Second variant on the Black Pope theme, a theme Galea apparently intends to further elaborate upon (as the brewer told me himself in a private message) and this seems like an interesting to follow, considering the quality and originality of other iterations. Bottle from The Beershop in Kontich. Thinnish but stable, slowly opening, densely mousy, mocha-beige head eventually dissolving into close but nothing, pitch black robe with only a millimeter of lightly hazy mahogany around the edge, only visible under bright light. Dense but quite interesting aroma of old black chocolate bars, cigar ashes, whisky, hard caramel, incense, coffee cream, some old and dry vanilla bean but not the bright and ethereal sweetness I expect from vanilla, molasses, strong blood-like 'iron', burnt toast, beef stock cubes, treacle, pear syrup, candied dates, mocha ice cream, toffee candy, stewed bayleaf, liquorish, chewing gum, vague note of dusty old cloth. Densely sweetish onset but not too cloying, quite pronounced beef stock- and fried porcini-like umami (more than I tend to expect from a Belgian attempt at imperial stout), softish carb but still with some stings here and there, hints of old raisins, leather, fig and ripe pear, very thick and viscous, syrupy body. A massive layer of walnutty, toffeeish and bitter-chocolatey maltiness glides almost laboriously over the tongue, near-glueish and treacle-like, leaving behind a deeply bittersweet trail - with the bitterness gaining more and more strength in the end, as a combination of roasted chicory-like 'ashiness', toastiness and spicy hoppiness. The coffee bean effect is clearly there and luckily in a cleanish, roasty way, while the vanilla effect remains altogether faint. This thick 'wall' of syrupy bittersweetness - with a liquorish-like aspect at its edges - is followed by an obviously heating, long-lasting yet (strangely) not overly wry, whisky-like alcohol effect, but the roasted malt bitterness, sticking inside the throat for quite a while, gets the last word. Very thick and dense, beefy stout, much more so than is usually the case in Belgium; typically ash-, beef stock- and (in the end quite strong) liquorish-like aspects draw the attention away from the coffee and the vanilla, the latter having become almost rudimental. A bit too thick even for a 13% ABV stout, its viscosity and intensity impairing drinkability to a significant degree, whilst lacking a bit in refinement - and certainly in the delicate vanilla 'perfumeyness' I was hoping for. That said: very few of all these new Belgian brewers have the guts to come up with something as dense, complicated, daring and expensive as this, so Galea certainly deserves credit for that; I had way worse attempts at imperial stout from other new generation Belgian brewers, and that is mentioning only those who dare tackle this style the way it should be done. Have an extra point for sheer audacity and effort.

Pours black, no foam. Smell is sweet, coconut, intense. Taste is sweet, coconut, intense, mild boozy touch. Nice

Pours lighter brown, with a reddish glow. Small white head. Smell is caramelly, medium light intensity. Taste is a tad bitter, medium dry, mild sweetness. Some caramelly notes. Milder brown malts. Decent, very good in style though !

Bottle. Dark brown color, Toffee and soft roast in the aroma and flavor. Sweet, alcoholic. Hint of vegetables Drinkable.

26 July 2019. At Dok Brewing Company, Ghent. Shared with Anke - thanks for showing up eventually! Pours hazy black with a quickly thinning, beige head. Aroma of coffee bean, 'noir de noir' chocolate, 'raw' vanilla, biscuit, toast, custard, earth, macadamia. Taste is medium malty sweet, biscuity & chocolatey, sprinkled with vanilla custard & some dates; constant bitter notes of coffee bean, earthy nuts & toasty breadiness; leading to a dry, toasty, earthy hoppy finish where vanilla & coffee bean linger, as well as a solid dash of coffee liqueur-like alcohol. Full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. Solid balance here, enjoyable.

Flavoured imperial stout created this year for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Brasschaat – the town where this brewer is located – from the Nazis, and apparently the starting point of a number of barrel aged versions that will soon see the light of day. This rating concerns the regular version, sampled at Gents Bierfestival (thanks Johan for sharing). Thin, mocha-beige, open, loose and eventually disappearing head on a black beer with hazy mahogany edges. Aroma of ‘Haagse hopjes’, melting toffee, Bounty candy (the coconut), chocolate-coated peanuts, cinnamon, kahlua, chocolate milk, coffee cream, hazelnut paste, nougat. Sweet, candied onset, sugary even and a bit sticky, but with a very light sourish undertone; candied fig, ‘Haagse hopjes’ and bubblegum, medium carbonated, very full, round and oily body. Toffeeish, very chocolatey and peanutty middle, heavy and sticky with a touch of umami somewhere, lightly sourish in the end from roasted grains but never turning roasted bitter; the sweetness seems accentuated by marzipan- and vanilla-like impressions as well as the expected coconut (though nowhere overpowering the way it often does in coconut-flavoured stouts), before a hot alcohol effect warms the throat. The sweetness does stick to the teeth a bit. Quite intense, interesting and unexpected from this company, pastry stout-like, but too sweet for me personally, a bit too boozy as well and a bit crude – it has, however, sparked my interest so I will certainly try and get my hands on the barrel aged versions that are coming up next, according to what the brewer himself told me.

Bottle at home. Dark brown color, deep dark red-brown glare coming through when held into the light, average sized tan head. Smell and taste malts, dark malts, some caramel, dried fruit a bit, somewhat sweet. Don't really get any cognac tbh. Body is decent, texture is a bit thinnish, carbonation is medium. Hmm it's ok but the barrel aging imo was useless or at least didn't bring what it should have brought. Ok beer though. 6-4-7-2-12