t Smisje Great Reserva

Brewed by Brouwerij De Regenboog
Style: Imperial Stout
Assebroek-Brugge, Belgium

33 cl. Hazy mahogany with a huge glacial head. Aroma of tart berry and flowers. Flavor is coffee and cocoa with tart cherry and some nice oak. Fairly well hidden alcohol, but a bit much tartness for me. Medium-heavy body is roasty dry, watery, and at first too frothy with carbonation, but later settles out.

Pours a dark brown color with a large, white head. Sweet, malty body, can pick out the oaked taste. Sweet, caramel finish.

11.2oz grenade bottle. Thick brown, with a big, luscious head. The aroma lets you know something different is going on, but it mixes quite well with the Belgian yeast/sugar sweetness. Smooth and quite nice, this one ups the original. One of the best Belgian stouts for sure.

Bottle. Fermented fruits, brandy and wood for aroma. Murky dark brown with foamy tan head and quality lace. Good fruity flavor along with some mild notes of coco, pepper and bitter. Musty fermentataion of the fruits that ligers on the palate. Good brew.

A soft, careful pour in to my 25cl tulip glass still sees my glass filling up with four fingers of head and then an additional finger rises above the rim of my glass threatening to over flow. The head is a tan color with a varied, rocky surface. The beer is a dark amber, well brown color that shows a lightly hazed, red color when held up to the light. The aroma is fruity, quite spicy and actually quite nice. I think that a lot of the rich fruitiness is derived from the Cognac barrels; notes of cherry, a touch of strawberry, sweet currant notes and a nice, concentrated raisin note. Pepper like spice, some clove, and some woody allspice as well as a tannic black tea like character add complexity to the nose, which is otherwise quite fruit dominated.

Spicy and well carbonated peppery notes greet my tongue up front. The beer softens a bit as it rolls across the tongue with a touch of cocoa and a dark fruitiness. Brandy soaked raisin flavors, concentrated plum, and some complex fig notes seem to capture the fruit flavors here. There is a touch of chalky, cocoa and toasted caramel character to the finish of this beer. The toasted character also takes on a wood-like note as well as adding some nuttiness to the flavor. I like how light bodied this beer is for a 10% abv beer; there is just enough heft to this beer, but it is far too quaffable to be safe. The nutty flavors really become quite a bit more pronounced as this beer warms up a bit. There is a touch of tartness here as well, it boosts the fruit character a bit and reminds me just a bit of tamarind.

This beer has seriously mellowed compared to the non-barrel aged version, the roast character plays a much lesser role here and the off-flavors of the base beer are not to be found here (thank goodness). This is actually quite tasty and I really like the boosted fruit character that the Cognac barrel added to this beer.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

11.2oz bottle from BOLTZ7555, thank you Jason! Could this be the first t Smisje beer I do not hate? Let us read on. Clear deep brown with a three finger beige head--keep in mind I was not able to pour the last couple ounces since the head was so large. Also, this has been in the fridge for the last 2 or3 months--since whenever I got the bottle. Why the overcarbonation? Aroma has tons of freshly roasted peanuts up front. There is also some sweet garbage juice and something lightly spicy. Flavor has a fair amount of earth added with a little bit of chocolate notes. Some type of booze that I guess must be cognac is present as well. As it warms I do get a bit of vanilla and raisins, but not enough to make me enjoy this. Finishes dirty and earthy and bitter (peaking at a 4). Highly carbonated with a medium body. Apparently I am completely missing the point with these guys, because I think they are terrible. Epic fail.

Bonus bottle received via trade with Beerlando. Poured a hazy amber brown color with an excessive two inch head, almost looked like a root beer float. Spicy and sweet aroma. Initial flavor of smoke and finshed with an herbal aftertaste. A very solid imperial stout.

(Bottle, courtesy of mar) Pours a cloudy brown with a small beige head. Aroma of ashes, potting soil, cognac, plastic, barrel, floral, charred, and light herbal notes. Flavor of ashes, roasted malt, and cognac with a dry, bitter finish.