After the first experiment with sherry barrel ageing, Andy Dewilde continued with the idea and had his Marius stout aged on – among others – Armagnac barrels; bottled in 37.5 cl with crown cap. Mousy and thick, mocha-beige, gradually thinning and opening head over a generally black beer with misty burgundy tinge. Aroma of relatively pronounced (old) wooden barrels or even wooden furniture, chocolate liqueur, brandy indeed, bayleaf, old toffee, dry cookies, liquorish, whisky, coffee grounds, ‘drop’, vague beef stock hint, notes of thyme, vanilla and nutmeg. Sweetish onset, hint of candied figs and some dried apricot, light black olive-like umami aspect, bit beef stock-like even but remaining subtle, softish carb, full and oily mouthfeel notably thinned by the liquor; walnutty, hard-caramelly and dusty-old-chocolatey malt profile, evolving from gently bittersweet to more outspoken bitter in the finish (roasted chicory) but the roastedness does remain fairly mild; woody, dusty barrel tannins are however clear enough and the brandy element comes through strongly, heating and colouring the maltiness with clear Armagnac, yet somehow it never becomes overly ‘hot’ or astringent; leafy and mildly spicy hop notes in the end, pronounced liquorish element, roasty and toffeeish maltiness lingering along with that brandy flavour and –heat. Very well done, feeling quite ‘Belgian’ but in this case that aspect only adds beauty and complexity. I enjoyed this one no less than the other barrel aged Marius variants.

Bottle from beers of Europe. This was the 2015 vintage aged in Jack Daniels Barrels for 12 months. Deep cola colour with no head. aroma fruity, berry and toffee. Lots of JD from the barrel ageing. Taste starts light tart fruity then sweeter to malty sweet and toffee. Full boozy body.