Cascadian dark ale (or at least inspired by it) from this interesting Antwerp craft brewer; steinie bottle from Wijnegemse Drankenhal. Gusher, but slowly so. Thick and frothy, audibly crackling, foamy, pale yellowish beige, stable head on a dark chocolate brown (though not actually 'black') beer, hazy with ruddy hue, showing some dark protein bits sinking to the bottom - clearly this bottle is already past its prime, so I'll take that in consideration when rating. Still a hoppy explosion in the nose, the old school way: grapefruit peel, pine resin, cedar wood, moist pepper, onion, orange juice, brown bread, dry beef broth cubes, fried black olives, toasted walnut, caramel, dry earth, nutmeg, sweet Brazil cigars somewhere in the background. Crisp, fizzy onset, strongly stinging (over)carbonation at first but calming down further on, fruity hints of old raisins, pear and dried fig, restrainedly sweetish with a soft sourish undertone; brown-bready and bit caramelly maltiness, a tad sweetish but quickly bittered, by a nutty toasted malt aspect but most of all, by a very firm, 'old school American', grapefruity, piney, peppery, leafy hop bitterness, offering retronasal aspects of black pepper, toasted onion and bitter fruit - while undeniable yeast breadiness and fruitiness peeps through as well. Long, bitter finish, but mitigated a bit by this yeasty breadiness, juicy and satisfying all the same. Black IPA-inspired for sure, aromatically a fond memory from a recent past when this style was still popular, but not truly 'black' - if anything, this is more of a 'brown IPA' with some Belgian yeast notes pushing themselves forward through it as well. Whatever it is, I did certainly enjoy it.