10°
Dageraad Brewing

Dageraad Brewing '10*' @ 11% , served from a 650 ml bottle 2022 vintage
A-pour is a caramel brown from the bottle to a cloudy amber in the glass with a small size light tan head leaving a fine spotty lace ring along the goblet
S-Belgian yeast , hints of dark fruits
T-strong ale , caramel malt complex fruit & spice notes thru-out , as the beer warms a very dry finish
MF-ok carbonation , big full body
Ov-possible good beer
prost LampertLand

Hazy red-brown color. Poured a tall, noisy head that combined into medium sized bubbles after a minute but stayed tall after several minutes. High flow of tiny bubbles rising from the bottom of the glass. Very little lacing; it tended to slide down the side of the glass back to the top of the liquid.

Smelled of dried prunes, figs, and a dark roasted caramel malt. A slight earthy smell with a vague alcohol-like solvent. Swirling the glass kicked up a light barnyard for a few seconds, leaving mostly the caramel malt behind.

First taste is the alcohol-like solvent with a hint of iodine. This is quickly swept away by the strong dried prunes and fruit. Strong dark malt rides below the dried fruit. Earthy flavor like a rich soil rather than a single mineral salt. Various warming spices. Quite sweet, although it takes a while to notice it since there is so much else going on. One of the few beers where I can taste a distinct alcohol. The aftertaste is mostly the fruit and malt. There is a bit of the spice with a hint of iodine again.

Very foamy. Turns quickly to a large bubbled foam that feels oily. Very heavy body.

Very nice balance of malts and earthy flavors. The dried fruits make the earth even more organic and less mineral. The fruit and malt stay separate, not like the fruitcake flavor found in many similar beers.

2021 Edition.

Pour is a ruby chestnut hue with a nice off tan head that takes its time in dissipating, and retains a continent of bubbles even after some time.

Nose is sweet mash. Caramel and some fruit and belgian character with bits of banana and clove and the like in there as well.

Flavour follows the same pattern with sweet banana and caramel leading the way with a bit of brown sugar (or bruised fruit) towards the finish and a nice little spicy kick to the back end.
Bod is rich and decadent, and I keep having to remind myself that this is double digits ABV.

Overall quads are not my first choice (belgians in general), but I can dig them, and that's how I feel about this one: I'm not clamouring to go track it down again but I'm absolutely enjoying what's in my glass and feel it's well made, and would not hesitate to drink it again if I were in the mood for the style and had it at hand. A lot of banana and caramelized sugar it just runs a little sweet for my tastes.

Beautiful tall foam in the Maredsous goblet. Color is a rusty dark amber. Odd silky mouthfeel with the pleasant creamy carbonation lasting to the last sip. Warm and malty with caramel and a funky touch.

Sweet and candy-like but the dry finish is unmistakable Belgian yeast. Figs and a touch of sweet vermouth. This is a little murky and sugary for the style but it's interesting to sip. Mineral finish. From the 22 oz bottle purchased at Crosstown Liquor in Vancouver.

A: One finger of tan head that dissipated to a whisper over a deep mahogany liquid.

S: Dates, plums, figs and cherries.

T: Figs, cherries, dates, alcohol and bubble gum.

M: Medium to thick viscosity with a drying alcohol finish. Good carbonation.

O: This beer is a heavyweight that pulls no punches. The fruitiness combined with the alcohol warmth is a nice touch.

 

650ml bottle - it's weird - we seem to get new Dageraad offerings in Alberta in pairs - not that I'm complaining at all.

This beer pours a hazy, dark-ish red-brick amber colour, with two chubby fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and fizzy tan head, which leaves a bit of dense tree branch lace around the glass as it lazily sinks out of sight.

It smells like BC Pinot Noir wine - no foolin'! Slightly tart cherries, raspberries, and red grapes, before a musty black Mediterranean fruitiness puts the hammer down (figs, plums, and dates), along with a bit of free-range brown sugar, and perhaps some chocolaty licorice root. The taste is grainy and bready caramel malt, a still heady, if now indistinct dark fruitiness, musty yeast, isolated browned apples, some middling earthy and savoury spice, Scandihoovian (as my extended family calls that part of the world) licorice 'candies', and a surprisingly mild alcohol warming.

The bubbles are adequate in their supportive and mildly tickling frothiness, the body a decent medium-heavy weight for the style, and more or less smooth, with maybe the politely hovering alcohol taking the sheen off of things. It finishes sweet, but duly moderated by fruit, yeast, and booze alike.

Well, as per usual for this Belgo-phile brewery, they pretty much nail the essence of the Low Countries style they are going for - here, that means lots of musty dark fruit, a thankfully restrained yeasty quotient, and a big ABV that just knows how to play nice and all. Easy to drink, and a pleasant warmer to match the Springtime sunshine melting the snow outside right now.

Aroma and Appearance: It pours a cloudy light brown colour with a bit of centered carbonation and virtually no foam. The aroma is plums, prunes and dates with some teasing brown sugar and licorice root.

Flavour: Up front is a very well balance mix of plums, dried figs and tasty toffee malts with a middle that consists of sweetbread and a generally malt forward sweetness enhanced by the residual sugars. It finishes with a bit of clove spice and a floral overtone, revealing more notes of black licorice and plums on the aftertaste.

Overall Impression: I found it to be more of an amped up version of their Belgian Amber Ale, quite well balanced and easy drinking with a very pleasant malt and fruit combo. The booze is well hidden in this one too, so watch out!

Big thanks to FondouVoodoo for the bottle!

Pours a rich copper-brown with 1-2 fingers of tan head, bubbly with decent retention and spotty lace. The nose starts with a big caramel malt, raisins, toffee and a hint of alcohol. The taste is a malty blast heavy with toasted grain, caramel and raisins with some yeast, dark candi sugar, a decent amount of hot alcohol and a big of some bittering hops on the finish. It is big, round, heavy, syrupy on the mouthfeel, a bit too cloying. Overall, a nice quad but a bit unbalanced still; interested what a bit of age would do...

 

 

This pours a dark ruby colour with a finger thick tan head. The nose has notes of dark fruit, plums, bread and some caramel malt. There is a hint of alcohol but given the 10% ABV that could be expected. I get some yeast, molasses and spices. I was expecting a bit more yeastiness that you'd get from a lot of Belgian style beers but the moment it starts to show the alcohol burn takes over and then finishes with a bitterness that comes out of nowhere. Not a bad beer but it finishes kind of flat. It could uses either a bit more carbonation or malt sweetness to balance it out a bit more.