark chestnut brown color with huge beige head. Aroma of roasted malt, dark chocolate, earthy notes, ash. Taste, dark chocolate, coffee, licorice, ash, light piney hops. Enjoyable beer.