Brugge Brasserie The Black

Brewed by Brugge Brasserie
Style: Belgian Ale
Indianapolis, Indiana USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Date: 04/29/2007
Mode: Draft
Source: Brewpub

black, frothy beige head, lots of lace, light roasted aroma with a fruity edge, creamy body, rich chocolate and roast flavor, light fruity esters, the rich chocolate and the creamy body is a great combination and makes this beer
-------- /> Date: 07/21/2007
Mode: draft
Source: brewpub
Score: 3.7 to 3.3

aroma is roasted with just a bit of the dark chocolate, rich dark chocolate and roasted flavor with burnt sweet dark fruits, the increase in sweet fruity character is a plus but the increasted roasted and burnt rubber character takes it away

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 13/20
Rating: 3.3/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **+/4

(Draught) Pours a black body with a creamy medium-sized beige head. Aroma of toasted grain, rye, chocolate, nuts, and some dark fruit. Flavor of plum, rye, toasted malt, Belgian yeast, light coffee, and cocoa with a dry finish.

From the Bottle at the GABF Colorado Convention Center, Denver 10/10/2008 Some roast aroma. Black and fruity with some bitterness in a sour earthy finish.

on tap-pours a light brown head and black color. Aroma is dark malt-anise, peat/roasty, earthy. Taste is tart dark fruit, herbal/medicinal, dark malt-anise, peat/roasty, earthy. Minimum carbonation. Once it warms to just above cellar temperature it improves but still the same off notes.

Bottle… Pours dark and sits black with a large, frothy, off-white head. Great, tight retention. Herbal, rooty aroma; also sweet and spicy. Medium to full-bodied with fizzy carbonation. Dark fruits and mild chocolate are in abundance. Moderately sweet. Crisp, chocolaty-sweet finish. Reminiscent of a foreign stout. Bottle courtesy of smith4498!

Draft in snifter at brewpub. Poured hazy brown color with an average fizzy off-white head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Moderate toasted sweet malty and small alcohol aroma. Medium body with a slick texture. Medium spicy sweet flavor with a medium sweet finish of moderate duration. Complex drinkable brew.

750ml bottle: Pours a barely transparent dark mahogany brown with a thin, wispy-lacing off-white head. Aroma of dry roasty dark malt, some Belgain yeast and an interesting sesame character. Starts with average fullness and some fizzy carbonation with a touch of grainy doughy malty sweetness and some earthy bitterness before a drier, toasty biscuity finish with a touch of milk chocolate. A pretty interesting and true to style dark Belgian ale. Could use a little more body and sweetness though.

UPDATED: JAN 18, 2009 My Bottom Line:
This bottle of Dark Belgian-style Ale was sadly infected: dill aromas, rubber, vinegary acidity, etc. This should not have been released.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A circle of foam dips into the near blackness.
-Carbonation is expansive, propelling all off flavors even further onto the palate.
-Roasted malts have earthy components.
-The body is relatively thin, but I don’t know if this is the result of the present infection.
-I didn’t know when I had this brew, but seeing the ingredient list I can imagine there were many opportunities to get infections and at least one problem got by them at bottling.
-This was quite the bummer because their bottled Tripel was as good as it was authentic.

Bottle.

Pours brown with a thin white head. Smells of roasted malt, some spicy hints. Tastes tarte and citrussy with soe lactic hints and a spicy finish.

Odd beer. Beautiful pour, but my enjoyment may have ended there. Aroma is pretty nice and malty with some funk. Flavor is funky and a tad tart/sour. I taste hints of a good beer, but I cannot get past the weird funk.