Belgian Strong Dark Ale, 10%
VISUAL |
 |
FLAVORS |
|
SENSATIONS |
 |
BALANCE |
 |
INTENSITY |
 |
FRESHNESS |
 |
COMPLEXITY |
|
APPRECIATION |
|
Thick veiled copper color, with a pink hue, and powerful carbonation activity. Extra foamy, delicate, beige 3 finger sparkly head, creating a foam island and lasting around 20 minutes, with some strong legs, a swirl easily reconstructs the head. Flavors of plums, prunes, cherries, vanilla, toffee, honey or maple, oak, clove, dark grains and herbal hops. Rich malty feel, delicious super fruity taste. Slick, almost creamy, full body with some extra crispy carbonation. Very strong finish, vinous and dry, bitter herbs with plenty of lingering dark fruits, densely spicy, oak bareel aged feel. Makes a nice appetizer though. Belgian qualities with a robust barleywine feel.
Overall : Exquisite quality; sexy lovely look, super warming, yet decently fresh for the ABV. Nice complexity with an inviting smell. Although it didn’t age well for 2 years in a cellar, it was overly vinous and harsh, with not much developed aged feel. Not the worth to cellar me think, better fresh.