330 ml bottle, batch #R016, from Det Bette Ølhus, Aalbæk. ABV is 6.5%, EBU 37. Deep golden to orange colour, large white head. The aroma is not impressive, notes of dust, yeast and old jam. The flavour is better than the aroma, with a decent fruitiness, but is still too yeasty. Moderate bitterness, hints of cloves.

14/07/2019 @home - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck. Dark brown with a beige head. Nose is malts, caramel, bit roasted, spices. Taste is malts, caramel, hints of roast, bready, spice. Nice.

The fifth seamonster-themed 'superbarleywine' by d'Oude Maalderij, this time aged (for more than two years) on cognac barrels. Comes from the same style of bottle as the previous editions, a 50 cl longneck bottle with yellow and green artwork depicting the eponymous seamonster from Greek mythology; bottle 1113 of only 1250 made. Thin and open, pale greyish white head, hardly lacing, some thin veils in the middle but eventually all disappearing into nothing under influence of the alcohol; initially deep and dark copper-hued ruddy bronze robe, turning cloudy and more brown with sediment. Intense and boozy nose of indeed brandy, sweet sherry, hazelnut oil, sweet chestnuts, fresh paint, caramel, beef stock, figs in 'jenever', crêpe Suzette, marmalade, brown sugar, dusty old wood, cloves, vanilla, medlar and quite pronounced green apple acetaldehyde, which in combination with the booze reminds me of calvados perhaps even more than of cognac. Sweet onset, strong candied fig and pear effects mingled with that very distinct green apple flavour no doubt related to acetaldehyde, sourish grape-like accent as well, soft carb, very vinous mouthfeel made a bit sticky and syrupy by the strong residual sweetness, which continues over a resinous caramelly malt base with deeply (wal)nutty edges. Honeyish effects with only a very faint earthy, hardly bitter hoppy note and - in the end - bready yeastiness leads to a very boozy finish - the alcohol was already apparent from the start - providing quite some heat but also very explicit cognac flavour; solventy effects of paint thinner and varnish are there as feared, but somewhat less so than in the three previous ones. Sweetbready, honeyish and nutty aspects linger beneath all that cognac, as does a mild tannic woodiness. Very sugary, very boozy and quite solventy, this 'monster' of a barleywine still lacks refinement and restraint, but it sure shows an essential level of complexity and seems more in balance than the first four versions - so either this series is improving, or the brewer was lucky to find a more fitting combination of flavours than before. Very showy beer, overachieving in a not so elegant way, over the top like the others - and I still didn't manage to finish a whole glass of it, but we're slowly getting there; the seamonsters are getting prettier with each edition, it seems. Both the actual booze and the solvents should soften with age, too. Benefit of the doubt for me.

Bottle at home. Almost clear golden color, small white lacing. Smell and taste malts, saison-ish yeasty a bit but also a note of citruspeel tart-bitter. Average body and carbonation. Meh. 5-3-6-2-10

Shared 500 ml bottle, from Det Bette Ølhus, Aalbæk. Black colour, no head. Intense aroma of peated whisky and oak, also roast malts and molasses. Nearly void of carbonation. Roast malts, peated whisky, oak and molasses in the flat flavour. Not my cup of tea.

Endelig RBHD-samling igjen, og denne gangen ombord på Fridtjofen. 0,5 flaske: brunsvart uten skum. Tjære, lakris, malingsfjerner, brutal sherry og skokrem.