Dormaal Donker

Brewed by Brouwerij Hof Ten Dormaal
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Tildonk, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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37,5cl bottle @ home shared with Thompson. Very dark brown color with a dark red glow coming through. Average sized light brown head that leaves a slight lacing. Smell malts, some sweetness, dark and overripe fruits. Taste malts, lightly roasty, lightly sweet hints, some bitter and again dark fruits. Pretty nice. Medium carbo, medium body.

Dark brown/black colour nothing much to see. Somewhat bitter taste but common to darker beers. small to medium white head. overall not a bad one. drank at the benzai.

Sweet candy sugar and toffee aromas. Brown sugar, raisin and toffee flavors. Overall a decent Belgian strong ale.

Bottle, 37,5cl corked. A brown colored, unclear beer with a dense, big, beige head. Sugary nose with dried fruits, cellar, some chocolate and herbal notes. The flavor is on the sweet, malty side, with dried fruits, and some herbal bitterness. Dryish and full-bodied. An interesting and quite nice one, not just straightforward malts and hops, but with a herbal touch that suits it well. 110826

Bottle - 375mL corked and caged. Dark, murky brown pour with a short, fizzy tan head. Aroma is light caramel, dusty yeast notes, candied fruit and dark fruit. Taste is sweet and malty with caramel, cocoa, dusty yeast, dark fruit notes and candi sugar. Body is medium with lots of effervescent carbonation. Finishes with more caramel, dark fruit, soft cocoa, candi sugar notes and dusty yeast. Soft dessert notes as well.

Pours deep mahogany into a tulip. Tan conglomerate head recedes leaving scant spiders. Metallic, sweet roasted caramel, toast and pit fruit aromas. Sharp with dusty caramel upfront turning to sweet dried prune in the lasting earthy finish.

375ml. Ruby with a slim beige cap. Pronounced alcohol aroma with a red berry acidity, wet oak, pepper, bark. Earthy, edgy, redcurrant yeastiness glowing with alcohol and acidity. Smidgen of nut husk and smoke for dessert. Eye-watering fizz. Too much yeast and alcohol burn. Doesn’t fit together; spices not fully stirred-in. Just don’t know what you’re going to get from these boys.

37.5cl bouteille. Cuivrée, col épais beige. Arôme de levure, malt caramel, léger fruité noir. En bouche, malt grillé/pointe de choco amer, levure et houblon pour un léger côté citronné. Fini est sec sur une pointe biscuitée.

12.7 oz import. About halfway through untwisting the wire securing the cork, the beer surprised me by sending the cork and wire device flying into my ceiling with a loud POP. I’ve never had a beer so carbonated, including nearly explosive homebrews, and random imports gone bad/sour. I fear the worst. Before opening there was a quarter inch of pure yeast sediment! After opening, the half-bottle’s-worth of beer is opaque, milk chocolate sludge with a slightly green hue, sort of like a rather messy wort after the boil. Aroma is a light sweet maltiness combined with some bakers yeast and a bit of tart, refreshing apple. In addition to this, especially as it warms and the explosive CO2 dissapates, a light "gone-bad" flavor rises out, confirming my suspicions- at the very best I’ll be getting a ghost of what this beer was intended to be. The body is a medium-light, which is heavier than I expected given the situation, a nice sweetness, with dry bread crust, lightly spiced, and, again, a touch of apple. The "badness", which, to put a better adjective to it, I will call astringent rotten fruit, only comes though as a touch, and so the beer is drinkable; however, its so disappointing I am tempted to dump it out anyway.

(Bottled, 0.375l) Very dark brown with a large, tanned head. Dark toffee and slightly sour malt in the nose, along with a strong and distinctive yeastiness. Flavor is caramely-creamy-toffee-malty, anise-peppery-spicy, lightly roasty, reasonably dry, even somewhat bitter. Medium to full body, silky-smooth palate with balanced CO2 and some alcohol presence. Another enjoyable and balanced one from this brewery. 4446