3.9 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
Pouring at session one of Belgian Beer Fest in Boston. Pours a hazed brown with a thin beige head. Cherries, soft roast and char on the nose. More cherry flavors, lightly sour oude bruin notes. Toffee as well. Very tasty, with some dark fruit and malt touches on the finish.
3.4 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 13/20
In short: A mix of sweet chocolaty malts and sweet cherries. Sounds better than it tastes. Good but not very good.
How: Bottle 750ml. Combination of notes from a fresh bottle shared at a tasting and a bottle I drank with a over one year of age on it
The look: Very dark brown body topped by a small beige head
In long: Nose is chocolaty, maraschino cherries, nutty toastiness… smells like a smashed Cherry Blossom™. Taste is a strong mix of creamy chocolate cake, oaky sourness, uber-sweet maraschino cherries, light notes of vanilla, pineapples-like fruitiness. My notes from a fresh bottles say the flavors were not very cohesive and it felt like if Van Twee was a few few beers mixed together. My aged bottle showed a better cohesiveness of the various flavor elements but the refreshing fruitiness (cherries and pineapples) were more subdued and I was bothered by a high sweetness sensation that I didn’t note with a fresh bottle. I didn’t find it any better now than when it was fresh, it is just a bit different and I haven’t changed my score from my paper notes. Everyday I try drink fresh and aged beers and get surprising results and then enter ratings on ratebeer. Forest Gump was right, life is like a box chocolate, in that I don’t have a box of chocolate.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle shared by dicks in some beerz. Pours a hazy bruin body with an off white head with okay pillow retention. Birch and root beer like spices, odd yeast tones. Chocolate and caramel notes, brown sugar in the raw, cherry chewy caramel and toffee notes. Nutty chewy palate with a hint of coffee. Interesting brew its really a portfolio of spices and malts.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
courtesy of the guys at RedligthRedlight.
pours dark brown with thin beige head.
Aroma is yeasty with hints of sourness and dark fruits.
Flavor, dark malts, some chocolate, dark fruits; cherries, prunes, hints of candi sugar and thin spicy yeast notes in the finish along with some good sourness.
3.2 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
Corked well aged 750ml bottle and served in my NB Worthy glass: A interesting black film on the bottom of the cork and rim of the bottle makes me worried but it seemed to pour okay. Deep brown russet hue with some reddish highlights topped by a small fading beige head that left spotty lace. The aroma has notes of chocolate covered sour cherries along with a light roast and bready malt notes. Slight winy acidic vapour with little to no brett character even after the time aging. Slight cardboardy oxidation but nothing overly bad. Some strange sugary notes and even a bit of band-aid as it warms. The taste is semi-sweet and soured with a nice restrained balance but there is little outstanding characteristics other than the fruity tones. The hybrid nature of this brew is quite apparent on the palate... a little Belgian Ale, A little porter-ish, very fruity and a little sour. A hodge podge of parts that is better than the whole. I really wished for more brett action here to give the sourness more kick and depth. Also I tad disappointed with how much sweetness does remain. The mouth feel is tad slick and chewy but also a bit under-carbonated for my tastes.
Outside some cardboardy notes it is like this beer has not aged at all. The yeasties seemed to doing nothing to advance this beer or add further depth or complexity. In the end it is a muddle brew that still remained drinkable.
3.6 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 14/20
750, corked and baled. Pours nearly black with a dense and pillowy dark tan head. Big dark sugar and cherry nose, lots of cola and cola nut shot through. Creamy medium body, a bit sticky, plenty of lively carb. Cola, cola nut, burnt sugar, cherries, and black bread on the mid palate. Long sticky sweet finish. Interesting.
4.4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 9/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 18/20
Sampled 11/20/2009. This Belgian Strong Ale pours a dark brown color, with some beautiful reddish highlights, from a 750ml bottle. Large sized beige foamy head, with good retention and nice lacing. The aroma is chocolate, cherry, funky and tart. A medium bodied Belgian Strong Ale. The malts are fruity, cherries with a touch of chocolate. Some brett, some funky, some tartness. Nice carbonation. A nice interplay between the chocolate and the cherries. The flavors really open up as the beer warms. Lovely beer. I wonder what a year of two of bottle aging would do to this beer as the bretts do their work? Hmm, think I will need to do some testing. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.
4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
Bottle from Holiday Wine Cellar. Dark brown with a creamy off white head. Nice chocolate and cherry aroma and taste with earthy notes of Belgian yeast and a light sourness.
3.7 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 15/20
Bottle. Dark brown with tan head. Nose/taste of chocolate, cherry juice, toasted grain, plum, dark berry, candi sugar and dry wood. Finishes with hints of tart cherry pit dipped in chocolate. Medium body.
3.2 AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 13/20
Bottle shared at Glouglouburps after Mondial tasting 2010. Pours a big deep murky brown with some slight muddled ruby highlights and a modest head. Aroma is big caramel and toasted malts some sharp chocolate malts, lots of leathery hints, earth, slight cherry pit and light medicinal peppery kick going on with some burnt hair. Flavor is more earth, toast, burnt malts, light chocolate hint, cherry pits, light juicy kick, more medicinal hairy leather earth, spice, peppery mace, cardamon, etc with a pitty astringency in the end and is just not that dry or refined- still a bit muddled up and not that great overall. Kinda disappointing especially considering the $16-$20 pricetag.
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