Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Bottle from Foeders Online, limited edition 900 bottles according to the label. Color: Clear copper, thin but long lasting beige head. Aroma: Dried fruit, raisins, herbal notes, caramel hints. Taste: Dried dark fruit and stone fruit, raisins, herbal, Oude Jenever notes, some oak, subtle caramel and white sugar. Vanilla and Bourbon notes coming in towards and at the finish. Boozy, warming mouthfeel. Over medium body, below average carbonation. Smooth, bit foamy and sticky and Champagne-like mouthfeel. Hard to compare with other beers I've had, I think best comparison is Dubuisson Bush Prestige / Bush de Charmes, Somewhere in between Belgian Stong Ale, Barleywine and Oude Jenever with a Boubon-ish finish. Very nice, pretty complex and well balanced slow sipper.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

One of the ‘original’ Holy Beer House ales, that is to say: brewed at Alvinne under the ‘Bim Bam’ brand (an onomatopoeia representing ringing church bells) and bottled in 50 cl bottles with wax over the crown cap. My sample was apparently bottled in 2015 already so six years old now; anachronistically, this is my first in this Bim Bam series, weeks after I had one of the new series called ‘Woesten’ and brewed at Deca… Egg-white, plastery lacing, moussy, thick head opening under influence of the whisky (rather than ‘whiskEy’ – isn’t that the Irish spelling?), lightly hazy deep amber colour with deeper bronze-copper glow, lots of swirling sparkling throughout, turning misty with sediment. Aroma of quite outspoken moist peat and Islay whisky as a whole (more so than expected yet still not overpowering everything), peach pastry, soggy biscuit, dried apricot, rum-soaked raisins, apple peel, vanilla-scenting oak wood (strong!), hints of cashew nuts, solvents (nail polish remover), dried orange peel, strawberry cake. Sweet onset, candied cherry and strawberry accents mingled with impressions of fig and peach, finely tingling carbonation, supple and somewhat vinous mouthfeel; biscuity, lightly brown-bready and cashew-nutty maltiness, sweetish with a softly bitterish-toasty edge, a bit resinous and dried by strong tannic oakiness releasing this typical vanilla-ish scent retronasally – but second to the peat, of course, which takes over in the end, before even revealing itself as actual Islay whisky when the booziness comes into play. A deep earthy hop bitterish note adds structure, while the woodiness and peated whisky warmth play along with the Belgian fruity and bready aspects (which remain well in place). In the very end, a protein-derived meaty accent pops up as well. Boozy as expected, peaty but not to the point where it becomes completely dominant (as is often the case in Bowmore barrel aged beers), malty and fruity with that Belgian yeast streak played out well; a Belgian style barleywine, in all, meritorious and enjoyable (and to my taste, better than the Woesten I had recently – but I guess this is Alvinne’s house style defining the basics of this beer as well.

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

Second series created by this client brewer based in Lokeren, specializing in barrel aged beers; the first series (called Bim Bam) was brewed at Alvinne, whereas this second one called Woesten is brewed at Deca (in Woesten). Several versions have been made already, this one having aged on 'jenever' barrels which have apparently been used for bourbon before that as well. Medium thick, egg-white, small-bubbled, quite stable head, slowly receding over a misty amber coloured beer with bronze-brownish tinge and fierce, almost 'champenoise' sparkling. Aroma of a lot of wet oak wood including those vanilla-like impressions, old oak furniture, almond, indeed 'oude jenever', rusk, dry biscuit, dried peaches, apple peel, old hazelnuts, hints of apricot, strawberry, dry old cigarette tobacco. Sweetish, fruity onset, relatively cleanish, hinting at dried peach and apricot with a touch of banana and red apple, refinedly carbonated, quite full and smooth body; rusk- and biscuit-like maltiness with a bread-crusty edge, light honeyish sweetishness on top, lingering 'dried' fruity impressions and spicy phenols (clove) all dried by quite strong tannic woodiness, classic vanilla-like oaky effect retronasally, paired with eventually quite strong and indeed clearly 'jenever'-flavoured booziness, turning a bit astringent in the end. Not lacking in complexity, a kind of Belgian style barleywine if you will, solid enough and certainly interesting; clearly 'jenever'-forward which in my book is rarely a good thing, but I must admit that I had worse jenever-barreled beers (though there are not a lot of those around too, of course). Inviting to learn more about both the Bim Bam and other Woesten beers by this producer.

Last of the first Batch...