Clear golden beer with a white head. Aroma of belgian yeast, spices, pale malt. Taste of herbal wheat malt, yeast, honey, moderate bitterness.

A black beer with a beige head. Aroma of cocoa, coffee. Taste of roasted dark malt, chocolate, vanilla, raisins,

Kerstbier Festival. Very dark brown beer with a beige head. Aroma of dark spicy and caramelized malt, anis. Taste of dark chocolate malt, caramel, bourbon, wood.

Kerstbier Festival. Very dark brown beer with a beige head. Aroma of mid sweet dark malt, dark fruits, cherries. Taste of riped cherries, strong dark malt, chocolate.

Clearly a more modern craft version of a classic style. Just acrid a bit and not as good. MALZ leuven

20 May 2023. At Leuven Innovation Beer Festival. Shared with the lovely Anke!

A: hazy dark brown, small, frothy, beige head.
A: cherry (stone), prune, wood, milk chocolate, vague varnish.
T: sweet cherry, prune, chocolate, brown bread, herbs.
F: herbal hops, brown bread, bitter cherry stone.
P: medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation.
Bit unbalanced but enjoyable.

Wheat wine (barleywine with a significant portion of wheat) by Adept, a young microbrewery in Winksele, in this case collaborating with De Vlier. Noteworthy in being a raw beer, i.e. with the wort never cooked (though still heated), something which was probably more rule than exception many centuries ago but survived only in the remote fringes of traditional beer territory, such as the Scandinavian farmhouse ales which have received a lot of attention in past years, after having been all but completely ignored for generations. At LIBF. Snow white, moussy, medium thick, slowly opening head, near-clear yellow blonde robe with ochre-ish tinge. Aroma of green pear, calvados, white bread, unripe banana, bee wax, raw dough (so a ‘raw’ element indeed), withering grass, cold French fries, damp cloth, hint horseradish, gin. Sweetish onset with primarily ‘green fruit’ impressions, such as unripe banana, green pear and green apple, tingling and fizzy carbonation, full and rounded, slick mouthfeel; wheat slickness clearly edging a white-bready and cereally, even somewhat grainy core, the whole feeling ‘thinner’ and lighter than it actually is, with that typical ‘raw’ aspect (raw dough) returning, probably linked to unmalted wheat as well as being uncooked. Some residual yellow-green fruity sweetishness in the end as well as a touch of grassy hops (low in bitterness though) and warming, calvados-like alcohol. Slender and not very ‘layered’ for a beer of this strength, this needs a lot more vinosity and complexity to pass for a true wheat wine, though in itself enjoyable enough, and quite unique (just try to name another Belgian-brewed raw wheat wine…). Perhaps I need to start following this Adept project a bit closer.

Bottle Color: Very dark, almost black. Thin brown head. Looking more like a Stout than a Quad. Aroma: Roasted malt, dark malt, dark dried fruit, boozy. Sweetish. Taste: Again roasted malt, dark malt. Malty base. Boozy and spicy / herbal Filliers. Hints of dark dried fruit. Dark chocolate. Vanilla, some oak wood. Chocolate and toffee fudge notes. bit grainy. Dry-ish sweetish and bittery finish. Full body, just below average carbonation. Interesting. Quite complex, a lot of flavours to explore. Difficult to classify the style of this beer. On the label it's stated as a Raw Dark Ale. It's not a Quad in my opinion. Maybe more a Belgian Ale - Strong Dark or Traditional Ale... Whatever, I like it.

‘Jenever’ barrel aged version of a quadrupel developed by new beer company Adept in Leuven, executed at De Vlier; the special thing about this one is that it is, contrary to probably all other quadrupels ever made so far, a ‘raw’ beer, i.e. heated but not cooked, as was very likely widespread practice in the early ages of brewing and still persists in e.g. Scandinavian farmhouse ales. And who knows, the inspiration to do this in Leuven now may have also arisen from the current energy crisis… Anyway, sample at Dijleschuimers Winters Bierfestival, shared with Craftmember and Johan Lamarcq. Pale greyish beige, waferthin ring and veil over a very dark chocolate brown beer with burgundy glow. Aroma of coffee grounds, dried prunes, blackberry coulis, wet leather, old walnuts, oak wood scenting of vanilla, toffee, brown bread dough, sweetly sauced pipe tobacco, whisky rather than actual Filliers ‘jenever’ (luckily perhaps because I do not like jenever) – but nothing really betrays this beer as being ‘raw’. Sweet, rounded, dark-fruity onset, dried fig, prune, blackberry, candi sugar sweetness without being sticky, full and bit oily mouthfeel with medium carbonation; toffeeish, brown-bready malts, walnut purée and coffee grounds notes, bitter black chocolate even – rather much so for a quadrupel. Some herbal hop bitter accents further on along with drying woody tannins; the bitter side of the malt profile also becomes more outspoken at that point, with a certain toastiness to it. Warming alcohol in the finish – but actually well-behaved and not as astringent and spicy as I would expect from Filliers’ ‘graanjenever’. Very well-structured, rich and warming quad, and I would never have guessed it was brewed ‘raw’ if I had not known; feels ‘finished’ and all-round Belgian at a surprisingly high level of quality. I need to find out more about this Adept project.

21/V/22 - sample @ Leuven Innovation, BB: n/a (2022-591) Thanks to Sebletitje for sharing today’s beers!

Clear dark brown to black beer, practically no head. Aroma: very roasted, cheesy, lots of coffee, a bit malty, ok. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: sourish start, pretty weir, some roasted notes, liquorice, yeasty, some banana. Aftertaste: a dry roast, more banana, yeasty, meh, not a bit fan.