This 12% Lager is as good as it gets.

Whisky barrel aged variant on the old familiar Gordon Scotch, from a cardboard box including the iconic thistle glass; comes in a 37.5 cl 'geuze' bottle with cork and muselet. Medium sized, slowly breaking, pale greyish white head over a crystal clear chestnut brown beer with ruddy mahogany glow, remaining clear till the last drop - very clearly filtered. Aroma of butterscotch, caramel sauce, indeed sweetish (blended) whisky, rum-soaked raisins, vague vanilla, 'Haagse hopjes', candyfloss, a touch of coffee grounds and 'colaflesjes' (cola-flavoured candy). Sweet onset with a vague sourish undertone, again those 'colaflesjes' but little fruitiness apart from a bit of banana, fizzy carbonation (artificially added), rounded and proportionally slender mouthfeel; cereally and somewhat bubblegummy backbone, 'camouflaged' by high levels of sweet caramel and a brown-honeyish sweetness. Alcohol is apparent early on, with a vanilla-like note that feels a bit 'added' as well; indeed whisky-flavoured alcohol in the end, while caramel and butterscotch linger about. A vague background note of toasty malt bitterness, typifying this old-fashioned style, appears as well, but vanishes again quickly. Clearly an industrial beer under the guise of 'craft beer': a macro brewery trying to be fancy and cashing in on the barrel ageing hype, or the craft beer hype in general. Everything here feels 'constructed' artificially, there is nothing of the depth and complexity an artisanal barrel aged beer tends to display and the whole remains sweet, superficial and 'easy'. Still, in masquerading as a fancy craft beer, I think this one does a better job than e.g. Bosteels' Monte Cristo, which is at least conceptually comparable. Do not bother stashing it in your cellar though - if you intend to buy this one at all, because even with the glass it certainly is not worth the 12 euros charged for it on Anthony Martin's webshop or the Delhaize supermarket chain that distributes it.

Good, dense, cream-coloured head, very stable with slightly irregular interface to the dark ruby beer. Sweet, alcoholic nose, preserved/dried fruit, fruitcake with spirit. Rubbing the head immediately releases ferrous oxyde both in taste and smell - explaining the stability, I presume? Sweet with a short crude woody bitterness backthroat. Whisky/spirit immediately obvious, in heat and in flavour, but I doubt it is a top malt. Again preserved fruit; banana, plums, raisins, again characterising it as liquidized fruitcake; hint of human sweat. Bitterness gradually gives in to the boozy sweetness. Precious little complexity. Good body, viscous, feels not very carbonated but quite slick. As serendipity would have it, this is sampled one day after another wee heavy: the No True Scotsman from Tall Poppy. Morals of the history: stick to small, local, real craftbrewers. This isn't bad, it's just "Oh well, OK". Available in any Delhaize, with glass. And where in Belgium is it brewed?

clear dark golden to amber colour, huge, dense and long lasting slightly ecru-ish white head; aroma of floral, perfume, grainy, slight citrusy and yeasty notes; taste is similar to the aroma with spicy peppery and alcoholic notes; average or slightly below average Belgian strong ale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fWv7ZK70bI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj1MTTArzPI

7/III/22 - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte), shared @ Syntra Zytho class, BB: 1/IX/23 (2022-236)

Clear orange beer, big creamy off-white to yellow head, unstable, dissipates quickly, non adhesive. Aroma: malty, a bit fruity, banana, pear and apples. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: sweet start, malty, slightly bitter, bit metallic, soapy touch, sweet. Aftertaste: dry, a bit herbal, overripe banana, a bit metallic, sweet finish.

Bottle from Geers. Clear golden, stable, foamy, white head. Aroma of coriander, orange peel, white sugar, dough, vanilla, candied apricot, plum, honey, cooked apple, white rum. Taste has sweet apricot, plum and banana in a honeyish, white-bready, white-sugary malt body with spicy, grassy, soapy (coriander) notes. Floral hoppy finish with lots of ripe yellow fruit, hint of orange peel, sugary still and slightly spicy, whilst white rum-like alcohol heats the throat. Medium body, oily texture, average carbonation. Very hard to catch the oak treatment here so it's hard to even acknowledge the effort... I'll stick with their Scotch - from time to time.

33cl bottle. A minimal hazy golden beer with a white head. Aroma of sweet and strong pale malt, banana and yeast. Taste of sweet banana, strong wheat malt, hints of vanilla, slightly boozy.

Bouteille 33cl, BB 01/09/2023 du Delhaize Ixelles.
Petite bière qui selon mes échanges a été élaborée à la Br de Waterloo - mais là réponse quant au lieu de brassage est resté très évasif. Bière qui rappelle aussi qcq souvenirs de ma grand-mère, née au couvent des sœurs de Maredret - le petit jardin aux herbes peu se visiter lors d'une ballade à Maredsous, situé non loin. Bière reprend de fait certaines de ces herbes aromatiques dans la bière.
Couleur dorée, col épais crémeux tenace blanc-cassé.
Arôme offre un bouquet léger sur le fleuri et ce côté aromatique - trouve plus le genévrier. Malt sur caractère belge - cara pâle, Munich, pils. Noble finement fleuri et terreux en rétro-nasal.

Palais reste sur une base belge classique carapâle, pils - ici cette version use de baies de genévrier et clou de girofle. Le tout offre un côté genévrier décent - encore une touche de sucre résiduel qui perdure en retrait. Amertume reste fine dans un rang noble plutôt classique.

Bouteille 33cl, BB16/09/2023 du Delhaize Ixelles.
Petite bière qui selon mes échanges a été élaborée à la Br de Waterloo - mais là réponse quant au lieu de brassage est resté très évasif. Bière qui rappelle aussi qcq souvenirs de ma grand-mère, née au couvent des sœurs de Maredret - le petit jardin aux herbes peu se visiter lors d'une ballade à Maredsous, situé non loin. Bière reprend de fait certaines de ces herbes aromatiques dans la bière.
Couleur dorée, col blanc crémeux tenace.
Arôme est frais avec de suite de fines effluves aromatiques. Ici, le bouquet coriandre est assez dominant.

Palais sur une base belge au niveau de la levure - assez phénolique - le booze se ressent de suite avec un fini sucre résiduel marqué. Derrière se suivent les notes aromatiques - ici, coriandre et sauge en quantité assez minime.
Résultat correcte - reste très belge, au-delà de l'aspect un peu familial et des herbes - la base reste banale et habituelle de chez Martins.