Can from Leuven Innovation.
A: hazy black, stable, frothy, beige head.
A: cold coffee, coffee nib, soggy toast, chestnut, black tea.
T: bittersweet coffee nib, mocha, toast, oats.
F: herbal hops, bitter espresso, dry oats.
P: medium body, slick texture, soft carbonation.
Clean dry coffee profile, pretty good.

Can at home, black beer, small to no head. Aroma is roast, chocolate, sweet, hint of coconut, lactose. Taste is the same, lactose, sweet, chocolate, coconut, sticky sweet. Overall quite nice but the end is too sweet

20 May 2023. At Leuven Innovation Beer Festival. Shared with the lovely Anke!

A: hazy dark brown, thin, tan head.
A: toasted coconut, vanilla, bourbon, toffee, raisin.
T: very sweet date, raisin, toffee, vanilla, vague biscuit.
F: herbal hops, coconut, dried fruit, warming bourbon alcohol.
P: full body, oily-syrupy texture, soft carbonation.
Utterly enjoyable heavy Quad; have an extra point for not letting the bourbon turn it into an acetaldehyde mess.

20 May 2023. At Leuven Innovation Beer Festival. Shared with the lovely Anke!

A: cloudy black, small, foamy, beige head.
A: old fondant, vanilla bean, espresso, almond, brandy.
T: sweetish fondant, vanilla cream, bitter coffee.
F: earthy hops, vanilla, bitter coffee roast, warming coffee liqueur-like alcohol.
P: full body, creamy texture, average carbonation.
Not the most complex, but just a classic Imperial Stout, which is always a good choice.

20 May 2023. At Leuven Innovation Beer Festival. Shared with the lovely Anke!

A: clear golden, thin, off-white head.
A: ripe tangerine, melon, shallot, cheese, gin.
T: sweet melon, sourish citrus zest, spicy shallot.
F: piney hops, melon, dank shallot, warming gin-like alcohol.
P: medium body, oily texture, average carbonation.
Weirdly clear and more of a classic DIPA - where's the NE intention gone? But okay anyway.

Can from Beerdome drunk at home 07/06/2023 New 🇳🇱 brewery ✅ dark sweet roasted malty with lots of chocolate, caramel and fudge, full bodied, dark sweet malty chocolate finish. Nice one.

Bourbon barrel aged quad by these new stars of the Rotterdam craft brewing scene (thanks Kaapse for that). Pale greyish white, dense, moussy but opening head on a misty mahogany-bronze brown beer with purplish-red glow. Aroma of caramel candy and caramel sauce, candied fig, vanilla from the oak and indeed bourbon, Ferrero Rocher candy, brown honey, candi sugar, actual wood (subtle), treacle, almond, hints of coconut and Cola Zero. Sweet onset, lots of dark candi sugariness, sweet red apple, dates and pears, medium carbonated, full and soft body; caramelly, lightly hazelnutty and brown-bready malt core with a lot of honeyish sugariness left on top, the sweetness only accentuated by vanilla-like oak wood and sweet-boozy bourbon, also turning a bit rum-like. A herbal hop note resides in the undergrowth, but sweetness, though in a layered, complex and in that sense interesting manner, remains the key element. I recall that this was also the case in one of their barrel aged imperial stouts I had a while ago – is overt sweetness a benchmark of ROTT? I hope not, but there is no denying that the few beers I had from them so far, are ‘deep’, full, sophisticated and cleverly constructed in spite of the exaggerated sweetness, so have a decent score.

One of several barrel aged imperial stout variants by this young (2017) craft brewery in Rotterdam, from a 33 cl longneck bottle with deep green wax over the cap. Thickly moussy, bit uneven but densely structured, pale mocha-beige, slowly thinning and breaking head on a jet black beer with thin burgundy edges. Intense and complex aroma of melting cocoa nibs and 'fondant' chocolate, clear bourbon, toffee, hazelnut praliné, coconut flakes or even some white rum, ketjap manis, blue cheese, vanilla-scenting oak wood, chocolate truffles, cold cappuccino, hints of liquorice, fig syrup, candied dates, vague beef stock, bayleaf, mulled wine, Poire Belle Hélène. Dense, sweet onset, candied dates and fig compote, raisin to even blackberry coulis, finely but actively tingling carbonation, light umami notes (porcini); very thick, oily to almost syrupy mouthfeel, lots of dark sugary sweetness effortlessly ploughing through slabs of toffee-, cocoa-, hazelnut paste- and caramel-like malts with a thick dark-chocolatey core, increasingly warmed by bittersweet bourbon of noticeably high quality, paired with vanilla-breathing oak wood. The tannins from the wood and a late dose of spicy hops, lingering at the back, cannot stop the thick, toffeeish sweetness, but this is not uncommon in present-day imperial stouts of course - so viewed as a contemporary 'BBA' stout, this holds itself together remarkably well. Colourful elements of coconut, blue cheese, beef stock and liquorice return retronasally, adding complexity and depth; the effervescence, though subtle, continues to keep things lively as well. Lots of boozy bourbon in the end, but this beer holds so much unfermented lactose sweetness that it manages to absorb this alcohol upsurge very well, though it admittedly also absorbs a lot of the bourbon flavour. Rich, long, desserty finish - but the sweetness does stick to the teeth a bit, and I miss a counteraction of roasted coffee-like bitterness. But that is just me, of course, being an 'oldskool' stout drinker: within the expectations of craft beer geeks today, this one performs exceptionally well, even better than expected (and expectations were already high given what I read about this series). One to cellar for a while, and then sip slowly on a winter night - I am taking advantage of the last breaths of winter, as nights are still on the chilly side, to enjoy this kind of beers. A sweet, very American and very contemporary 'impy', I am left wondering why this series does not seem to create as much buzz in Holland as e.g. Moersleutel's stouts do - this is perfectly aligned with what the average strong stout drinker expects today. For me personally: perhaps just a tad too sweet, but compliments to the brewers for making no mistake whatsoever in this kind of 'dense', intense and highly profiled beer.