UPDATED: NOV 24, 2023 A Belgian take of a Stout. A classic for the style. A classic that I haven't tried for 5 years. On the nose, a lot of roasted grain, dark chocolate, nutty hints and candy sugar. Dark-brown to black pour, effervescent, soapy head with moderate retention and minimal laces. Medium bitterness, roasty, licorice, coffee, chocolate, dark fruits, fruity esters. Coffee comes out in the after taste. Very lively carbonation, more than expected, which makes it 'less wintery'. Easy to drink. Enjoyable classic, although nowadays I find it a bit old fashion and underwhelming in the planet of Stouts.

UPDATED: OCT 25, 2023 330mL bottled Feb 2020, drunk 10/25/23. Clear, dark, ruby/magenta-highlighted mahogany. Large, dark beige head showing strong retention. Nose is quite prune-like with light elderberry, tobacco, leather and little/no roast. Peppery phenols and very lean malts with not-overdone specialty malts and moderate mineral on the finish. No alcohol noted. Soft and malty, with very high attenuation and the three years on a warm shelf certainly contributing more to that. For all that, there's no fusel, no crude phenols/esters. Just dark fruits, tobacco, leather, mineral and pepper, as seen in the nose. With extended warming/breathing, it achieves a lovely balance. Just enough caramel/toffee-like sweetness to balance out the dark fruit, leather and mineral. I recall this being pretty intense when young, but this seems very mellow now.

UPDATED: JUN 29, 2023 Draught, taster @'MBCC 2023', Copenhagen (Denmark). 06/05/2023. [#6.483 Global - #272 Belgium - #4 De Dolle Brouwers] Pours black with a small and lacing tan head. Aroma: chocolate malts, burnt caramel and molasses. Taste: molasses, peated malts, chocolate and dried fruits. Long aftertaste. Next one please!

UPDATED: MAR 11, 2023 Dit is een aparte stout door de stevige aanwezigheid van klassiek Belgisch gist. Hierdoor heeft het bier een extra hartige basis. Verder vallen op tonen van drop, koffie, wat zoethout. Voor een alcoholpercentage van 8% is de body heel krachtig.

UPDATED: NOV 13, 2022 13/11/2022. Bottle bought at La Cave du 6eme KM, Noumea. 8% abv. Pours very dark brown with a large frothy beige head. Aroma of liquorice, molasses, dark and tropical fruits, roasted malt, toffee. Moderate sweetness and medium bitterness with tropical tart notes. Medium body, average carbonation. Fruity chocolate finish with a slight sour edge. Good.

UPDATED: JUL 2, 2022 Aroma suggests tartness and taste confirms it. Light coffee and cocoa aromas. Dry, tart and light bodied. Not your typical stout. Different and mildly interesting.

UPDATED: MAY 1, 2022 33cl bottle - Pours black with a large light brown head that slowly settled. Aroma is rich roasted malts, liquorice, burnt brown sugar and dried fruit. A rich roasted taste over a warming alcohol background. Roasted and burnt malt, liquorice, coffee, and dried fruit flavours with a bitter drying and warming alcohol finish. Very nice.

UPDATED: APR 22, 2022 Smell- weak, malt, weak acidic tones, weak coffee or chocolate remains. Foam- thin, large in mouth, malt, weak caramel, roast. Head is large, medium-dark brown-white color. Appearance - brewer bottle cap, somewhat classic simple nice label. Dark brown color, basically black. No carbonation. From - pint Taste- weak malt, weak caramel, some Belgian notes, then some acidic and sour notes.Generally malty, some sweetness, some sourness and then some alcohol at the end. Not bad, but just generally a bit unimpressive.

UPDATED: FEB 17, 2022 Black with large tan head. Aroma is coffee mushroom brown sugar melasses light cocoa. Taste is punching coffee with bittersweet melasses. Some hop and melasses in the finish. Quite roasty. Nice and unforgiving with a little sweet touch.

UPDATED: JAN 20, 2022 Bottle. Darkest brown with a big tan head. Very nice molasses/brown sugar nose with roasted malt notes. The flavor is smooth, very nice, slightly tangy and high-carb (for a stout) mouthfeel. Not the bitter roasted punch of a Guinness, but rather sweetness fading slowly into a roasted smooth-coffee aftertaste.