Alengrin (11561) reviewed Høly Møle - Habanero Edition from HopSaSam 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
New flavoured stout by HopSaSam, one of those smaller Belgian brewing projects silently producing very interesting beers; this variant uses habanero peppers, but other versions with different pepper varieties are due to follow, with the peppers being grown by the brewer himself. Yellowish pale beige, open, moussy head, very dark chocolate brown robe – near black but not quite, with mahogany-bronze glow. Aroma of black chocolate, toffee, pipe tobacco, indeed (dried) habañeros, walnut liqueur, black peppercorns, cinnamon (actually used), bayleaf, apple peel. Sweetish onset, ripe blue plum and fig aspects, ripe pear, raisin, medium carb with slight minerally effects, smooth oily body; toffeeish, walnutty and black-chocolatey malt middle carrying growing chili heat, spreading out over the back of the mouth and tongue and gradually becoming dominant, though spicy hops, lovely bittersweet malts and warming, brandy-like alcohol remain very prominent as well. Hot, too hot for some perhaps, but if you have a certain level of capsaicin tolerance and like spicy food, this one will please, because the heat is still well in balance with the rest. Not to be missed if you are into chili stouts.
mike_77 (15884) reviewed First Man On Mars from HopSaSam 3 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Dark mahogany brown colour with no head or carbonation. Deep caramel and rum raisin flavours. Really sweet like a dessert wine.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8.5
The twin of the Barrel 350 version (nicknamed "The Boozy Touch"), also aged for three years on calvados barrels and also released after one year of extra maturation in the bottle - so frankly I fail to see any difference between both, so for the time being, I will leave it up to the admins to determine if both versions need to be aliased or not. Pale greyish beige, irregular, large-bubbled and very loosely structured 'head', quickly collapsing into a ring of bubbles and eventually nothing; misty dark chocolate brown robe with wine red hue. Dense bouquet of Belgian chocolates, toffee, very clear calvados (much more obvious than in the "Boozy Touch"), tawny port, cooked apple, ground hazelnuts, walnut liqueur again but less strong than in the Boozy Touch, almond, ripe pear, candied dates, fig compote, blackberry jam, lots of oak wood (old furniture again - but a bit less strong than the Boozy Touch), yellow raisins, black pepper, cough syrup, very vague smoky note somewhere (or melting rubber even - but very, very faint); I had to check the labels of both bottles twice, because ironically, this one smells less oaky and more boozy than the Boozy Touch, so I personally would have switched the names. Whatever the case, in spite of the same basic beer having been treated the same way, orthonasally both are indeed subtly distinct. Dense, candied sweet onset again, but a tad less brown-sugary than the Boozy Touch, with more candied and dried fruit speaking, ranging between blackberry jam, candied dates and fig compote with hints of pear and banana thrown in; flat carb, very full and syrupy, viscous, 'heavy' mouthfeel like the other one. Again layer upon layer of hazelnutty, toffeeish and pecan-nutty malts unfold, edged by a (milk-)chocolatey effect and quickly warmed up by the calvados, which in this case tastes much more recongizably like calvados than in the Boozy one; still, it refrains from bringing unpleasant astringency and adds primarily a heap of flavour rather than annoying booziness - clearly the years of ageing have shaved off the sharper edges of the liquor. Woodiness is clear enough, vanilla-scenting oak wood is all around here, accentuating the nuttiness of the malts and the dark fruity aspects - but, as I mentioned above, it is somehow a tad less strongly tannic than in the Boozy Touch - again, a bit ironically. As said, I would have called this one Boozy and the other one Oaky, but in any case both are absolute masterpieces, intense, powerful and daring; I believe both really bring the Nonniversaire idea to a zenith, each in their own way. I will try to find out what exactly the difference is but until then, considering the subtle but consistent differences in taste and aroma, it feels more comfortable to indeed keep them as separate entries here. Whatever the case: both are very impressive dark barleywines of international allure, so get your bottles while they still last if this is the kind of beer you are into.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Special and limited Nonniversaire edition from 2020, differing from the earlier calvados barrel aged version in a much longer maturation on the barrels (no less than three years!) and released after an additional year of maturation in the bottle. Pale greyish beige, irregular, large-bubbled and loosely knit head quickly dissolving into little more than a ring of bubbles around the edge (and eventually nothing at all); misty dark chocolate brown robe with wine red glow and some dark protein bits at the bottom. Dense bouquet of Belgian chocolates, toffee, lots of wood (old furniture), sirop de Liège, madera, fig compote, tawny port and indeed a whiff of calvados (unsurprisingly - but much more subtle than expected based on the premise of this beer), hazelnut paste, Nutella, walnut liqueur from the Périgord, ripe pear, blackberry coulis, dates, solventy notes (varnish, fresh paint) but not so strong that they annoy me. Equally dense onset, a concentrate of candied figs, dates, raisins, blackberry jam and pear syrup, all but flat carbonation with very thick, viscous, syrupy mouthfeel (even for a barleywine of this strength); after all this dark, candied fruitiness, covered under a layer of muscovado sugar sweetness, a deep, multi-layered maltiness unfolds, very hazelnutty in its core but also pecan-nutty and very toffeeish, as if drinking a liquid Belgian 'praline', especially when the calvados comes in and warms everything up, adding an evidently (cooked) apple-like fruitiness and solventy aspects ('higher' alcohols), all tied together by a profound, vanilla-scenting, tannic woodiness which matches well with both the praline-like sweetness, the syrupy toffee core and the nutty aspects of the malts. Hops provide no substantial role but act 'behind the scenes' as structurally important elements - remove them and the whole would definitely become unbearably sweet. Sweet it is, but the wood, as said, counters this syrupy sweetness - and even more than previous versions in this astounding series, comes to the foreground in an almost oak furniture-like way, which I can highly appreciate in this kind of beers. A liquid 'bonbon', intense, concentrated and noble, walnut liqueur and port sauce come to mind more easily than 'beer' in this case. What a gem - but obviously one to be sipped from a small liqueur glass, as a beery 'digestif'. I bet every seasoned Anglo-Saxon barleywine lover would be impressed by this 'tour de force'.
jefverstraete (7493) reviewed Ferm Stouten Blackie from HopSaSam 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
GUSHER ALERT! Dark brown colour, brown foam. Nose of raisins, plums, roasted malts, whisky, vanilla. Sweet, roasty and light tart. Good.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
10/IX/22 - 50cl bottle @ Belgian Beer Geek Gathering (Gent), BB: +15Y, bottled: XI/2020 (2022-1152) Thanks to Bierridder for sharing the bottle!
Cloudy brown beer, no head. Aroma: very oxidized, lots of soy sauce, very boozy, alcohol, dried fruits, alcohol, wood notes. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: very sweet and sugary, lots of alcohol, caramel, oxidative notes. Aftertaste: more sugary, very oxidized, caramel, dried fruits, more oxidation, meh, way too boozy and very sugary, lots of alcohol, don’t like this one.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
10/IX/22 - 50cl bottle @ Belgian Beer Geek Gathering (Gent), BB: +15Y, bottled: XI/2020 (2022-1150) Thanks to Bierridder for sharing the bottle!
Clear to a little cloudy brown beer, no head. Aroma: nice, a bit oxidized, lots of calvados, some soy sauce, boozy, vanilla notes, aged and oxidized beer. MF: soft to no carbon, medium to full body. Taste: very sugary, boozy, alcohol, calvados, more alcohol that burns the throat, sugary, dried fruits, caramel. Aftertaste: sugary, lots of alcohol, pretty boozy, calvados, more alcohol, sugary, oxidized, dried fruits, raisins.
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
50cl bottle at Belgian Beergeeks/Brewver summer tasting at Tim's house. Thanks Siegfried. Bottled 11/2020, BB 11/2035.
Couleur cuivre sur un léger voie, pas de col.
Arôme reprend un caractère Calvados et un effluve plus sur le caramel que la version 350. Malt pâle, grillé et des notes de fruits secs.
Palais reste faiblard au niveau effervescence, douceur résiduelle de la barrique, Calvados est présent et donne une bonne dimension en fin de bouche avec la fraicheur de barrique et ce côté frais acerbe de cidre mais avec le booze en plus.
In fine, assez similaire à la version 350 - les nuances sont subtiles et pas spécialement notables.
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
50cl bottle at Belgian Beergeeks/Brewver summer tasting at Tim's house. Thanks Siegfried.
Bottled 11/2020, BB 11/2035.
Cuivre, pas de col.
Arôme au nez boozy, belles notes de Calvados avec un léger rétro-nasal de sucre résiduel - garde une bonne base de malts.
Palais est assez plat en bouche, peu d'effervescence qui vient accentuer le caractère boozy. Calvados apporte une belle pointe de fraicheur, retrait sur le côté barley wine, caramel, léger grillé et qcq notes de fruits secs.
Brewery Stats
| Score | 7.09 |
| Beers | 37 |
| Ticks | 146 |
Top Reviewers (Not including batches)
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Bierridder | 34 |
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Alengrin | 14 |
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jefverstraete | 14 |
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tderoeck | 13 |
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Sloefmans | 8 |
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nathanvc | 7 |
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Kraddel | 6 |
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Gerbeer | 5 |
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Rubin77 | 5 |
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mike_77 | 5 |