Totem has been working with kveik yeast quite frequently in recent years so apparently this was Klaas Dellaert’s choice to add his own ‘flavour’ to this series, in combination with oat malts. Medium sized, shred-lacing, off-white, moussy head on a hazy deep orangey-peach blonde beer, cloudy and deeper amber with sediment. Aroma of dried apricots, ripe pear, raw radish (quite strong even – weirdly!), dry biscuit, rusk, old dried orange zest, red apple and a sweaty note. Sweetish onset, peachy, pear, soft carb but full and bit fluffy mouthfeel; caramelly, cookie-ish and peanutty malt core with bready edges, old bread crumbs even, adorned with spicy notes which again, in the end, take on the shape of raw radish, paired with hints of clove and honey before a long, earthy hop bitterness sets in, eventually highlighted by warming alcohol (which, fortunately, does not become too strong at any point). One of the more sophisticated ones in the series, perhaps a bit less “in your face” than I am used to from Totem – but this is part Totem and part Oude Maalderij after all, and for me this particular collaboration has worked out very well. Elegantly spiced, different and pleasant to drink without becoming overly eccentric: I think they hit the right spot here.

Jef Goetelen’s contribution to this series of collabs, all representing Belgian barleywines in a slightly different way – in this case making use of spelt, peated whisky malt and saison yeast. Moussy, membrane-lacing, egg-white, largely stable head over an initially clear, deep orange-glowing amber beer, turning cloudy and a bit brownish-tinged with the sediment added. Aroma indeed ‘peated’ as in actual dry peat, but complementing the rest rather than overpowering it: peach, bitter honey, soggy rusk, ‘jenever’, some bubblegum, damp tree leaves, fried apple slices, something rubbery. Ester-fruity onset, ripe peach and pear, again that bubblegummy isoamylacetate effect but remaining subtle, softish carb, full and rounded body; rusk- and bread crust-like maltiness with indeed a grainy spelt sourishness dimly running underneath, until the peaty element shows up, vaguely smoky but certainly not dominantly iodine-like as is more often than not the case in ‘peated beers’. Ends with a deep, leafy hop bitterness accentuated by a bitterish-toasty malt aspect and, more obviously so, ‘jenever’-like, eventually somewhat wry alcohol. This combined bitterness lasts for a long time, but even then this one feels the most ‘Belgian’ of the lot, like a specialty tripel with a few – admittedly interesting – twists rather than actual barleywine; a bit crude in comparison with the best in this series, but certainly unusual enough not to become boring at any point, even if the peated effect could have been played out some more to my personal liking.

Atrium’s take on this ‘Brewmance’ barleywine theme, with oats and tonka beans, the latter showing Atrium’s affinity with Brazil so I guess this is their way of making themselves noted among the five other Brewmance beers. Medium thick, pale beige, shred-lacing, eventually dissolving head, hazy dark amber robe, a lightly brownish-tinged bronze that seems darker than the other Brewmances. Aroma of soggy brown bread, ground hazelnuts, walnut oil, indeed ‘amandelspijs’- and even lightly liquorice-like effects from the tonka beans, clove, nougat, wormwood, old dusty nutmeg, hard caramel, muesli. Fruity onset, lightly sweetish, hints of peach and pear with a slight sourish undertone, soft carb, fluffy body; rusk- and bread crust-like malts with a toasty-bitterish edge, hazelnutty accent too linked to the tonka beans with indeed provide a ‘praline’- and marzipan-like retronasal aroma but generally remain rather understated. Warming, brandy-like alcohol and phenolic spicy hints add further colour to the finish. Malt-forward and yeasty, this one too feels like a strong Belgian rather than a true barleywine, with a seemingly more sweetish character than the others in this series; the tonka bean addition does lend it a certain exotic fringe, but it is too weak to do anything truly spectacular – I could have enjoyed a more generous tonka dosage here…

18/IV/21 - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte), shared @ home, BB: +3Y, bottled: 20/IV/20 (2021-301)

Clear orange beer, huge frothy pillowy yellowish head, very stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Looks perfect! Aroma: bit dirty, yeasty, smoky touch, banana, bit sourish, infected maybe? Smells rather weird and a bit unpleasant. MF: very lively carbon, medium body. Taste: very bitter start, bit yeasty, banana, spicy, bit soapy, lots of coriander, hoppy. Aftertaste: more coriander, spicy, bitter touch, some sweet malts, bit of orange peel, malty finish.

One of six strong ales d’Oude Maalderij brewed in collaboration with another Belgian craft brewery, Minne in this case. Medium thick, moussy, yellowish pale beige head lacing in shreds over an initially clear, deep amber coloured beer with darker brownish-bronze tinge, misty with sediment. Aroma of wet toast, dry old biscuit, dried apricot, ‘graanjenever’, soggy brown bread, red apple peel, baker’s yeast, jute, straw, old walnuts, nutmeg. Dried-fruity onset, remaining very restrained in sweetness, dried apricot and apple peel with a vague touch of peach, softish carb, full and smooth body. Bread-crusty malts with rusk- and peanut-like aspects, becoming quite strongly toasty and hoppy bitter in the end, the bitterness heightened by ‘jenever’-like alcohol; the hop bitterness lingers on and on, in a leafy, earthy, spicy way, matching well with the bready and spicy effects of the yeast – but failing to provide the New World aromatics I was expecting, as after all, Chinook and El Dorado have been used here… The same effect could have been achieved with a bittering noble hop variety I think, but the bitterness in general is certainly strong enough here to convey the American barleywine idea, albeit in a bready-yeasty, mildly phenolic, altogether still quite Belgian kind of way. Not bad at all for a strong Belgian ale, but I hesitate to identify it as a true barleywine.

One of six strong amber beers made in collaboration of d’Oude Maalderij with another brewery, ‘t Verzet in this case. Now with rye added to the mash and hopped with Sorachi Ace. Medium thick, yellowish egg-white, small-bubbled, thinnish and opening head on a misty deep peach-amberish beer, a tad paler than most others in this series. Aroma of old dried orange zest, soggy (rye) bread, ‘herbes de Provençe’, dried peach, old rusk, peanuts, oxidized apple slices, dust, vague sweaty accent. Fruity onset, peach and red apple, yet in a clean and not overly sweet way, medium carbonated, minerally side notes; smooth, bit ‘fluffy’ mouthfeel, rusk- and bread crust-like malts with a vague, ‘deep’ sourish edge possibly referring to the rye. Long, earthy, bitter finish, bittering malts but primarily the Sorachi Ace speaking, in this case behaving in a herbal, bit tea-ish, ‘dusty’ way, reminiscent of, again, dried old herbes de Provençe. Warming alcohol is certainly there, but not in an obnoxious way. Interesting creation, could do with a bit more (and fresher) ‘hoppy aromatics’ to fully qualify as the American style barleywine the way it was intended, but a decent sipper nonetheless.

Newish (October last year) beer from d'Oude Maalderij, the brewery from which The Mash arose, thematically inspired by tax controls plaguing the company - and therefore deliberately black and bitter. Strangely comes with two labels, one with the name Ristorno's and the other with the name Rabatten, so you will not find a bottle with both names on it; both are the same beer, though - could be seen as an outright parody on the practice of 'etiketbier' (selling the same beer under different names)... I have the Rabatten version in front of me, in any case. Relatively slow but very determined gusher, foam coming out of the bottle one or two seconds after opening, and continuing for a while after that - but the stream tumbles along slow enough to capture every drop without loss. A typical 'gushing head' forms during pouring: very thick and foamy initially, pale greyish beige in colour, irregularly shaped yet very frothy and leaving thick, irregular patches of plaster-like lacing after collapsing (and partially opening); cloudy, very dark chocolate brown robe, blackish in general appearance, with ruddy-burgundy hue. Aroma of fresh wormwood leaves, old walnuts, toffee in a non-sweet way, toasted brown bread, nutmeg, dry autumn leaves, tea bags, dried prunes, vague hints of black pipe tobacco, molasses, moldy acorn tops, damp earth, old dry cookies, rainwater, days old grilled meat on the brink of going bad, something faintly iron-like a naturally feeling way (blood). Fruity onset but restrained in sweetness, dried fig and prune, dim but consistent sourish undertone (very vaguely blackberry-ish), medium carbonation, slick and lean mouthfeel, general aspect of ferrous water underneath; toasted-nutty and brown-bready maltiness, low in sweetness so that the toasted bitterness can freely reign, though not evolving into stout-like roasted coffee bitterness: instead, the bready part takes over and supports a firm, leafy, rooty, herbal hop bitterness, earthy in the end when bready yeast effects become stronger and classic Belgian phenolic spiciness sets in. Ends dry, very spicy-leafy and earthy. Well, this beer does tilt the balance from toasted malts to bitter hops at exactly the right moment and that in itself is a core attribute of any good black IPA to me, but it is also an earthy, even somewhat 'dirty' beer with lots of Belgian spice effects (though nothing unpleasant) - maybe "Belgian dark IPA", to the analogy of supposedly blonde "Belgian IPA", should be a category of its own, even if there are not many specimens around that would fit it... Anyway, I bought one and therefore helped Jef (the brewer) pay his tax bills - I hope he appreciates it. --- Beer merged from original tick of Ristorno's / Rabatten on 30 Jan 2021 at 23:29 - Score: Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5. Original review text: Newish (October last year) beer from d'Oude Maalderij, the brewery from which The Mash arose, thematically inspired by tax controls plaguing the company - and therefore deliberately black and bitter. Strangely comes with two labels, one with the name Ristorno's and the other with the name Rabatten, so you will not find a bottle with both names on it; both are the same beer, though - could be seen as an outright parody on the practice of 'etiketbier' (selling the same beer under different names)... I have the Rabatten version in front of me, in any case. Relatively slow but very determined gusher, foam coming out of the bottle one or two seconds after opening, and continuing for a while after that - but the stream tumbles along slow enough to capture every drop without loss. A typical 'gushing head' forms during pouring: very thick and foamy initially, pale greyish beige in colour, irregularly shaped yet very frothy and leaving thick, irregular patches of plaster-like lacing after collapsing (and partially opening); cloudy, very dark chocolate brown robe, blackish in general appearance, with ruddy-burgundy hue. Aroma of fresh wormwood leaves, old walnuts, toffee in a non-sweet way, toasted brown bread, nutmeg, dry autumn leaves, tea bags, dried prunes, vague hints of black pipe tobacco, molasses, moldy acorn tops, damp earth, old dry cookies, rainwater, days old grilled meat on the brink of going bad, something faintly iron-like a naturally feeling way (blood). Fruity onset but restrained in sweetness, dried fig and prune, dim but consistent sourish undertone (very vaguely blackberry-ish), medium carbonation, slick and lean mouthfeel, general aspect of ferrous water underneath; toasted-nutty and brown-bready maltiness, low in sweetness so that the toasted bitterness can freely reign, though not evolving into stout-like roasted coffee bitterness: instead, the bready part takes over and supports a firm, leafy, rooty, herbal hop bitterness, earthy in the end when bready yeast effects become stronger and classic Belgian phenolic spiciness sets in. Ends dry, very spicy-leafy and earthy. Well, this beer does tilt the balance from toasted malts to bitter hops at exactly the right moment and that in itself is a core attribute of any good black IPA to me, but it is also an earthy, even somewhat 'dirty' beer with lots of Belgian spice effects (though nothing unpleasant) - maybe Belgian dark IPA, to the analogy of supposedly blonde Belgian IPA, should be a category of its own, even if there are not many specimens around that would fit it... Anyway, I bought one and therefore helped Jef (the brewer) pay his tax bills - I hope he appreciates it.

Pours unclear blonde. Smell is intense, strawberry. Taste is full, strawberry. Malty, not too sweet. Very fruitforward. Not bad. Bit plastic ending, perhaps due to the combo of strawberry and BE blonde, rather than a true brewing error.

Halloween beer - which has been a thing for several years now even in Belgium - by Oude Maalderij, flavoured with smoked butternut squash and French chili peppers (the famed and expensive Piment d'Espelette), inspired by the American pumpkin ales I imagine, but structurally a Belgian dubbel. Medium thick, yellowish off-beige, mousy, rather 'loose' head quickly thinning yet leaving a ring of beige foam around the edge and thin veils in the middle, over a hazy dark chocolate brown robe with burgundy edges. Aroma of soaking wet toast, smoked prunes, cigars, dried chilies, apple peel tobacco, pear, caramel, hints of chewing gum, nutmeg, medlar, damp tree leaves and earth. Fruity onset, pear, fig, apple, but rather subdued in sweetness with a slight sourish undertone to it (dried blackberries), medium to rather softish in carbonation, with slick mouthfeel; smooth brown-bready malts with a hard-caramelly core, altogether dryish, developing a very soft toasty bitterish edge but more flavoured by the smoked butternut squash, which adds little fruitiness but some lightly cigar-like smokiness to the whole without overpowering. The toasty aspect of the malts, though soft and mellow, blends with a light chili heat from the Espelette peppers, in themselves connecting with the smoked butternut; a herbal, tea-ish hop bitter note further accentuates the dryness of the finish, but also its spiciness. Dryish, spicy beer but well-balanced, offering enough soft maltiness to carry even more smoked butternut and Piment d'Espelette than actually went in here, I think; nevertheless, at this degree of smokiness and spiciness, things have been kept accessible and highly drinkable, which I assume was the intention. Cheers Jef, this is another well-constructed, technically flawless ale, and sorry for drinking it in the aftermath of New Year's eve rather than on Halloween...