Barbar Winter Bok

Brewed by Brasserie Lefebvre
Style: Dunkler Bock
Rebecq-Quenast, Belgium

Deep amber with an off white head. Crisp yeast aroma with notes of forest berries. Taste of malt, sour oranges and subtle honey hints. Slightly watery with a metallic finish. It’s Barbar with knobs on (as a certain manc would say).

Draught - Dark brown body with a small white head; simple sugary a little spicy aromas; Huge carbonation, thin body, bitter; Long simple finish, sugary. Not interesting.

The color is almost black and the head is big, but not so steady, but it leaves a nice lace. The aroma has notes of roasted malt, fruit and berries. The flavour is rather sweet and malty with notes of honey, fruit, berries, caramel and citrus. It’s complex and has a nice bitter finish that balances the sweetness nicely.

Re-rate 3/16/08: Bottle. Dark brown color with a big, slowly-diminishing, beige head. Very nice aroma of toasted malt, caramel, some honey and some yeasty notes. Sweet flavor of malt, caramel, some yeast, notes of honey and fruits and a bit of alcohol and spiciness. Medium-bodied. I still find this as enjoyable as I found it a year ago. With Israel’s definitely limited availabilty of good beers, I really should buy some more of this pleasant winter brew to keep in fridge. 8/4/7/3/15=3.7

On tap. Very dark brown color with a medium light brown head that doesn’t last very long. Aroma of honey, caramel and some raisins. Flavor is very sweet with honey and caramel. A rather full body. 8/3/7/4/15=3.7

Bottle: Dark amber coloured, small off-white foamy layer, sweet fruity (honey, strawberries(?) ) nose with a touch of roasted malt; sweet flavour, medium bodied; sweet-fruity, slightly alcoholic and sugary finish. A bit too much on the sweet side to be really good...........

Draught. Very fruity (apple) Very sweet beer. Quite persistent alcohol. Short end.

Bottle. Completely dark mahogany. No head to speak of. Aroma feels a touch perfume-like, though it is not negative. Herbs, spices, coriander, hard candy, strawberries, holly. Flavour is primarily sweet with a good caramel backbone and a stunning array of spices. Too many to mention and too hard to discern.

(Bottle) Dark, reddish brown colour with ruby hints. Huge, foamy, but brief, beige head leaving lots of lacing. Fruity, floral nose with dark rye bread, chocolate, prunes, notes of orange peel and apricots. Underlying sweetish honey notes. Fruity, floral taste with dark rye bread, orange, dates, chocolate and some coffeeish bitterness with hints of spruce needles in the finish. Medium body, smooth and chewy mouthfeel. Rather sweet, but fresh, not cloying. Very nice balance between the chewy, dark, fruity malt and the brown-sugar-like sweetness, sent off with a warming bittersweet puff at the end. Nice one.