Can at Gent tasting. Opaque black color, average sized off-white head. Smell and taste malts, iron, a light tart note surprisingly, light bitter. Oddly tart-bitter finish. Weird. Meh, don't really like it tbh.

4/III/23 - 33cl can @ BBGG Winter 2023 ed. (Tim’s place), BB: n/a, 11:29, LB032601230 (2023-209) Thanks to 77ships for sharing the can!

Clear dark brown to black beer, practically no head. Aroma: good roast up front, a bit malty, nutty, some peanut butter. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: a bit sourish up front, malty, grains, very roasted, a bit sweet, some caramel, some sesame seeds. Aftertaste: malty, pretty bitter, sweet, soft roast, malty, quite some alcohol, more roast a bit spicy in the finish.

Not one of my favorite dark saisons because it tastes quite removed from the style, but it's certainly a good beer

2/II/23 - 33cl can from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: n/a, canned: 28/VI/22 08:13, LB06120822 (2023-102)

Clear deep amber to orange beer, big creamy irregular off-white head, little stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: nice, some caramel, dried fruits, a bit of banana. MF: soft carbon, medium to full body. Taste: sweet start, caramel, pretty hoppy, very bitter, a bit resinous, typical American style barley wine, some banana, barley malt. Aftertaste: hoppy, alcohol, bitter hops, a little herbal, spicy, a bit of a chemical bitterness, some banana peel, ok stuff.

One of two high-profile beers celebrating the fifth anniversary of Galea, a successful microbrewery in Antwerp and meanwhile a household name in craft beer circles. There is a silver edition as well, differing in the choice of barrel: while the silver one was apparently aged on bourbon barrels, this golden version used sherry barrels; the base beer is the same, though, a kind of quad enriched with molasses, pear syrup and ‘coconut blossom sugar’ – highly unusual ingredients in a Belgian strong dark ale, obviously. From a 50 cl English barleywine style bottle, shared with Craftmember. Yellowish deep beige, small-bubbled and dense, shred-lacing head, opening slowly over a cloudy, very dark chocolate brown beer – as good as black actually so notably darker than a typical Belgian strong dark, and opaque. It should be noted that the pear syrup in my sample apparently never got sufficiently in the beer, as it came out in the end in a sluggy, syrupy, not quite appetizing way… Intense and desserty, complex bouquet of burnt toast (actually burnt – so charcoal-like), pecan nuts, ‘kramiek’ dough, strong sirop de Liège (even if another, Flemish form of pear syrup was used), prune jam, oak furniture, sweet and nutty sherry, chestnut purée, instant cocoa powder dissolved in water rather than milk, dried fig, hints of shoe polish-like solvent, bayleaf, wood ashes, beef stock and blackberries. Sweet and syrupy onset, cooked prunes, candied figs and raisins, dates, and of course a lot of pear syrup – adding to an extremely thick, syrupy mouthfeel, as does a very understated carbonation; massive oily-hazelnutty, pecan-nutty, toffeeish, molasses-like and chestnut purée-like middle with chocolatey edges, lingering sourish dark fruit accents and upcoming wood, with that classic oaky vanilla scent and soft tannins offering a bit of balance against the sweetness and syrupiness. Sweet sherry flavours are noticeable in the finish, along with accents of bayleaf, rum (possibly the coconut sugar!) and clove; ends sticky and syrupy but long and complex, with a fine trace of black burnt toast trailing behind, oddly. Complex and rich, utterly thick but also very unusual beer, a bit over the top really, but in any case festive enough for the occasion. Too bad for that ‘slush’ of pear syrup in the end, but that will not stop me to go find the silver edition of this weird, but fascinating beer.

Sample (thanks fonefan!). Black colour, mediumsized brown head. Aroma is roasted, some slight liquorice, alcohol and mild plummy tones with some oats. Flavour is alcohol, liquorice, some roasted and mild ashy and nutty tones with mild almond paste tones.

Sample (thanks fonefan!). Black colour, small brown head. Aroma is roasted, some nutty and mild ashy tones with some dried fruity tones. Flavour is nectary, some ashy, liquorice and mild vanilla tones with a really strong coffee kick to it. On the slightly too boozy side of things.

Review based on the BJCP2015 guidelines (style 30A: coffee, cacao and vanilla/ 15B). Can 33 cl - Batch LB02261022C (BBF 12/12/2024). AROMA: medium-high coffee aroma dominates. medium-low to low sweet background. APPEARANCE: very dark color with ruby highlights. medium brown head with good retention. TASTE: medium-high coffee flavour dominates. medium to medium-high bitterness with a dry and slightly bitter finish with notes of coffee. MOUTHFEEL: low body with medium carbonation. OVERALL: although the label states this beer has cacao and vanilla beans, the coffee is overwhelming, overpowering everything else. Unbalanced.