Black Damnation IX - Beggars’ Art
De Struise Brouwers

Løkken 4/7 2023. 33 cl bottle from Kvickly, Østergade, Middelfart. The usual macabre Black Damnation brand label design in a green version.

Pours opaque dark brown with a mid-sized, beige, bubbly head. Disappears completely after a few seconds. No lacing.

Aroma is intense with a sweet almost floral odor meeting a sharp, boozy wall of scent. Sweet dark fruits. Plums and peach. Peaty whisky.

Light carbonation. Thick, oily, viscous, soft and almost flat texture.

Flavor is intense with a strong, sugary and sweetness followed by a moderately strong bitterness. Aftertaste is sweet and laden with alcohol. Lingering. Finish is rather dry.

Boozy beggar with potency.

A 330ml bottle, bottled on 5th May 2021, with a best before of +5 years, poured into a De Struise tulip glass.

Appearance: Black in colour with a one finger beige head that had pretty good retention, while leaving some spotty lacing.

Aroma: Roasty, chocolate, coffee, caramel, dried dark fruit, prunes, raisins, with some nice boozy whisky notes, although surprisingly only lightly peaty.

Taste: Roasty, chocolate, coffee, dark fruit, fig, raisin, licorice, whisky, light char, a touch peaty, with light leather notes.

Mouthfeel: Smooth, creamy, full bodied, with soft carbonation.

Overall: There was surprisingly less peat than expected. It was actually strange in that the peat was noticeably strongest while the beer was colder, whereas when it warmed, this peatiness was somewhat tamed. Also 18.1% ABV? If the ABV was this high, it certainly did not feel like it as it drank easy and smooth. Even easier than some of the lesser ABV Black Damnations. Despite these two comments, the beer did have good aroma and flavours, and drank surprisingly well.

 

Got this from the Duvel guy in Utrecht

From a bottle into a snifter
OG: 36.0*P
IBU: 72
EBC: 134
Bottled 13 April 2021
Belgian Royal stout aged 2 years in Ardbeg Whisky barrels

APPEARANCE: Murky dark brown pour yields a 1+ finger, medium looking, slightly creamy, off-white head with decent retention. Bistre brown body with no real carbonation evident. Head slowly recedes to a half wisp and ring. Slight ring remains but leaves no lacing down the glass as it empties.

SMELL: Plenty of booze, some earthy tones, dark fruit aromas, raisins and dates,

TASTE: Lots of alcohol, with earthy flavors, some caramel and spicy booze up front. Notes of sweet dark fruits at the swallow, then a bold and boozy of finish of earthy flavors, leather, lightly peated notes, plenty of dark fruits, raisins and dates, plus some spicy alcohol linger on the palate. Big and challenging.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Creamy enough on the palate, especially for the higher ABV, goes down fine with a decent burn at the swallow and finishes somewhat mouth-coating. Decent heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is solid stuff. The big, boozy, dark fruit-forward stout plays the major leader here, with the peated Ardbeg barrels adding to the complexity. I guess there’s nothing wrong with making this an 18% whopper, but something tells me this might do just fine at a more reasonable ABV for the style. Nevertheless, this is done really well and it’s not a barrel bomb at all. A little light on the looks perhaps, but that’s a minor complaint. Check it out if you like big bruisers and would rather a nuanced peat barrel over a dominant one. Cheers!

 

 

Bottled, presumably bottle conditioned and purchased from Cat in the glass
Pours a jet black body with groovy thick tan head
Aroma is whisky treacle toffee
Flavour is rich dark sugars with rum notes fighting against whisky notes ending on a smoky bitter sour tang
But it’s the mouthfeel, solid, rounded but infinitely drinkable

330 mL bottle. Almost black. Smells of peaty whisky, roasted malt, caramel, and toasted bread. Tastes of sweet caramel with strong peaty whisky behind it. Peat carries through into the finish. In between, it's caramel and a little chocolate. Heavy, sweet, boozy, but nowhere near 18.1% (that ABV can't be accurate). Very tasty.

 

Blind-tasted except for the beer's name, ABV% and brewery/country...
L- Pours jet-black, with 1mm pale tan head, some of which (surprisingly for the ABV%) manages to stick around.
S- It's not hugely pungent but has something of a deep roast+toast aspect to it with hints of log fireplace.
T- Broody, slowly progressively revealing itself. Deep+dark, some richness then the whisky note rises from the dark depths like the Kraken smothering your palate in heavily whiskied-beer tentacles. There's more to it, a timber barrel facet + subtle intricate detail.
F- Well yes it's big but the real surprise is how refined it is. Nothing offends, nothing is OTT, blunt, unbalanced and that must be really hard to achieve at 18.1%. The other surprise is that yes I get a mild ABV% zing on the swallow, but it's very mild which for this ABV of a beer is really surprising.
O- 'Wow!' sums it up. What a fascinating beer. From the specs it could have been an utter thug but it's so refined and easy to drink.
I chose this biggun from my stock to be my 1,999th rating and it turned out well. Some of these very high ABV beers can get OTT and are hence 'made for sharing' but this one I'll have zero problem enjoying the whole bottle.
Review/scoring all done, now the reveal, I get to read the lables to see what I missed! ==> 2 years in Ardberg barrels.
330ml bottle BB: 'April 2021 + 5 years'. £7.80. Bought from TremblingMadness, York/UK as part of a large pick-your own consignment to London.

Pours a pitch-black coloration with a reddish sheen when held up to the light and a small, creamy head. Smells of slightly roasted, caramel malt, chocolate and lighter dark fruit and spice, with notes of raisin and licorice. Taste is a great balance of slightly roasted, caramel malt, distinct milk chocolate and lighter dark fruit and spice, with notes of raisin, fig, clove and licorice, as well as just a hint of charred oak and peat. Finishes bittersweet, with a medium bitterness and some roasted malt, chocolate, dark fruit and spice lingering in the aftertaste. Full mouthfeel with a rich body and light/medium carbonation.

I did enjoy this a lot more over Black Mess, with this just feeling a lot more smoked and peaty, while those charred oak notes are also a lot more prominent here, which is interesting because I also enjoy Ardbeg over Caol Ila a lot. At the same time, the huge difference in ABV is hardly noticeable in the taste, which really is a tremedous achievement in my opinion, although you certainly start to feel it before long. The barrel-ageing really does add quite a rich depth of character to an already quite complex beer here, with the balance of roasted, smokey, sweet and ever so slightly bitter and herbal notes being rather outstanding. Overall, this makes for a very rich and well-balanced barrel-aged Imperial Stout that will, fuck you up before you even notice it.

 

Urbain shared BD 5, 6, 9, 10 next to each other. Shit man! Pour is jet black and completely opaque with a tan head and tight bubbles. Nose has strong peat notes, very earthy. Gentle roasted malts underneath, light coffee and whiskey in back. Taste is sweet up front, berries and malt, very peaty again, whiskey light in back with charcoal, cardboard, and soy sauce in back. Body is full with some heat and solid carbnoation in finsh.