To Øl / Omnipollo Brewmance
De Proefbrouwerij (bvba Andelot)

L - pitch black with less than a finger of tan head

S - Charred oak, bourbon, smoke, tobacco

T - A turn for the worse I'm afraid. Everything is subdued and bitter. Bitter dark chocolate, small oak, an unpleasant black licorice, almost no bourbon

F - Watered down and tepid. This is an 11.20% stout? Has the feel of a bad porter at best.

O - Disappointing. An unpleasant array of diluted flavors and a thin mouthfeel.

No date but purchased All Star Week 2015 from Kung Food Chu Amerasia. Poured July 28, 2015 in to a Mad ElF tulip/snifter.

Look - Dark brown to black. Finger of tan head with 90 degree pour from beginning. Lacing and head are similar in that they are there but dissipate in a minute or two.

Smell - Boozy. Vanilla. Dark fruit. Hops and honey come forward when swirled. Honey doesn't come through as expected.

Taste - Marshmallow. Coffee. Char. Chocolate. Bourbon. Black cherry.

Feel - Very smooth feeling despite ABV and barrel. No carbonation bomb but not flat. Burn on tongue from hops or alcohol minimal.

Overall - I have a feeling this was aged a little longer than expected. Very mellow. Very good barrel aged stout. It is hard to mess up but good nonetheless.

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a dark brown colour, black when not up to the light. Head is beige, visible bubbles just crowding around the edges. Speckly lace. Looks alright.

Smells strong and pungent. Big kind of cognac character blending with coffee, raising toast that's slightly charred and a touch of aloe vera. Not sure what to make of it, but it's quite impressive.

Taste is rich; chocolatey and sweet. Lots of complex sugars giving raisin, sherry and brown sugar with a thick chocolate fondant richness but without the sweetness, and a distinctive Courvoisier strength. Refined, but pungent as fuck. It's sweet, but intelligent; a thinking man's beer, good for destroying a few of those thinking cells.

Little drying on the back. Full, smooth on the front. Booze is a drying agent rather than a big, hot pungency.

Strong, mighty beer. One might almost call it 'heroic' if one were a complete tool.

375ml green caged and corked bottle purchased from Berkeley Bowl West in Berkeley, CA. Shared with Sam in Sydney on a brew day.

Pours a deep black, silky in the glass and with some weight behind it. Head is a mesh of beige that stays pretty persistently. Nice fine spots of lacing. Carbonation is very fine. If the head were a little thicker, it would be the business. As it is, it's still a fairly solid corporation.

Nose is quite vinous, but with some classic, flavoursome stout characters behind it. Slight peppery characters come through as well, perhaps a touch of chilli aromatics. Above the oak and vanilla sits a fruitiness that's still dark but rather fragrant. It detracts somewhat from the sheer weight of the stout, but it's certainly pleasant.

Taste is very nice. Smooth and silky throughout, with some tannic bite on the front, mellowing out to creaminess by the time it hits the mid-palate. Roastiness around the edges provides some balance, while the booze is really quite well hidden. The back is what makes this beer for me: after all of the vinous notes, the oak and the tannins, we get a creamy sweetness almost like raw milk. It's an unexpected turn for the beer, but really very pleasant.

Feel is light, but the silkiness helps it along its path.

Overall, this is a very special beer. Smooth, silky and laced with interesting twists of tannins and red-wine. I enjoyed it a very great deal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

375mL bottle

I never mention bitterness in my reviews, my bitterness taste buds are ridiculously under-
sensitive.

APPEARANCE : Pitch black on pour with dark brown hue. Head is mocha, more than medium sized on pour, goes back down at a leisurely pace leaving some tough looking lacing.

SMELL : First nose is coffee, chocolate and some smoke with a herbal hop side. Second nose pushes the hop profile aside and really amplifies on the mocha chocolate side. Some honey starts to come out. Third nose is all about the honey : black roasted honey. Very nice twist on the too often same-as-usual approach on the stout style.

TASTE : This stuff shines on the palate. The flavours are full and well layered : most of the roasted-malt-related tastes are toned down, giving much of the room to the wild honey and the bourbon barrel. Very well done.

MOUTHFEEL : Thick but not overpowering. Definitely what I want in this kind of stout. The carbonation makes everything easier to handle. I'm a big fan of this almost-syrupy texture in stouts and this brew nails it hands down.

OVERALL : Another very fine product from To Øl. Kudos as well to Omnipollo. I've got a case of 12 of these bad boys and damn am I glad I do. This is seriously good stuff. I don't understand the 86% rating this brew got. Since it's only stated in Danish on the bottle, maybe not everyone was aware that this was brewed with wild honey and aged in bourbon barrels? The honey side is definitely an interesting side of this brew. I'm really digging this.

 

A: Black with a mocha head.

S: Vanilla, coffee, chocolate, oak, plum, dark fruit in the nose.

T: Dark and slightly tart fruits come out first, followed by oak, vanilla, chocolate and coffee.

M: Full bodied and smooth.

O: Delicious! The tartness, though faint, is probably this beer's biggest flaw, but it's excellent better.