De la Senne Stouterik

Small bottle from Belmont Station in Portland, OR--Poured a nearly opaque black-brown body with a handsome beige creamy body. Bubbly, thin effervescent body. Mildly sour, sweet, dry, raisin nose and flavor Finished dry with a thin nuttiness and a hint of cherries. Kind of boring overall, but highly quaffable.

Bottle. Mocha and cocoa on top of hard roast and burned notes, light caramel. Some chocolate. A pitch pour with an excitable and huge, but otherwise perfect head - tanned, lacing, rocky, immovable. Lightly bittersweet taste is mostly dry and roasty, with dark chocolate leading toward a dry, [cigarette] ashy finish. A little tarry and astringent. Light-medium body. A little too "hard" for me to go after again.

This brewery is climbing up my list of interesting breweries that I want to try everything they have. Pours very dark brown with a generous dark tan head. The aroma has roasted malt with coffee and bitter chocolate, earthy Belgium yeast, cream and vanilla. The body is quite thin and crisp with harsh biting carbonation. The flavor starts very dry with bitter chocolate, citric acid, roasted malt and earthy / spicy hops. The finish is quite sharp and bitter due to the mix of roasted malt and hops. A very good stout. If it was priced a bit more reasonable I’d partake of this one of a very regular basis.

A gorgeous mocha foam on a body of reddened chocolate. Mayan chocolate, cinnamon, clean coffee bitterness and soft herbal hops in the nose. There’s a richness about it that carries no weight of sugar, dry and crackery, but dense and mousse-like. Hops lend a subtle liveliness of citrus rinds and flowers, that’s buried delicately beneath the quiet strength of brown sugar and chocolate malts. And a touch of root vegetable sweet earthiness toward lingering in the corners. The balance of simplicity and depth is impressive.

Similarly, an understatement of flavor. Bitter and herbal hops, gorgeously accented by the spicy nuances of the yeast, and conversing cheerfully on the surface of a deep convalescence of malt. Particularities: jasmine tea and wildflowers; anise, banana and blueberry esters, and bubblegum; coffee, cinnamon, and chocolate. Bitterness of a woodsy, smoky variety, herbal in essence, and invigorating.

Velvety, soft medium body; lightly effervescent at first, but creamy in finality. Soft blueberry and wildflower honey sweetness extends far into the finish, after the consistent herbal bitterness of an acidic light-roasted coffee has faded. The interplay of elements in this example is somewhat angular, but it’s so beautifully executed that it begs the question of why more stouts haven’t incorporated hops and yeast to play such dominant roles.

De la Senne is possibly the premier hidden gem of Belgium; its offerings are expertly crafted, yet always exciting.

Pours and foams like cola into an English pint. Tan micro head does not stop and snowcones the rim. Sour chocolate and coffee aromas. Fizzy, thin dark chocolate and pit fruit with a lasting bitter finish.