7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7.5
Texture 8
Overall 7
Strong dark ale made with 75% peated malt – an unusually high percentage even today, with peated malt becoming more ‘common’ in craft brewing. Last pour from the barrel at Billie’s Craft Beer Fest, cheers Kevin! Yellowish beige, moussy, open head lacing in dots over a very dark chocolate brown beer (approaching black). Aroma of indeed dry peat but strangely far less dominant than I was expecting based on what I read about this brew, dried figs, ground hazelnuts, bitter black chocolate, roasted pecan nuts, dried blackberries, brown bread, hard caramel. Sweet onset, dense with notes of fig, dried blackberry and old raisin, medium carbonation with very full, oily mouthfeel; sweetish brown-bready and deeply caramelly malt profile with slight chocolatey edge, remaining quite dry, with a lovely bready yeastiness trailing behind. The peat is of course there and adds an extra layer of dryness and spiciness, but again, it remains much softer and far less iodine-like than I expected, though admittedly very well-integrated into this nutty, bready whole; mildly spicy hops (though not very bitter at this IBU) and warming, whisky-like alcohol tie thing together in the end, making for a well-finished, original, cleverly structured, if perhaps slightly too sweet beer, which stylistically is perhaps best described as an idiosyncratic take on Scotch (or wee heavy). Solid sipper, one I would love to revisit at home – sadly it is only produced very limitedly and almost invariably gets sold out shortly after each new batch release.
Tried
on 28 Nov 2022
at 10:48
6.8/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 10
Overall 7
18/XI/22 - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte), shared @ home, BB: 8/X/22, 08102211, batch: RB001 (2022-1635)
SLOW GUSHER!
Clear black beer, aery irregular brown to greyish head, unstable, falls down quickly. Aroma: nothing, very weird, this smells like nothing. I almost thought I had Corona, and it made me open another beer just to be sure. :-p On warming it up a bit with my hands, I get a soft roasted smell and a bit of a sourish impression, but not much. MF: soft carbon, medium to full body, creamy texture. Taste: nice roast, bitter, coffee notes, earthy, a bit sourish, chocolate. Aftertaste: a bit sourish, bitter, dark roast, cocoa powder, more bitterness in the finish.
SLOW GUSHER!
Clear black beer, aery irregular brown to greyish head, unstable, falls down quickly. Aroma: nothing, very weird, this smells like nothing. I almost thought I had Corona, and it made me open another beer just to be sure. :-p On warming it up a bit with my hands, I get a soft roasted smell and a bit of a sourish impression, but not much. MF: soft carbon, medium to full body, creamy texture. Taste: nice roast, bitter, coffee notes, earthy, a bit sourish, chocolate. Aftertaste: a bit sourish, bitter, dark roast, cocoa powder, more bitterness in the finish.
Tried
from Bottle
from
Bierhalle Deconinck
on 18 Nov 2022
at 22:00
7/10
Sampled @ Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2022, Saturday Session. A black beer. Aroma and Taste of intense sweet dark malt, chocolate, tonka, good.
Tried
on 16 Nov 2022
at 18:06
7/10
Sampled @ Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2022, Friday Session. A black beer with a tan head. Aroma of intense dark roasted malt, coffee, wood. Taste of strong dark roasted malt, whiskey, wood.
Tried
on 16 Nov 2022
at 18:06
6/10
Sampled @ Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2022, Friday Session. A clear orange brown beer. Aroma and Taste of intense pumpkin spices, cinnamon, anis, caramel.
Tried
on 13 Nov 2022
at 19:40
6/10
Sampled @ Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2022, Saturday Session. A clear orange golden beer. Aroma and Taste of strong peated malt, whiskey, caramel.
Tried
on 12 Nov 2022
at 20:27
5.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
12/XI/22 - on tap @ Billie’s Craft Beer Fest (day 2), BB: n/a (2022-1605) Thanks to all for sharing today’s beers!
Little cloudy amber beer, small creamy off-white head, stable, non adhesive. Aroma: all peat, nothing else. Ok then… MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: all peat, nothing but peat, no balance whatsoever, slightly sweet and sugary, and a bit sourish. Aftertaste: more peat, nothing but peat, meh. Just way over the top.
Little cloudy amber beer, small creamy off-white head, stable, non adhesive. Aroma: all peat, nothing else. Ok then… MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: all peat, nothing but peat, no balance whatsoever, slightly sweet and sugary, and a bit sourish. Aftertaste: more peat, nothing but peat, meh. Just way over the top.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Nov 2022
at 18:55
5.1/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 4
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5
Earthy, herbal, almost like there’s mint, tonka beans, cocoa nibs. Dry and earthy, with a bit unpleasant herbal notes. Not my thing.
Tried
on 12 Nov 2022
at 15:00
6.8/10
Too much just pure allSpice. Base beer is good. Billies craft beer fest 2022
Tried
on 11 Nov 2022
at 18:36
4.5/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 4
11/XI/22 - on tap @ Billie’s Craft Beer Fest (day 1), BB: n/a (2022-1480) Thanks to all for sharing today’s beers!
Clear pitch black beer, no head at all. Aroma: good roast, coffee, a little chemical, plastic, burned rubber, some dark chocolate, uh oh, something went wrong during fermentation? The roast is covering it up but only partially. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: weird, unpleasant bitterness, very chemical, rubbery, plastic, nope. Aftertaste: spicy touch, some nutmeg maybe, bitter, more chemical notes, roasted, burned rubber, nope, this is not good.
Clear pitch black beer, no head at all. Aroma: good roast, coffee, a little chemical, plastic, burned rubber, some dark chocolate, uh oh, something went wrong during fermentation? The roast is covering it up but only partially. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: weird, unpleasant bitterness, very chemical, rubbery, plastic, nope. Aftertaste: spicy touch, some nutmeg maybe, bitter, more chemical notes, roasted, burned rubber, nope, this is not good.
Tried
from Draft
on 11 Nov 2022
at 16:10