Wolf 9
Brouwerij Wolf

Blind-tasted except for the beer's name and brewery/country, zero reviews below read (yet!)...
L- Deep orange-chestnut brown, pours with minor haze, some sediment left in bottle. 1Cm ultra fine-bubble pale tan head. ps @ +10mins, holds well, forms lacing on the way down.
S- Darn' my congestion, I can sense it's meaty and I get a piquant note but hard for me to get detail.
T- Yeasty!... right on the front. Then into majorly pungent depths. Well the '9' in the name is a good hint, and it's clearly a solid ABV% as it's making it's presence felt on the palate, not too shoutily though.
F- For all it's heft/weight it's not that rich which works well as my palate shouldn't tire of this hefty beer. I'd actually put this just to the medium-dry side of the dry-sweet spectrum, unusual if the ABV is circa 9%.
O- There is certainly a lot more going on in the smell and taste that alas at this time of yeast congestion is holding me back from. But it's clearly complex, well balanced, and a bit of a beast despite which nothing seems too heavy or gets tiring. This would make a lovely slow-sipping beer year-around; just chill it a bit more in summer.
Review/scoring all done, now the reveal, I get to read the bottle lables to see what I missed! ==> Oh ok, it's an Amber! Contains barley and wheat, bottle refermented.
330ml bottle BB: 13/06/2022 Euro2.95 Bought from BeerMania/Belgium as part of a large pick-your own consignment to London. #1874

No date, just bottle code
Pours a light bubbly frothy off-white head with med retention, a bit of lacing, fairly dark molasses to chestnut brown color

Nose has that old Belgian strong dark aroma, a bit oxidized with some paper notes but also winey port-like, mild toasted malts, biscuity brown malts, sweet brown sugar and med candi sugar, plenty of fruits with dark and light, candied raisins, fig, date, etc, but also some pear and dried apricot

Taste brings more sweet flavors and malts up front, toasted brown malts with biscuity toffee, caramel, dark candi sugar, molasses even, nutty, with a little coffee and hint of chocolate malt, lots more fruit again, fig and date up front, candied raisin, again that oxidized port wine flavor and hint of paper, perfumey alcohol with a little hot alcohol and spice, touch of spicy hop, a touch of yeast as well, mild sticky sweet finish with some hot alcohol

Mouth is med to a bit fuller bod, warming tingly alcohol, higher effervescent carb

Overall typical well done aged Belgian strong dark. Oxidation but in a good way mostly, lots of nice fruits, good malts and sweet characters, alcohol is a bit hot for less than 9% but typical of the style

 

 

 

 

 

this is a real neat beer that you dont see around much anymore, are they still sending beer to the united states at all? sort of a hybrid belgian type, with elements of a strong pale and a flanders red, not sure the bottle date, but there is definitely some of that vinegar tang to this, and some of the sweet cherry notes i see in the flanders types as well, not at all out of place though in this brick red and forthing brew. some toasty kilned type malts, built almost like a dubbel or something, and not without a little residual sugar and hop character, highly refined and beautifully complex. the yeast is the weird part for me, i dont need the subtle acidity to like this, and it is a little odd with the sweet grains and dried fruit side of this, but its also really high ester belgian in nature, and is really flattering to the body and the booze, and certainly seems to me to be the main unifying element of this. smooth and drinkable, active but not insanely bubbly, and with a long slightly sharp finish of cherries, figs, and dark bread. really nice brew from a brewery that somehow continues to go more or less unnoticed. doesnt neatly fit any style, but will please any well schooled fan of belgian beer in general.

 

A hazy dark brown colour with a massive head of foam.

Loads of caramel malt in the smell Well, that and pitted fruit; plums and some raisins.

The pitted fruit takes center stage whilst the caramel is much diminished in the taste. Fruity tartness here with pretty strong alcohol for the abv.

Almost full bodied with medium carbonation.

Good brew.

 

 

 

 

From the 750 ml. corked, caged bottle. Sampled on December 24, 2015.

The pour is brown from a distance with red hues up to the light under a long lasting light tan head. Slight carbonation stream.

The aroma is full of sweet caramel malts, raisins, and prunes. There is a hint of alcohol.

Medium to full body.

The taste comes across as more bitter than sweet considering the sweet caramel malts in the aroma. There is also an array of fruity and raisin characters in the flavor but it all evolves into a fairly bitter, dry finish. Decent.