Pint at Hoppy Corner pours a clear gold with some foamy white head. Nose has grass and some citrus, some soap, soft perfume. Flavor is quite simple, perhaps too simple. Honey and lemon and some soap. Dry and bitter finish. Lacks a bit of pop.

Light hazy blond colour, white foam. Rather grassy, bitter and dry, some peppery hints and citrus.

33cl bottle from hopt.it, France. Pours pale gold, fairly transparent, with medium grained white foam. Aroma is herbal, yeasty, a little spiced. Body is medium with marked carbonation. Taste is medium bitter, with a dry and herbaceous final.

Qualitatif.

Une dunkelweizen cette Lebzelter? Je défie quiconque de pouvoir le dire tant le vieillissement en fût de pinot noir prend les devants, venant tout linéariser. L'ensemble n'est pas désagréable (bien que le petit côté aigrelet ne soit pas réellement à mon goût) mais simple et lassant. Le visuel est sur une robe brune avec une très fine mousse blanche. Au nez, c'est une dominante vin rouge qui apparaît, agrémenté de boisé et caramel. En bouche le vin rouge est également largement au-dessus, sur des arômes linéaires. L'alcool, à 9,6 % est bien, tout comme la longueur et la corpulence. J'aurais été curieux de tester la base nature.

Big Bottle 2021-08-12 Göteborg AR: black malt, hint of chocolate AP: dark brown, no head F: black malt, hint of chocolate with caramel,

330ml bottle, sampled August 2016. Pours hazed orange golden with a white cap. Aroma: honey, peach, floral, hoppy. Taste: light to moderate sweet & bitter, cereals, esters, grapefruit. Medium body with soft carbonation The nose is not very intense, with aromas of honey, peach, apple with a hint of juniper. Fortunately this is corrected on tasting with a fresh attack on cereals, biscuits, apple, peach and a very fine hops. The second palate, while still being fruity, is more floral and airy. The more bitter aftertaste has lovely freshness and citrus notes. The third palate is then smoother, presenting aromas of caramel and peach.

Wine barrel aged stout refermented with Brettanomyces - an interesting concept especially for France, but then old familiar Craig Allan is of course a Scotsman lost in France, so one could argue that the Anglo-Saxon influence here is perhaps a bit more 'direct' than would otherwise be the case in present-day French craft brewing... Thanks tderoeck for sharing. Slow gusher, but nothing dramatic. Very thick and frothy, membrane-lacing, pale greyish beige, stable head on a blackish beer with cloudy mahogany edges. Aroma of hard caramel, soggy brown bread, obvious horseblanket-, wet leather- and sweat-like Brett effects, old dead tree leaves, old oxidized red wine, blackcurrant, walnut shells, vague banana, lots of old wet wood, hint of dried varnish. Estery onset, plum, blue grape, blackcurrant, fig, sweetish and sourish, medium carbonated; caramelly, bread-crusty and walnutty malt profile, quite 'full' with a long, earthy, coffeeish roasted bitterness reminding one of the fact that this is indeed still a stout in its core. Quite complex, woody and vinous finish; drying tannins from the wine barrel, lingering roasted bitterness that survives everything, dry-astringent red wine effects, 'dirty' forest floor-like yeastiness and of course a retronasal 'refill' of classic Brettanomyces effects varying between old stables, damp hay and wet leather. A sour stout - ironically tasted after Broers' Sour Stout, which was actually less stout-like and less sour than this one; long, roasty, yeasty, complex flavour profile, one to sip and contemplate in silence. Complex, 'wild' but well-maintained, special beer - certainly among the most important ones I had from France till this day, even if there is, indeed, still a Scotsman behind it... Quite abstract in concept, but so recognisable to an experienced Belgian palate - this almost takes me back to some of the earlier BFM venturings in the same direction. I had a few Craig Allan beers years ago, but never expected something like this to come out of his 'head', in a manner of speech. Worthy closing of an interesting evening of sampling new beers in tderoeck's garden...

750ml bottle. Jet black colour with slightly late awakening, average to huge, thick, creamy, moderately to mostly lasting, moderately lacing, beige head. Roasty, chocolately, dark malty and yeasty fruity aroma, notes of dark chocolate, some cocoa, blueberry, bramble, blackcurrant, a touch of plum, whiffs of liquorice. Taste is slightly dry, roasty dark malty, chocolately, subtle sweetness, notes of dark chocolate, some liquorice, yeasty fruity hints of blueberry and bramble. Relatively viscous, creamy texture, smooth and soft, minimally cloying palate, fine and soft carbonation. Very, very nice.