De la Senne Zwarte Piet

Brewed by Brasserie de la Senne
Style: Sour Ale/Wild Ale
Brussels, Belgium

Serve in Snifter, Tulip, Tumbler

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Sampled from an unlabeled bottle at Chez Moeder Lambic Fontainas; July 2010
The beer pours form the bottle with a frothy, browned, dark tan colored head that leaves touches of sticky froth on the sides of my glass as it slowly subsides. Black in color, but it shows a brown hue when held up to the light. The aroma has notes of chocolate, chicory and coffee along with an underlying, musty, earthy subtleness. The chocolate aromatics are just so huge in this beer. A rich maltiness is also so expressive in the nose; it is surprising that the Lambic character is so subtle (even non-existent) in the nose, though there is perhaps a touch of Lactic character here.

The taste, the taste, the taste… so tart and Lambic like, it is quite a shock after that rich malty brew experienced in the nose. The finish seems to be dominated finally by the lactic tartness, but in a stunning, come from behind victory, deep in the final rounds, a roasted, deeply toasted malt character takes over in the long finish and drops the lactic character faster and more abruptly than I would ever have guessed. The lactic acidity brings out a sort of cider like flavor; this mixes with a coffee like roast note and dark burnt chocolate flavors. As the beer warms a touch of fruitiness starts to become noticeable; it reminds me of pears more than anything. This is an extremely quaffable brew; it has just enough body to not make it so watery, but still is light bodied: though the combination of the Lambic and the dark grain complexity make this a sipping brew to savor.

This beer has a fantastic dichotomy between the aroma and flavor; they are so different from each other than this could easily be two different beers that only have subtle ties to each other. Though a second pour of this beer brings out lactic, earthy Lambic notes in the nose a lot more than was in the first pour.

75 cl. unlabled bottle @ Chez Moeder Lambic Fontainas with Zwarte Piet written on it with a marker, split 3 way /// man, I love the De La Senne lambic basket /// pours black with a tanned head, smells is creamy, touch bitter coffee, cocoa, mocha, chocolate (stouterik but a notch up from the one I had before on tap) with a slight barnyard, touch lemony flourishes in the back ground, taste is a nice black of both beers, firm stouterik with the geuze giving a nice finish & touch in the back, the aging appears to have done it wonders as well, bitter coffee, chocolate, mocha, creamy malts, plenty of cocao, touch sour edge becoming apparent in the finish, round, touch mellow lemon zest/acidity, barnyard, lacto, hint dusty, funky, full-bodied, subtle but incredible blend/combo, guessing earliest 2009 vintage, 300 or so bottles

75cl bottle unlabelled, just green marker on bottle and cap @ Moeder Lambic (17/02/2012), shared with ajax25g for my pre-bday beer celebration. Brune foncée allant, col est fin mais retient une certaine consistance crémeuse qui oscille entre beige et acajou. Arôme donne une présence lactic-funk qui garde ce profile de stouterik mais avec ce bouquet sec de gueuze qui s’entremêle avec des notes de malt grillé, voire de baies noires. Le tout change au fil de la dégustation. En bouche, un style que je décrits comme une gueuze-noire. Note de houblon type Saaz agrémenté de léger levure. Le tout est suivi de malt grillé, baies noires qui au fur et à mesure donne place à un malt grillé/torréfié et chocolaté sec. Ci et là des saveurs de houblons se manifestent, donnant un aspect fruité et fleuri mais qui restent sec. Très agréable et le lambic se marie à merveille avec ce stout sans que aucuns ne prennent vraiment le dessus.

Black body. Off-white - lightly brown head. Aroma of grapes and malty chocolates. Lightly sour, moderately bitter flavour. Quite nice and combines the malts and lambic very well.

Bottle at Moeder Lambic Fontainas during last week’s trip to Belgium. Reviewed from notes. Served in a De La Senne cervoise from a lambic basket. Unlabeled bottle with "Zwarte Piet" written with a green marker. Pours near black with a huge tan head that is quite fluffy and refused to die. Lots of lace on the way down. The nose is quite nice with some chocolate and roast then a bit of lambic mixed in. Really interesting and fairly complex. The taste takes it up a notch with everything really blending together beautifully. Nice roast and chocolate for a good base beer, then taken over the top with some light cherry and lambic sourness. The lambic is certainly much more present in the taste. Extraordinary balance in the feel, which really makes an already fantastic brew all the better. Great dryness from the roast and chocolate combined with a nice acidity. Easy-drinking and thoroughly enjoyable. Highly recommended.

UPDATED: OCT 23, 2011 750 ml bottle with name written on it with magic marker. Pours dark and murky maroon, tan head with good retention. Aroma of burnt chocolate, dust and funk. Taste is a silky chocolate stout at the start that tramsitions gradually to soft sourness. A unique combination that really works. Subtle and understated.

UPDATED: SEP 16, 2011 Details: 75cl bottle at Moeder Lambic Fontainas, shared with Travlr and Thorpe429.
Tasting Notes: Pitch black color with a one finger beige head. The nose definitely gives you the signal that there is some lambic inside, beatifull slight sour, lemony, kind of flowery aroma that is followed by a warm touch of cacao. The taste starts like the aroma with the sour touch and proceeds to a dry roasted espresso finish. Decent body and very drinkable due to the sour dry ending. A perfect example that not only hops and stouts are well combined but also lambic and stout is a pefect combination
Conclusion: A very interesting brew which has the warmth of a stout and the drinkability of a lambic.

Bottle at Moeder Lambic. Black coloured with a medium sized beige head. Light acidic aroma of grapes and spices. Fruity and light acidic flavour of red wine with roasted notes. Tart finish.

Bottle @ Moeder Lambic. Black coloured. Light brown head. Aroma of caramel, sourness, some roast and some charcoal. Flavour again has some caramel and roasty notes. Loads of grapy and lactic acidity notes. Smoothly sour. Medium to full bodied. Dry grapy end. NIce.

Bottle at Moeder Lambic Fontainas. Black - offwhire head. Burned. Soapy. Fruity. Light sourness. Carcoal. Ok hoppy. Dryness. Light acid. Nice.

750 ml bottle unlabeled bottle at Chez Moeder Lambic Fontainas with the name written in white ink. A almost pure black color with a huge beige head. The aroma is mostly tart funky lambic notes, but also hints of chocolate. The flavor is very interesting; a sweet roasted malt and chocolate from stout but also a dusty sourness of the Gueuze. It works. A thin body. Otherwise, a really nice brew. Unique in every way. Like early Black IIPAs it is ahead of its time.