Troubadour Westkust

Brouwerij The Musketeers
Brewed at De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Black IPA
Ursel, Belgium

Serve in Shaker, Tulip

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In short: A resinous-hoppy Belgian dark ale. Good.
How: Bottle 750ml, consumed as soon as I received it though our private importation group, 2.5 years before expiration date.
The look: Very dark ruby body topped by a large beige head with medium retention and leavings lots of lacings on the glass.
In long: Nose is a bit nutty, leafy hops resin, belgian dark ale fruity esters. Taste is baked berries, caramel pastry, dark bread, toasted hay, yeast, peanuts & cashews, a mix bag of fruits, some vegetal notes (nori sushi wrap!?!), notes of BBQed red meat, plenty of resinous leafy hops. Medium bitterness level that feels pretty sticky. Mouthfeel is very much Belgian, lively carbonation and full pillowy body, the mouthfeel I would expect from a classic Abbey Dubbel. This beer is classified as a Black IPA but this is obviously a thousand miles away from a typical American-style Black IPA, this is a hoppy dark Belgian ale. I liked the beer despite the strange meaty notes. On a positive related notes, studies have shown that drinking and rating 3 beer or more per day greatly reduces your risk of catching a sexual transmitted disease by decreasing your chances of getting laid.

Dark green bottle, 750 ml, best before 06 sept 2015, via Importations Privées Bièropholie (merci Hughes!), savoured on May 19 2013; eye: mahogany, semi-opaque, voluminous beige head, lots of lacing; nose: vegetal hops, light pine, roasted barley, light chocolate, slight fruity; mouth: vegetal hops, light pine, roasted barley, light chocolate, malt, slight alcohol, slight fruity, malty finale with presence of resinous hops, medium body, good carbonation, mildly bitter, slightly sweet, lightly grainy texture; overall: quite fine FRANÇAIS Bouteille vert foncé, 750 ml, meilleure avant 06 sept 2015, via Importations Privées Bièropholie (merci Hughes!), savourée le 19 mai 2013; œil : acajou, semi-opaque, mousse beige abondante, dentelle abondante; nez : houblon végétal, léger pin, orge torréfiée, léger chocolat, très léger fruité; bouche : houblon végétal, léger pin, orge torréfiée, léger chocolat, malt, très léger alcool, très léger fruité, finale maltée avec présence de houblon, résineux, corps moyen, bonne carbonatation, moyennement amère, très légèrement sucrée, texture légèrement granuleuse; en résumé : bien bon

1L Squealer. Pours cloudy dark brown/black with a nice big off white head. Big creamy chocolate roasted malt aroma. Nice creamy espresso like flavour with a resinous hop backing and i can hardly detect the alcohol. Not bad, worth a shot.

(draught) pours a very dark clear ruby-brown colour with a frothy beige head. aroma of brown sugar, liquorice and yeast, herbal hops, fresh wort, dark chocolate and grain husks. flavour is roasted malts, caramel, burnt treebark and light brown sugar, with a light sweetness and a medium-bitter herbal-hoppy finish. heavy-bodied with lively carbonation.

Aroma: Bit roasty, some fruit Appearance: Thick head, all the way lacing Taste: Beginning stout, stout, aftertaste stout with jacket of IPA bitterness, very nice....

It pours deep brown, with a medium off-white head. The nose is pine, bitter-sweet, cocoa, some dark fruit and toast. The taste is roasted malt, charcoal, hay, filter coffee, burnt toast, chocolate and plastic, with a dry, bitter finish. Medium body and moderate carbonation. Pretty decent.

15CL glass at Zythos Beer Festival. Dark almost cola like colour with a brown head. I hoped it would be better, but it turned out to be not my taste, to bad it could get a higher score but when I drank it it had a very bitter taste to it, and not a good bitter but a bad one. Maybe one day i will drink it again.

Draught at Bryggens Ølbar. Dark brown with a dense, lacong beige head. Very roasty nose with caramel and toffee accents, smooth coffee and chocolate notes, ryebread, hops. Sweet malty, creamy texture, with a hoppy finish with notes of grapefruit and pine. Roasted as a stout but the body is slimer and it seems nowhere as boozy as the ABV suggests. Medium bitterness, perfect balance. Delicious.

I always say that a black IPA is a contradiction in terms. Apart from that, this is a lovely beer. It’s got the floral nose of an IPA, and that chocolate/coffee taste from a stout. A crossover that’s been done very well.

Bottle. Pours so darkly brown it could be black. Has an off-white head. Tastes are of roasted malts, caramel, chocolate and a fresh fruityness. Overall very sweet taste with full body and a some bitterness and alcohol in the aftertaste. Quite good - I enjoyed it much more than I would’ve expected from an IPA (probably because it’s not a "normal" IPA).