Stave Grave
Block Three Brewing Co.

Got this one at the brewery in St. Jacobs

From a 500ml bottle into a snifter
Abbey style dubbel aged on syrah staves. These are my favorite staves.

APPEARANCE: Pours a 1+ finger, medium looking, creamy, light beige head with great retention. Clear maroon red with medium-high levels of carbonation for the style. Head fades slowly to a full wisp and bubbly foam. A splotchy wisp remains leaving some falling dots of lacing down the glass.

SMELL: Wood notes, clove and spicy phenols on the nose, with some dark fruit at the back. Mostly wood and spicy clove with notes of raisins and grapes. Good stuff.

TASTE: Leather, cloves and sweet dark fruits up front. Notes of wood at the swallow with a bolder finish of cloves, raisins, grapes and wood character lingering nicely on the palate. Plenty of spicy phenols as well.
PALATE: Medium body with a touch higher carbonation. Creamy enough on the palate, goes down fine and finishes slightly mouth-coating. A bit of alcohol lingers.

OVERALL: Really nice. The staves come through well and add a nice layer of complexity to the show, while the base dubbel is perhaps even more spicy and phenolic than most North American examples of the style I’ve come across. A solid effort and well worth checking out if you find yourself in the area.

Pours a deep amber-red (those tonez) with a thin off-white head. Nose is grape juice and toffee with a touch of old wood. Not terrible, but very different. Taste has much more caramel and some grainy malts, a little red wine, light earthy bitterness in the finish. Interesting stuff.