22/08/2015 – sample (bottle) @ Gents Bierfestival shared with JorisPPattyn, Sebletitje, 77ships & PriorL Dark brown with just a small lacing. Coffee, caramel, some licorice, sweet.

Sample @ 6de Gents Bierfestival 2015. Brune foncée virant quasi sur le noir, col fin blanc-cassé. Arôme me donne de suite des indications orientées sur des fruits noirs, surtout de la cerise. Malt perce aussi en rétro, apportant des effluves agréable de cara pâle, léger chocolaté. Palais est épais, malt fort présent et couplé d’une bonne dose de fruit noir. Le fini, qui fait don de ses 10%, garde un profil de sucre résiduel avec une amertume balancée offrant qcq détails de style C américain. Tout autant que cela s’apparente à un stout impérial, mon avis reste tout de même centré sur une bière lourde approchant le caractère d’une quad, le tout trahit pas son profil on ne peut plus belge. Reste cependant, une très belle découverte qui sans vraiment apporter du changement à la mérite d’être rondement bien ficelée.

First beer from a new contract brewer, and I am happy that this is not another tripel or blonde, but a bold imperial stout - good thinking! Creamy, milky, light beige head, very dark hazy burgundy colour but not quite black (though close enough). Interesting, powerful, elegant and rich aroma of banana, coffee grounds, milk chocolate, toasted bread, bubblegum, liquorice and perhaps vague soy sauce; candied fruits in the onset, sweet, bubblegum and banana flavours, thick and oily, creamy mouthfeel, smooth caramelly and toasted malts becoming increasingly chocolatey in the end, hints of iron, liquorice and marmelade, drying finish with earthy, peppery hop bitterishness, some yeastiness and glowing alcohol warmth. Big stouts with international allure are still not Belgium’s forte, but this and a few other new stouts point in the right direction. This has more body and flavour than I expected, so I was very pleasantly surprised. Have an extra point for opting for a RIS instead of a safe Belgian tripel for your first beer, guys!

(Thx! for sharing) Sampled bottled @ Gents Bierfestival 2015. Dark brown, little mocha head. Nose is oily syrup, licorice, herbal, prune jam, more sugary jam. Taste is syrup, blueberry & jam, big on licorice, syrup, lots of sugar, sweetness, dough,… Syrupy body. Interesting with its heavy notes of licorice & jam. Not entirely to my preference & prob. hard to drink much of it, interesting.

Gulden Spoor version Small crème rim over black beer. Liquorice, sweet spirit or liqueur. Sweet, aniseed, fennel, liquorice, ending almondy. Well-bodied, slick, alcoholwarmth. IMHO, not a succes. 5/4/6/3/10 Broers version Huge tan-cream head, retreating over deep dark brown beer. End of bottle blobs of UFO's. Coffee, roast, coffeebeans, maltsyrup, molasses, rust. Very much coffe, slightly drier than the nose suggested, but still featuring a lot of sweetness. Liqueurish, coffeeliqueur. Aniseed is gone, more roast instead. Simpler, but more pleasing. Quite well-bodied, viscous, warming, medium to good carbonation. Better than the client version.

Bottle at Lemmys, Leiden. Poured a hazy straw colour with a frothy white head. The aroma is malt, big yeast, zesty citrus. The flavour is moderate bitter with a crisp refreshing dry yeast mineral hop bitter palate and a lingering bitter finish. Medium bodied with average carbonation.

Stronger version of the first Brughopper, with stable, off-white head and cloudy golden blonde colour, bit darker than the regular Brughopper. Aroma of apricot, coriander, peach, grains, but also some DMS (cooked cabbage). Fruity taste, honeyish touch, sweetish with a sourish accent, grainy, leafy hop bitterness in the finish. Not enough refined yet like their other one, but promising.

The first beer from this new beer company (not yet brewery) founded by brothers and a brother-in-law. Stable, off-white, mousse-like head, very light blonde, cloudy robe. Fresh fruitiness in the nose, along with some green hops and soap. Subdued fruit in the taste, some citrus, light maltiness and soapy and grassy hops in the finish. Needs more fine tuning but has potential.

33 cl bottle @ HBF’11. No BBE info, rated on 5.4.2014
Aroma has hay, peaches and some fruits. Flavour has gooseberry bush leaves, bitter grassy notes and some herbs. Slightly messy but ok.