Imperial De Levende Doden
Rushing Duck Brewing Company

On tap at Rushing Duck Brewing in Chester, NY.

This one pours a fairly dark black color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This doesn’t feel super Belgian-y, which is kind of fine with me. There’s a touch of dried dark fruit – the cherry is subtle, and comes across as a slightly fruity chocolate truffle thing. There’s a touch of spice, lots of roasted malt, and a nice chocolatey finish.

This is medium bodied, creamy, and silky, with a good drinkability.

This was done with a careful and not overwhelming brewing hand. Belgian style stouts/porters can sometimes get real weird, but this one was good.

 

 

Reviewed one week after can release for Rushing Duck's 11th anniversary. I let it warm for almost an hour before popping the can. Poured into a stemmed flute glass. It pours a very dark cola with cherry hues and a small cap of light khaki foam and thin film of creamy lacing. It smells of roasted malt, fresh cherry, earthy char, tobacco smoke, and some modest Belgian spicing. The overall flavor is earthy and slightly bitter with lite char and cigar smoke. The cherry is present throughout and provides both sweetness and tartness. There are hints of clove and peppercorn - particularly at the finish. Its mouth feel is creamy with low-moderate carbonation, and you can feel the heat of the 10.3% ABV. Overall, Imperial De Levende Doden is adventuresome, which isn't surprising for a Rushing Duck anniversary release. When I tried it on draught at the brewery it was colder and while the cherry seemed more obvious, the background flavors are more developed and sophisticated at 60°+. It will be very interesting to see how it ages over the next few weeks.