Bottle picked up from Dranken Geers Oostakker, nr Ghent, Belgium, consumed at Lenggrieser Mountain Camping, Lenggries, Bavaria, Germany Saturday 27th July 2019. Pours murky reddy amber with a grubby white head. Bitter, malty, hoppiness is excellent, thoroughly enjoying this.

Bit thin... And probably too old. Need a fresh one.

Great! Very simular to the hoppy special belge Argon from Siphon brewing... Bit more bitter hops.

14/07/2019 @home - 33cl bottle from Malt Attacks. Hazy golden, big white head. Nose is malts, tropical fruits, piny. Taste is malts, bit fruits, grapefruit, piny, OK.

11/07/2019 @home - 33cl bottle from Malt Attacks. Orange colour, white head. Nose is malty, somewhat grains, bit orange peel. Taste is malts, fruity, bit bitternes, bit spices. OK as a thirstquencher.

Special version of Atrium’s strong stout Onyx, aged on wood (I suspect wood chips) of the amburana tree, a South American tree known for its high quality timber wood – but threatened by habitat loss nowadays, so one could wonder how ecologically sound it is to use this kind of wood to age a beer on; that said, though, this is something of a new hype in barrel aging in the States, it seems, and this is certainly the first one in Belgium. Pale greyish beige, irregular, thin, open ring of a head lacing in dots over a jet black beer. Aroma of melting milk chocolate, chocolate liqueur, hazelnut paste, toffee, dry tea, ruby port, whisky, candied dates, rainwater, dead tree leaves. Sweet onset, a tad sticky even, caramelly and hazelnutty, light umami edge, soft carb; full and viscous mouthfeel, lots of toffeeish and chocolatey maltiness filling the mouth cavity but remaining very sweet and a bit sticky as well. Dry woodiness does appear in the finish, albeit relatively subtly so, before a glow of port-like alcohol paired with a very late but notable dash of herbal hop bitterishness close things off. I happen to have had the regular Onyx recently in Amsterdam and thought it was a bit too sweet even if intended as a semi-pastry stout, but the wood treatment in this version did some good for it, adding an accent of drying wood tannins countering the sweetness. Still, this wood effect remains limited and subtle, so a longer period of wood aging – in real wooden barrels – would probably even make the basic Onyx even better. Not sure if this is among the brewer’s intentions, but if he’s reading this, I would certainly recommend it.

Tap at Foeders, Amsterdam, 10th July 19. Pours black, nice tan head. Aroma is roasted malts. Taste is super roasty and bitter hops, dark chocolate, slight aromatic, cocoa, heavy bitter linger in the finish. Quite a hoppy stout or porter to me

Strong(ish) milk stout with Indonesian coffee, released during Dok Brewing Festival, but will probably be continued and bottled later. Pale greyish beige, mousy, slowly opening head, blackish robe with vermillion hue (only visible under sufficient light). Aroma of indeed, and very strongly so, fresh warm espresso and freshly roasted coffee beans, very expressive and aromatic, overseeing notes of toasted walnuts, 'fondant' chocolate, cold Irish coffee, coffee cream, fudge, 'Haagse hopjes'. Sweet onset, candied fig, raisin, softish carb, very thin umami touch somewhere, full and oily mouthfeel made even creamier by the lactose, the sweetness of which overlies a walnutty and caramelly malt backbone with deeply chocolatey side, drenched in a whole lot of the aforementioned aromatic, fresh, actual coffee. Roasted bitterness remains relatively subtle - the emphasis clearly lies on actual coffee flavour and fragrance here; very subtle spicy notes in the end, as well as some warming, whisky-like alcohol, further accentuating an effect reminiscent of cold Irish coffee. Now thís is coffee stout - one many others in Belgium and far abroad can learn from; the coffee is very expressive, elegant and highly aromatic here, and for me personally this works very well - but I would not recommend touching this if you hate coffee...