Bottle from Mitra Assendorp, Zwolle. Aroma is intense dark chocolate with roast, vanilla, chocolate cake, caramel, and a touch of ash. Flavour is bitter and medium sweet. Full body. Exquisite, bittersweet chocolate with bitter roast.

Bottle from Drankenhandel Leiden. Aroma is lots of cocoa with coconut, tonka beans, roasted malt, mocha, vanilla. Coconut and tonka in relative harmony. Flavour is medium sweet with a moderate roasty bitterness. Full body. Another gorgeous Nerdbrewing Stout.

Bottle from Drankenhandel Leiden. Aroma is roasted malt, chocolate, coffee, mocha, caramel, lightly burnt malt. Touch of vanilla. Pretty roasty and bitter with a rich sweetness as well. Full thick body. Very good.

Bottle from BiervanEijk, Frederiksoord. Big chocolate aroma with roasted malt, cocoa, caramel, soft but worthwhile coconut. Some milk chocolate. Not really picking up the chili, unfortunately. Potent bittersweet flavour, full thick body. These Nerdbrewing Stouts always satisfy me.

Bottle from Lekkerbier, Sint Nicolaasga. Aroma is sweet chocolate, roasted malt, nice toasted coconut, cinnamon, sugar, some caramel, mocha. Flavour is quite sweet with a firm roasty bitterness. Full body. Another beautifully rich Stout from Nerdbrewing, very sweet and full, chocolate and cocnonut shine.

Bottle from Hoptimaal, Amersfoort. Hazelnut, cocoa, roasted malt, chocolate, mocha, coffee. Medium sweet with a nice bitterness as well. Full, thick body as usual from Nerdbrewing. Rich and delicious.

Swedish imperial stout flavoured with cocoa nibs and - in this specific variant as there are many - cinnamon and liquorice, an interesting combo coming from a classy bottle with waxed cap. Densely creamy, mocha brown, regular, stable head on a pitch black beer. Intense bouquet of lots of pure dark 'fondant' chocolate (more than average even in this style - the cocoa nibs no doubt), chocolate ganache, Belgian 'pralines' or chocolate truffles, indeed clear cinnamon but well integrated, only vague liquorice though (probably for the best) with a touch of Dutch 'drop', toffee, port sauce, toast, cashew nuts, light salmiak, hints of cream cheese, venison, chocolate liqueur, coffee powder, gin, whisky. Dense, sweet onset but not overly sugary - even if a touch of muscovado sugar is imaginable; dried blueberry and plum jam hints with faint umami (porcini) on top and this touch of 'drop', remaining subtle enough to add a shade of colour without overpowering the rest. Softly carbonated, very full, oily mouthfeel; utterly 'deep' dark chocolateyness thanks to the cocoa nibs having molten into the dark malts completely, with outright delicious result, even with that soft-spicy bitterness you get from actual molten dark chocolate; caramelly, nutty and coffeeish aspects too, sprinkled with cinnamon but far less liquorice, supported by leafy hops hidden under all this chocolateyness. This flavour bomb is then warmed by whisky-like alcohol and even if this aspect comes on a tad strong in the end, the overall flavours remain firmly in place. Could perhaps have been just a tad more subtle in terms of booziness, but now four years old, this stout has aged very gracefully - if that extra subtlety had been achieved, this would have been world class for me. Still an unexpectedly beautiful, impressive and mouthwateringly delicious strong stout, perfect for a freezing January night. I had no idea Nerdbrewing - with all due respect - was capable of this degree of greatness, though I must admit that most of the beers I had from them were pretty good.

Bottle from Lekkerbier, SInt Nicolaasga. Aroma is roasted malt with chocolate, booze, slight coconut (unfortunately), coffee, honey, mocha. Sweet flavour with warming booze in the finish. Full body.