Bottle, 9.5%. Very dark brown with small beige head. Aroma is roasted malt, sour fruit, caramel, lemon and coffee. Flavour is roasted malt, sour fruit, wood, caramel, sour, lemon, little coffee, hop, and medium bitter.

"Old export porter" from a 75 cl bottle shared with Jan. Coarse, medium thick, cobweb-lacing, irregular, pale greyish beige; dark, hazy chestnut brown robe with wine red tinge. Aroma of moldy nut shells, redcurrant, old apples, dry red wine, tree leaves, butterscotch, maracuja, damp earth, blackberry juice, wry grape peel, glue, manure, dust. Estery onset, tart with an effect of sour cherries and elderberries, restrained sweetish pear-like core, softish carbo; nut shell-like dry malt body further dried by the ongoing tartness though softly so, earthy finish, bit phenolic, hints of damp leaves, soaking wet tree branches and herbal hops but bitterness mostly coming from the toasted malt character, lingering esters and drying tartness, bit sherry-like but somewhat ’dirty’ as well. Much closer to a Flemish sour ale than to any kind of porter, but I get the idea of illustrating the 19th-century link between both styles (Brettanomyces was an important factor in old porters in those days, which were usually mixed with young beer to combine drinkability with flavour depth; and Rodenbach literally drew inspiration from this method when they began blending young with old beer). In that sense it is not so far-fetched as it seems to call this a porter, but I can imagine a modern ’beer geek’ audience expecting something way cleaner, less tart and ’darker’ when they read ’export porter’ on the label. Best viewed as a loosely historical beer I guess and an interesting one at that, but a tad too dirty to my taste.

On tap at Moeder Lambic Fontainas, Bruxelles. Pours black, small beige head. Sour, chocolate, fruity, some roastiness, dry finish. Average to high carbonation, medium bodied.

Draught at Moeder Lambic. Dark brown with a medium head. Aroma of sour fruit and roast malt. Flavour is tart fruit, malt, sour, zesty base, roast chicken malt finish. Pretty intense.

On tap at Moeder Lambic Fontainas. Dark brown pour with a tan head. Notes of oak barrel, vinegar, some chocolate, roasted malts, metallic bitterness. Pretty nice.

@ beerlovers bar, thnx to Bart. Pours dark amber/brown, smell is sour, like a redbrown . Taste is bit bitter, sour, dry, very ’glue-like’ It’s the typical blend of -colliding- tastes I don’t seem to ever enjoy, while others rave about it.. Also, with a name like this, I expected a (imperial) stout-ish beer. Boy was I surprised. Yeah, this one’s not my thing, yet it might be more of a personal preference than the actual quality being the problem here.