“Barbãr Bok is a solid and expressive beer that offers similar characteristics to Barbãr, enhanced by malty, chocolate notes that are especially appreciated in winter.”

Glassware: Trappist tulip.

Appearance: Pours redish-brown with deep amber edges. It forms a rocky three finger head which slowly collapses. A smattering of lace is left in its wake.

Aroma: We’ve done a little bit of research on this one and from it we’ve seen this classed as a bock, a brown ale, a Belgian dark ale and a Belgian strong ale. The only classification it hasn’t been given yet is a dubbel! What is for certain is that it’s nothing short of a malt bomb. Very malty-sweet with honey, toffee, caramel, subtle maple and dark fruits like raisin, fig and blackberry. Notable yeast ester, mixed spice and a dank earthiness.

Flavour: If we were blindfolded our first guess at this would be a Belgian brown ale. There’s a distinct toasty/nutty malt base which screams brown ale. From there though, the yeast esters, honey and dark fruits send it Belgian-wards with a bunch of nuanced flavours like cola, fruit cake, musk and banana bread adding to the mix. It finishes rather toasty, malty-sweet and yeasty and it sits on the back end for days.

Mouthfeel: Kinda bulbous, light-feeling, fizzy. Slightly lifted Co2, medium bodied. The 8.5% ABV is extremely well concealed.

Overall: Quite a complex number and one that doesn’t really make a lot of sense at times. It’s a decent drop…we just don’t really get what it is and where it’s going.