Bottle at home. Clear deep ruby with small head. A lot of raspberries, a bit herbal, sour cherries, a bit of vanilla and wheat. Over medium sour. Medium bodied. Super fruity, very nice.

Imperial stout brewed at Alvinne with the assistance of staff from fellow West-Flemish Circus Brouwerij and Spanish La Pirata - an unlikely collab perhaps, but that is what happens when adjacent brewers had some fun at the last edition of Borefts, I suppose - luckily for us who did not make it to this great but now defunct beer festival, the remainder was bottled under the Alvinne label. I was pondering about imperial stout - or strong stout and porter in general - being one of my favourite winter warmer genres, but I have friends who will readily drink this kind of beers in the heat of summer as well, and considering we are currently in the first days of what seems to become a 'historical' heatwave in Western Europe, I decided to follow the antics of the climate and the apparent - but probably ironic - recommendation of the brewery and open this one during a thunder storm in a week when maximum temperatures are expected to exceed 30°C every single day. May heaven help us. Greyish beige, medium thick, dense and moussey, 'Brugse kant'-like lacing, remarkably stable head on a jet black robe with thin mahogany edge. Aroma of roasted chicory, cold black coffee, ground walnuts, burnt currants, beef broth, Oxo, charred toast, some dark chocolate, whisky, dried thyme, nutmeg, pecan nuts, figs soaked in brandy, dry autumn leaves, brown bread dough, 'carbonades à la Flamande', raisins, bayleaf, salmiak, touch wood glue. Dense onset, meaty umami but more convincingly a very dark-fruity effect with accents of blackberry, blueberry and blue plum, all 'concentrated', fig and raisin notes as well but not as sweet, with a slight sourish edge and medium carbonation; meanwhile a very full yet slick mouthfeel is maintained, though perhaps less viscous and oily than one tends to expect from the style nowadays. Layers of brown bread, caramel and chicory ensue, filling the mouth with a lovely old-fashioned bittersweetness, shifting to a light nuttiness and heavy toastiness with even a faint ashy edge; leafy hops meanwhile cling to the root of the tongue, adding a spicy level of bitterness to the toastiness. The sweet aspect of dried dark fruits, even raisins, is however continued till the very end too, in a perfectly naturally feeling way - even becoming a touch 'juicy' in the end, contributing to a fortified wine-tinged effect when the alcohol does its thing. It warms, even heats with a peppery side effect tilting it more to the whisky side in the end, but remains in balance with the lingering malts and hops - and a meaty kind of umami flavour, though by no means disturbing. I love this kind of stouts so much, it just stands there, firm and secure, with a long and layered bitterness wrestling an equally well-equipped sweetness - but all based on just hops and malts, without any 'exotic' ingredients, even without lactose (being to stout nowadays what coriander is to Belgian ales). Powerful, oldskool to the bone and deliciously balanced: maybe this is the one to convince me that even in a summer heatwave, imperial stout can be enjoyable, at least in the middle of the night - when temperatures still refuse to drop sufficiently to get a comfortable night's sleep.

Bottle shared. Deep deep intense ruby red with bright pink head. Massive massive Schaarbeekse krieken, yoghurt, sweet dessert wine, almond cookies, black currants, marzipan. Solid medium sweet, less sour. Creamy body. Amazing.

Bottle shared. Very dark brown with barely any head. Massive raisins, figs,red wine, oak, very earthy, blackberries, ash, toffee. Solid sweet, light sour and bitter. Full bodied. I really like it.