Bink Bruin (5.5% ABV)

This Belgian dark ale is certainly characteristic of its class, pouring a near-black with a thick mocha-coloured cap.

A gentle malt and yeast nose gives way to predominant coffee, praline and cherry-pit flavours, with a hop-dry finish.

I really warmed to this beer. It would pair well with a not-to-sweet desert, although the predominant dryness means it could easily also go well with, say, a molasses-rich barbecue rib dish, or home-style baked beans with ham hock; a cassoulet or a stout or red wine-enriched beef or chicken dish, even. The lighter alcohol content works well; the only downside for me was the slightly aggressive carbonation.

84

Kasteel Brune (11% ABV)

This beer pours a Primitivo-coloured red-black and has a very soft carbonation. It is not bottle-conditioned, and therefore lacks sediment.

Having read other tasting notes on this beer, I was looking forward to port wine, marzipan and complex fruit.

What a disappointment. Overpoweringly sweet, this beer exhibits a completely neutral flavour beyond its unpleasantly aggressive malt which roars at the senses from the glass in a most unappealing manner.

Cloying, dull and unnecessarilly strong, I found this beer to be barely drinkable.

18

Abbaye des Rocs Brune (9% ABV)

This triple-fermented beer delivers one of the crudest pours you're ever likely to encounter, with fat flakes of yeast spattering unappealingly into the glass.

This is clearly a brewery trait, as the Nöel beer from Abbaye des Rocs I uncapped recently plopped chunks of three-dimensional yeast into my glass with such vigour that the brew slopped over its edge. Visions of Mr. Armitage and Mr. Shanks overcame me, and the unappealing beverage was hastily emptied down the sink. Perhaps such yeast-saturated brews are quaffed by Belgian beer enthusiasts with the same sort of relish that capsaicinoid addicts seek out those chillies with the highest Scoville rating as a signifier of their dedication and enthusiasm. To them I say: good luck. Personally, I'd rather not drink something that looks like it was bottled at the local sewage plant.

As for the beer itself: overpowering malt drowns out the hops, and an unbalanced sweetness makes for a singularly claggy experience on the palate. Mouth-feel, however, is rather pleasant and the beer drinks smoothly for its strength. However, I can't see myself picking up another bottle of this any time soon. Not without a blindfold, anyway.

40

St. Bernadus Pater 6 (6.7% ABV)

Brown. Tastes like beer. Really, this did nothing for me. I'll put it on the 'to be sampled again' list as a false reading.

50

Achel Bruin (8% ABV)

We're back on track with this tasty Trappist offering.

There is a touch of cough candy and coal on the nose, with a hint of freshly turned sods of grass-topped heavy clay soil to boot.

A hefty shovel of sweet malt is delivered on the palate with a surprising, mouth-wateringly dry departure.

The finish is just delightful, and again surprising in its purity and poise, with your mouth feeling as if you've just had a glass of something cool and cleansing from the Abbey well.

I definitely need to get another couple of these to see if the complexity grows in the glass, because to be honest I drank it in about 5 minutes.

89