“A very special Belgian chocolate ale. Building on a Belgian stout base, it is brewed with organic vanilla pods, cacao nibs from Mexico and hazelnuts and with a creamy body, it is velvety, dark and seductive. Can you stop at one?”
This little beauty won the gold medal at the 2014 GABS festival in Melbourne. We’ve had this before and it is an absolute cracker of a beer. Served in a tulip glass the mat black pour whipped up a huge 3 finger tan cap. Good head retention which omits some random webby lacing as we imbibe. Well, if you wanted an essay we could go on and on about the aroma but the dominant wafts include roasted chocolate and crystal malts, cocoa, vanilla, hazelnut, molasses, treacle, toffee, cream, nutmeg and leather. In the mouth it’s as smooth as silk with a dense, creamy texture from the lactose injected into it. Mild carbonation with full body. Upfront a mild bitterness is balanced out by the malty cocoa, chocolate, and Belgian yeast. A sharp sweetness with hints of spice in the mid-palate are finished off by a creamy chocolate finish. Feels like an eternity this beer as it sits on the tongue, displaying brilliant length. For 6.% ABV it’s such a smooth drop. This is a great beer, we downed plenty of these at the GABS and also at the local tap house in Sydney, so we can say from experience this is so much better straight off the tap. If you find, please buy asap, it’s rare as hens teeth. Two words…..absolutely brilliant.