Sloefmans (15519) reviewed McKenzie Bavay from McKenzie Brew House 20 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Orangey-cloudy beer, heavy pearling to good rosy-ochre head, fast gone. Fruity, and very grainy nose, fresh malt (for a 2 year old beer!). Pure rosewater taste, filtering out more grain, this time with indeed a little oxidation. Extremely perfumey, but lacking depth somehow, unidimensional. Sweet-grainy aftertaste, not really new and not fullbodied, without being watery. Bit thanks to Eyedrinkale and mkobes for sharing this bottle. It’s certainly not them that can help it, but (REALLY, "Dude", I’m not doing this on purpose), I’ll probably be never a McKenzie’s fan...
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Bottle. Orange colour with a tan head. Sweet and malty aroma, with hints of dark fruit. Caramel and breasdy flavor with hints of dark fruits. Warming alcohol in the finish.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
(Bottle 75 cl) Very unclear dark amber with a creamy, off-white head. Discreet aroma of caramel. Sweetish, full body with loads of caramel. Lightly hoppy finish. Decent, but doesn’t really do too much for me. 270106
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Deep reddish black ale with thick moka head. Sweet chocolate aroma with fruity pears. Good clean chocolate malt with nutty notes, roasted coffee and light alcohol. Rich and smooth. May 2005.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Deep black with deep brown head, dissipating. Chocolate and fruity aroma, with prunes, and good floral hops. Sweet chocolate and good bitterness, with vanilla and roasted coffee. Rich bodied. May 2005.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
An unclear orange beer with a disappearing orange head. The aroma is sweet with notes of caramel, wood, and alcohol, while the flavor is sweet malty with primary notes of over ripe fruit. The alcohol is very well hidden in the flavor.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle from Eyedrinkale, shared in good company, 10/8/2005. Pours a nice deep, dark chocolate brown-black. Unfiltered and all, with a prominent, but fully dissipating light tan head, creamy and providing for much lacing. Aroma has oats, milk chocolate, faint dark fruits (plums, prunes sort of thing) and a strong helping of coffee with milk and sugar. A very even, lovely aroma, with little hoppiness and a mild, easygoing roasted barley. Yeast is fairly apparent, giving a dry, musty, old sort of feel, but is actually mostly covered up by the sweet chocolate. It really gives it a nice, raw, natural feel to it, highlighting how honestly brewed this stuff is.
Flavor is a strong mix of chocolate and coffee. In the background I heard rumblings of "this stop is every bit as good or better than Peche Mortel". Well, even though Eyedrinkale was wrong ;) it is a nice, drinkable coffeeish stout. More approachable than Peche. But it also dosent have coffee added, so you shouldnt compare the two. What it does have is a lovely balance of chocolate sweetness, mild roastiness and a wonderful, unfiltered, mouthfeel. I don’t want to say grainy, or gritty, because that would unfairly discount the fact that this stuff is smooth, silky and fluid. But it’s got substance, you can put your teeth in it. And speaking of substance, did anyone else catch how mellowed out, but unoxidized it is?? Radioactive carbon-dating places this beer at a early 2004 brewing. So it could be lightly oxidized, loose and watery, but it certainly is not. Don’t confuse drinkable, mellow and fluid with watery and thin. Granted, for an imperial stout it does have only a medium body, but the flavors are well-executed, just as in the Raven porter. Tempted to give it a five for appearance, as Martin’s glass retained the head well. Anyways, appearance isnt that big of a deal. This stuff is a knockout. A real philosopher’s stout. But I always say that about McKenzie’s stuff.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Old bottle, (not the version pictured to the left) provided by and shared with bucknaked on 5/1/2005.
Perfect pour, unfiltered but not chunky or horribly cloudy. Dark coal-greyish brown-black sort of mix with a grey-tinted off-white head that is well retained and laces. Smells of dry roast, light black coffee, touches of caramel covered raisins and dark, ripe berries. Flavor is quite subtle and restrained for this, usually, rich, lush style. Coffee provides a dry balancing effect, while light, oily/bitter dark fruit flavors provide complexity. Malts are not overly sweet, yet definitely hang on the palate nicely. Light black chocolate notes, hint of sugar as it warms, on the end. To say it has a medium body, to me, dosent seem to do it justice, as this is by no means, poorly malted or thin. The flavors just arent intense and forceful. But it is elegant, and I like how they didnt feel the need to pump tons of sugar, and thus, alcohol in to this one. Finely executed, IMHO and one over which to sit and ponder.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
2005 bottle at the 4/17/05 Montreal tasting. Quite a hazy orange-light amber-gold color, strong pillowy white head recedes to small clumps. Aroma of orange candy, honey, orange peels, limes, a bit of sweaty yeast and then a good dose of perfuminess a la goldings (though I wish it wasn’t so controlled by the candy orange flavor, but I guess this is a super saison). Flavor is lightly doughy, moderately yeasty and full of light caramel and soft hops. It grants you the good malting up front and then quickly dries out before you have any chance to get fatigued. Medium body for a saison, light, peppery carbonation and slight alcohol warmth, finishing hoppy. I think I liked this more than the Dupont version (am I allowed to say that?) but then, I knew after rating it that the Dupont bottle I had could not have been at its prime. Thus a rerate is in progress soon.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Hazy dark straw colour. Phenolic, hoppy, yeasty aroma with a hint of pale malt. Very dry body, quite yeasty, with a slight piney note. Rather dry, yeasty character but with a shade of funk that takes it in more of an Orvalish (its inspiration) direction than that of a tripel. Orval-style is something this world needs more of. It should be the next big thing.