Embrasse Peated Oak Aged
Brouwerij De Dochter van de Korenaar

L:
-pours a cloudy dark brown with a small,frothy,beige Head
S:
-malty,Caramel,Chocolate,dried Fruits,Vanilla,faint Peat smoke
T:
-malty,Caramel,Chocolate,More intense Peat Smoke,toasted,spicy,Tobacco,Black pepper
-low-to-medium bitterniss
F:
-medium carbonation
-medium-to-full Body
-Alcohol noticeable
O:
A fantastic BA Strong Ale that perfectly incorporates the peated Whisky Aromas.

on draft, served in 25 cl chalice

appears a dark brown in color, minimal head. aroma of dark malt, and woody oak with a bit of smoke. similar taste, the smoke is there but it's restrained. pretty smooth - the abv doesn't come across. medium bodied.

 

Best By: Feb. 2027

A - Dark brown pour with a burgundy hue when held to the light. Toffee colored dense soapy foamy lacing circles the glass.

S - Light peat, delicate smoke, a little bit of oak, minimal Whiskey, and some light toasted malt.

T - Leather, smoked peat, oak, and toasted malt eventually finds its way to the palate surface. Some residual whiskey eventually surfaces, but most forward is the peat and leather aspect, maybe a little oak.

M - Medium body with a silky texture and no carbonation.

O - Pretty subdued but overall solid. The ABV is expertly well hidden in this one.

A 330ml bottle with a notched best before end date of October 2022. Poured into a Chimay goblet glass.

Appearance: Dark brown in colour with a thin beige head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin replenishing cap, while leaving some lacing.

Aroma: Peaty, leather, dry grass, roasted malts, with milk chocolate and whisky notes.

Taste: Roasted malts, peat, smoke, milk chocolate and whiskey.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

Overall: It’s peat forward and obvious, but not overpowering. The peat is balanced with some nice roasty and chocolate flavours. The body was lighter than expected though, and I was hoping for a bit more carbonation.

 

Brouwerij De Dochter van de Korenaar "Embrasse Peated Oak Aged"
66 cl brown glass bottle, "botteldatum" and "batch nr:" are illegible but it appears to end with "15"
15,90€ @ Johnny's Off License, Via Dei Balestrari 9, Roma, IT

Notes via stream of consciousness: So, first off, a peated beer of any kind makes me a bit nervous. Peat is so phenolic that I've avoided brewing with peat smoked malt myself, but in addition, I just don't know that it can add enough to a beer to balance what it might take away. But OK, let's forget about that, looking at the paper hang tag that's stapled to the red colored paper that wraps the bottle there's something going wrong with the nomenclature. Inside it states "In order to produce this beer 'Embrasse', a dark all-malt ale of 9% ABV, is matured for several months on Islay whiskey casks." (I should point out now, just for the sake of clarity, that the Islay whiskeys are my favorite Scotches just in case someone thinks I'm biased against peat). Now here's the problem, on the back page it lists the beer as "10 vol. % alc." and gives "-begin SG: 1090" and "-eind SG: 1015". That gives me via my own calculation 9.84% alcohol by volume, so which is it? Is it 9%, 9.84%, or 10%? On top of that they also list it as "ong. 20˚ Plato" starting, but a specific gravity of 1.090 is actually 21.57˚ Plato so I don't know what's going on - I just wanted to point that out. On to the beer... it's poured a cloudy deep chestnut brown body beneath a creamy head of light tan. The aroma clearly displays peat over a medium to medium-dark caramel maltiness. It's actually quite pleasant, but it's not the aroma that I fear, but the flavor, so... I am quite relieved to find that it's also fairly mild in the flavor, and it works really well with the caramel malts that are present. There's a subtle dark-skinned fruitiness like dried figs or prunes, some dark brown sugar, and even a suggestion of chocolate but it's not really there, let's just call it a very light dusting of cocoa powder. Ahh, some limited oak as well in the flavor, and then more in the dry and smoky finish. It's nice, and with a moderate bitterness to give it some ballast it all wraps up into one nicely balanced bundle. Hahaaa! I just tore the paper off of the bottle and I see that it's imported by Twelve Percent LLC in Brooklyn, NY - and here I was thinking I'd only find this beer in Europe! How wrong I was, although I'd hate to see what it would cost me in the United States when I just paid the equivalent of around $12.50 here in Roma! And, on top of that, although he was a very nice guy, I was a little skeptical and slightly distrusting of the guy who sold it to me regarding this specific beer at Johnny's Off License - whereas had I known it was Brian from Twelve Percent I'd had never questioned it as I trust him completely - they don't sell bad beers! Only the best!!! Onwards, I should also note that this is not from peat smoked barley, but rather aged in barrels that once held peat smoked whiskey, which is a different ballgame altogether, and I should have made that connection earlier. It's medium bodied with a little bit of a dextrinous edge, and very smooth with a fine-bubbled, moderate carbonation - that probably helps to pull all of the components into focus as well. Overall I am now very impressed. It's interesting, and it's got some complexity to it, yet it's also very drinkable. They suggest on the hang-tag to pair it with "dried fruit and (old) cheese" and I'd completely agree with that but I also think it would go great with steak au poivre, a grilled portobello mushroom drizzled with Balsamic vinegar, or Coq au vin - or why not, moules frites with the right sauce. I think it's very food friendly and would add an additional layer of depth to an enormous amount of dishes. Fantastic, and certainly worth seeking out for fans of smoked beers despite it's not actually being smoked.
Review# 6,108

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dark brown color with beige head. Aroma has dried fruits, figs mostly, dark malts and dark sugar. Taste has also lots of dark, dried fruits, bittersweet taste, slightly roasted malts and dark sugar. Body is heavy and well carbonated. Really nice overall, not very peated, just enough to make it more interesting.

 

 

 

660 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 5/2015. Pours lightly hazy/cloudy very dark brown color with a 2 finger dense khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Nice spotty soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of huge raisin, plum, fig, date, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, cocoa, peat smoke, dark bread, toasted oak, leather, vanilla, pepper, light nuttiness, and oak/toasted earthiness. Fantastic aromas with awesome complexity and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, fruity/spicy yeast, and scotch barrel notes; with great strength. Taste of huge raisin, plum, fig, date, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, peat smoke, cocoa, dark bread, toasted oak, leather, vanilla, pepper, brine, light nuttiness, and oak/toasted earthiness. Fair amount of yeast/oak spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes if raisin, plum, fig, date, caramel, brown sugar, toffee, peat smoke, cocoa, leather, pepper, brine, and oak/toasted earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, fruity/spicy yeast, and scotch barrel flavors; with a great malt/oak/spiciness balance and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/saline, and lightly sticky mouthfeel that is great. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a small warmth lingering after the finish. Overall this is a fantastic scotch barrel aged Belgian strong dark ale. All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/roast/bready malt, fruity/spicy yeast, and scotch barrel flavors; and very smooth and easy to sip on for the big ABV. A highly enjoyable offering.