’t Hofbrouwerijke Hofblues

Brewed by ’t Hofbrouwerijke
Style: Sweet Stout
Beerzel, Belgium

Bottle @ KBF in Geel. This beer really amazed me. Pours black with a beige/brown head. Strong sweet aroma of roasted malts, laurel, liquorice, some dark fruits. Flavour is the same, with a nice bitter roasted finish and some chocolate. Sticky and oily palate. Very tasty beer!

Bottle off Octo’s shelf. Been eyeing this one enviously for a while. Black as yer hat pour spiralling inkily into the snifter. Dense tan head going nowhere. Mouth-watering Lindt Excellence 85% aroma drenched with deep deep raisiny cocoa, fat humming blackcurrant, red apple, musty alpha hoppage, espresso,puff of English sulphur, Marmite, brine,charcoal. Come on, that’s a 9. No disappointments flavour-wise; massive charred high cocoa and full-on alpha bitterness, coffee,yeast extract, splashes of US impy stout intensity. Balanced and dry I’d say, and with the possible exceptions of Black Albert/Ellezelloise Hercule, the best Belgian Stout I’ve had. Above all, COCOA and HOPS. Love it.

33Cl. Black colored beer with a brown beige head. Coffee aroma. A lot of black burned malts in the aroma. Coffee, chocolate, bitterness from the burned malts. Excellent stout.

From bottle at 12de Vilvordia BierProefFestival. Dark brown, almost black with a light brown head. Espresso and chocolate aroma. Dark chocolate and espresso flavours, quite dry with a nice coffee finish. Another hit.

Tremendous looking beer that could only come from Belgium. Bountiful, large, beautiful head that lasts for a long time in the glass. Almost alarmingly aromatic, with hints of dark roast and ripe dark fruit, as well as hints of leather and cocoa. Flavor has some complexity to it, with notes of sour fruits, roast and chocolate. Highly complex, deeply flavored stout.

Bottle from John’s Marketplace in Portland, OR. Pours really black with a frothy, multi-finger tan head. Aromas of dark toasted malt and slightly spicy hop. Full bodied with frothy, creamy carbonation. Flavor is bitter from burnt malt, some malt sugar, and I think some noble hop. Suddenly lots of chocolate can be noticed. It’s not really sweet, and it’s decently bitter. Flavor just goes on and on.

Bottle from BierKoning. Tar black with dark brown foam. Tangy nose. Sweet with coffee taste, charamel and quite malty. Licorice/drop ending. Quite nice.

Bottled at Monk’s Café Wallingatan, Stockholm. Black, fairly rich beige head. Sweaty black currant aroma. Dryish and soft, salty and somewhat ashy. Packed with flavours, yet mild and gentle. Long salty tobacco finish.