Bottle @ benzai. Clear pale yellow with a small white head. Smells slightly farty, malts, yeasty. Tastes malty, kinda sweetish, fresh, slightly fruity. Thin body, nice carbo. 0.1 bonuspunt omdat Herman den Blijker een baas is.

From a 75 cl bottle at Arendsnest, only weeks before its "best before" date. Apparently this is the one with real caviar - counting among the least likely ingredients I have ever encountered in beer. Loose, bubbly, pale greyish beige, very unstable head, reduced to a thin rim of tiny bubbles in seconds and eventually vanishing entirely; very dark mahogany colour, blackish but still largely translucent with a burgundy hue. Aroma of salmiak, leather, blueberry juice, unripe blue plum, sour milk, soy sauce, red wine, seaweed, bitter chocolate, fermenting apples, moldy walnut shells, old stale sweat and even sewer water - seems infected. Fruity start, some subtle fig sweetness but much more outspoken, redcurrant-like sourishness, eventually becoming tart like unsugared yoghurt - seemingly intended as a ’sour stout’ (still a rare phenomenon in spite of all those experiments nowadays) but in reality more likely infected. Softish carbo, smooth and bit oily mouthfeel; a black olive- or even dried seaweed-like umami touch ensues, which I suppose represents the caviar, but I get no explicit caviar saltiness. Nutty and toasted malt core, gently bitter but clashing a bit with that undercurrent of infected sourness; bit grainy as well. Leathery and tart finish, some phenolic spiciness and a subdued herbal hop bitterish touch; old withered dill reminds of the fact that Sorachi Ace was used, but not to its most elegant potential. This may include true sturgeon caviar, but apart from umami and only very faintly salty accents, it does not do much more other than infecting an otherwise thinnish, insufficiently ’thick’ stout. Decadent way of pimping a beer with restaurant ambitions - I think Michelin-starred (or other) restaurants would be better off investigating the existing range of exciting craft beers rather than developing a new beer with gastronomic purposes and making it seem ’chique’ by adding something as expensive as caviar. A pity for the caviar - and for the price I paid for this bottle. Interesting beer, sure, but not what I was expecting, at all.

Tap at the Boudewijn, Rotterdam. Poured a clear medium brown with a frothy white head. The aroma is sweet malts, red berry fruit, alcohol, light liquorice bitter. The flavour is moderate sweet with a rich crisp fruity alcohol hop bitter palate and a bubbly mouthfeel. Medium bodied with average carbonation.

On tap at Rootz beer festival shared with kermis. Thin creamy off white head. Hazy amber pour.

Draft at the Rootz Winterbeer Festival ’16. Slight hazy dark amber with a small cream head. Aroma of pumpkin, light spices, caramel and malt. Flavour is moderate sweet and bitter. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

Bottle from het Biermoment, 01-08-2018, large sample. Slight hazy amber color, medium rocky head. Aroma is slight herbal, bit toffee, slight toast, bit fruity hop. Soft to medium bitterness, bit orange and toffee sweetness, bit herbal. About 3 months old and already tastes like an english old ale. "NL weet nog steeds niet wat een IPA is".

27th October 2016
Lightly hazy amber beer, good cream colour head. Palate is airy, semi dry and finely minerally crisp. Fluffy malts, thin creamy sweetness. Light floral hop start, into mellow orange. Mild peel. Modest spice. Light finish. It;s fine but could do with more hop intensity given it’s hop profile.