6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Bottled. A hazy amber beer with a beige head. The aroma has notes of fruit, malt, and caramel. The flavor is sweet with notes of straw, malt, and fruits, leading to a dry finish.

7

33cl bottle. A clear reddish brown beer with a beige head. Aroma of strong caramelized and reddish malt, raisins. Taste of raisins, caramel, strong reddish brown malt, caramelized finish.

6

Bottle from FinestBelgianBeers Pours a hazy mahogany colour with a tint of orange and a very thin beige head. Aromas of dry dark fruits, stone fruits, marzipan, butterscotch, rum and spices. Taste is more of the same notes as in the aroma. Very low carbonation, medium to full bodied with a slick oily mouthfeel. Alcohol is quite well hidden for 10% ABV. A ripe fruity acidic aftertaste that lingers on the palate is fairly pleasant. Not too bitter or too sweet it is well balanced. A bit unusual for a quad but all in all it’s quite nice.

7.2

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Gulden Spoor’s Winterbuk (seasonal variant of Netebuk) aged on whisky barrels for no less than seven years – I had to blink my eyes and read this twice before being convinced… Thanks to tderoeck for sharing. Ecru-beige, dense, mousy, membrane-lacing, eventually breaking head on a dark chestnut brown beer with ‘rusty’ burgundy hue. Aroma of blackberries, old wet wood, toffee, glue, faint ‘oaky’ vanilla, candied figs, very old tawny port, plum wine, hint balsamic vinegar but low in whisky. Fruity onset, estery with sour cherry and blackberry notes as well as something balsamico-like, clearly soured by all those years in the barrel; medium fizz, smooth caramelly and chocolatey malt base with a nutty edge; the sour streak stretches till the end, eventually even becoming a tad astringent, but there are lovely tannic woody aspects and an old madera-like oxidation adorning the finishing stage as well. Ends considerably boozy, indeed whisky-ish but in a rather ‘dim’ kind of way, not too harshly so, with nutty, earthy and woody impressions lingering about for quite a long time. An interesting case: so many years in a barrel has effectively turned a Scotch-like beer into something of a strong ‘oud bruin’, with the oxidation being limited to elegant maderisation rather than obnoxious ‘rustiness’. Gulden Spoor beers tend to be classic, but they are usually very well executed and sometimes, as is the case here, genuinely fascinating.

6.6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

11/I/20 - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte), shared @ home, BB: n/a, bottled: II/2018 (2020-35)

Clear dark brown beer, small creamy beige head, unstable, bit adhesive. Aroma: pretty oxidized, dried fruits, some alcohol, some solvents. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very sourish, very oxidized, dusty, madeira, super acidic, probably infected in the barrel. Aftertaste: lemon juice, dusty, acidic, some caramel, spicy, bit peppery, dark fruitsy, dusty bit weird, interesting at least.

5

33cl bottle. A slightly hazy dark golden beer with a off white head. Aroma of sweet pale malt, honey, grains. Taste of moderate sweet grainy malt honey, caramel, mild bitterness.

8

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8

Sweet, doughy, fruity, nice.

7.3

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle at Gainbar. Aroma is earthy, bit of citrus, Belgian yeasty. Biscuit, alright but not so exciting.

7.3

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Tap at Gainsbar. Aroma is a bit fruity, little tropical. Taste is less exciting, bit of bitterness but malt dominated. Nice enough.