Hof Ten Dormaal Barrel-aged Project (Dark Ale): No. 12 Ardbeg Whisky

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Bottle - 750mL corked and caged. Dark coppery pour with a tall, delicate, fluffy tan head. Aroma is laden with peat and iodine from the Islay whisky. There’s some fruitiness beneath that, however. Taste is strong peat, iodine, dark fruit, light woody notes and faint yeast. The whisky is dominant here as well. Body is medium with a soft, bubbly carbonation. Ends with more peat, iodine, caramel, notes, dark fruit, malt and wood. I can imagine those not fond of Islay whisky will be put off by this.

Bottle at Torst with a bunch of guys that apparently all have shitty palates. Pours deep amber with a beige head. Big scotch, peat, and wood. Very in your face, with lighter sweetness, and faint yeasty notes. Good stuff.

Bottle courtesy of Clockwork, shared with the RB group at Torst. Pours a deep, dark brown body with off-white head. Aroma is oak, bourbon, soft cocoa and dark fruit. Mouthfeel is medium with notes of oak, vanilla, bourbon, dark fruit, booze, and spice.

Bottle at Tørst with Max, Ramy, GT & Whitney, Andy, Pearl, James, J-Dad, blipp and Ashley. Pours a hazy to muddy amber brown with a medium to large sized tanned head. Big peat smoke on the nose, chewy peat. Sweet and full of peat and smoke. Sweet and tangy peat. Weird and rubbery.

750mL at Torst with the ratebeer group. Gusher! Muddy reddish pour, weak beige foam. Nose is heavy Ardbeg peat and yellow apple, more oxidized sweet apple, red apple skin, mild hints of maple glazed ham. Taste is quite dry, chalky, sweet red apple. Palate is sweet, mealy. Uh, not my style and I love Ardbeg.

UPDATED: APR 11, 2013 Bottle. Pours dark brown. Off white head. Nose and taste of dark fruit, oak, vanilla, whiskey, peat, yeast and cocoa. Medium body. Finishes with a bit of dark fruit and vanilla with whiskey.

750 ml. bottle. The ale pours dark redbrown with a large tan head that remains for a long time.Lots of peat and smoky aromas from the Ardbeg casks. A little bit of sweet dried fruit, but the smokiness quickly takes over.

750 ml bottle - pours clear thin dark marron brown with a yellow hue in the head. Nose is definitely Ardbeg peat (overdone) while basiccally all other aromas and flavours are not noticeable. The body is quite thin compared to the overwhelming Ardbeg character.Pity.

Yellowish head, fast gone over fully hazy darker red-brown beer. Phenolic, tarry nose, Islay jumping out of the glass; coffee cookies. Milder flavour with liquorice, wet pinewood, tarred poles, but surprisingly sweet overall. Medium bodied, alcoholheat, very slick, very carbonated feel. As expected, dark beer suits itself better to this kind of experiment than blond. But if I see what Menno and Kees manage with Ardbeg barrels...

15/XII/12 - 75cl bottle @ Kerstbierenfestival (Essen) - BB: n/a (2012-1369) Thanks to the Belgian/Dutch ratebeer crew for sharing our beers!

Clear red brown beer, small aery off-white head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: oh, it’s peated all right! Smoky, yeasty, dusty, bit sweet, some caramel. MF: lots of carbon, medium body. Taste: bitter start, some caramel, sugary, peated, smoky, earthy character. Aftertaste: more smoke, peat, some caramel, bit sweet, dry, woody.