#strong #golden

8/XI/24 - 33cl bottle as a gift, shared @ Efteling huisje, BB: 24/X/24 (2024-1194) Thanks to Marc for the bottle!

Clear orange beer, big solid creamy off-white head, pretty stable, a little adhesive. Aroma: sweet impression, lots of banana, a bit fruity, oxidized, honey, almonds, some marzipan. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: lots and lots of creamy slightly crystallised pale yellow honey, soft bitterness, a bit oxidized, some almonds. Aftertaste: more honey, a little spicy, pretty dry, sugary touch, a little bitter, some coriander, ok but not great.

The twelfth one in Kompel's Nostalgia Collection series, referring to a press with which egg-shaped briquettes of brown coal were made - as usual with Kompel, a reference to Limburg's mining past. Intended as a Doppelbock but doubtlessly top-fermented so in practice, probably closer to a dubbel - but we will see... Thick and foamy, regular, pale brownish beige, densely creamy, fluffy, membrane-lacing head on a clear, deep oxblood brown beer with burgundy-red glow. Aroma of caramel candy, red plum, dried fig, old raisin, marmite, glazed beetroot, pear syrup or indeed the sauce of 'boulets à la liégeoise', pecan nut bread, sugared tea, hints of dried banana, clove, wet toast, Latvian rye bread, damp earth and forest floor. Sweet, fruity onset, some banana mingled with ripe red plum, a touch of blackberry and some pear, thin sourish edge, lively carbonation (a bit stingy even) with smooth, full, bit fluffy mouthfeel. Caramelly and lightly brown-bready malt core, sweet with a bittering toasty edge, as well as something vaguely haemoglobin-like (iron - but not feeling 'unnatural' or added). Tea-ish herbal hops (Tettnanger in this case, grown in Belgium apparently) add soft but clear bitterness adding to the toasty aspect, but the sweetness and dark-fruitiness continue as well; warming port-like alcohol ensues, with a slighly astringent tail to it, but the toasty and hop bitter elements seem to accentuate this so I would not call the booze 'astringent' in this case. Bittersweet, malty and fruity ale - not a lager, mind you, so technically not a Doppelbock, unless you consider the Dutch bokbier traditions; indeed 'top-fermented Dutch double bock' could be an adequate moniker in terms of style, but the esters and (admittedly very light) phenols still give it away as a Belgian dark strong ale, no matter what. Not a true Doppelbock for me and none expected, to be frank, but a very solid, malty, bittersweet, slightly earthy Limburgian dubbel, in all. This Kompel project, patiently carving out its way since 2015 in the deeply penetrating mines of Belgian brewing, seems to improve slowly but steadily - I sincerely bet that one day, they could hit the mother lode and surface with an unforgettable masterpiece.

LCI #brown

Licht troebel goudgeel bier met schuim. Smaak is licht bitter hoppig met iets van gras, wat graan en sinaasappel.

Donkergeel bier met weinig schuim. Smaak is licht bitter hoppig en fruitig met iets van citrus en wat graan. Best een goed bier.

Hazy golden colour, white foam. Nose of caramel, sweet malts, a bit syrupy with fruity hiints.

Bottle at home. hazy golden beer, small head. Aroma is yeast, peppery, malt, citrus, light herbal. Taste is the same, peppery, yeasty, citrus, bitter, sweet. not bad.

Bottle at home, golden colour, small head. Aroma is malt, sweet, fruit, wood. Taste is the same, sweet, caramel, malt, fruit, some wood. ok