Cellar Series: Loits
Põhjala Brewery & Tap Room

 

Loits is very dark brown and black in an Antiek goblet. A slight chestnut foam is fine and quickly fades to a ring and a thin veil. Spotty lace rides above and within slight legs.

The aroma is rich with dark chocolate. Whiskey is present, yet a partner with the chocolate. Other flavors include molasses, pumpernickle bread, and light pinesap. Warmth brings out honey and very light peat moss.

Similarly, the flavor is rich and saturated. Chocolate fudge with whiskey notes works well with the sweet, bitter balance. That balance is tilted modestly toward roasted bitterness. The flavors develop nicely with warmth, adding honey, caramel, and hazelnuts. The finish lingers and is a touch more sweet with nuts. Extended warmth reveals campfire smoke.

The body is full, almost dense, with explosive, fine carbonation. The carbonation is similar to the intensity found in a Belgian Strong Dark Ale. The texture is velvety and alcohol is as expected without the heat.

This is a tasty beer and pairs well with the calm that comes at the end of a day. I enjoyed it outside on a cool, early Autumn afternoon. Aside from the alcohol, one could easily have a second. This one definitely deserves to be sipped as it warms.

 

 

Got this from the Duvel guy in Utrecht

From a bottle into a snifter
Best before 12 October 2021
Barrel aged Imperial Buckwheat Porter
Aged in bourbon barrels and scotch whisky hogsheads from HE Islands

APPEARANCE: Clear brown pour yields a three finger, medium looking, foamy, slightly cream, light tan head with excellent retention. Bistre brown body with medium levels of carbonation evident. Head slowly recedes to a big foamy cap and leaves foamy lacing on the glass. A solid wisp remains until the end leaving decent lacing down the glass as it empties. A little foamy perhaps, but solid, nevertheless.

SMELL: Scotch whisky barrels, with oak, earthy tones, leather and tobacco on the nose. Notes of vanilla and milk chocolate, as well as hints of butterscotch in there too. Very barrel heavy with both the scotch and bourbon in there. Good nose.

TASTE: Peated whisky, earth tones, some leather, oak and alcohol up front. Flavorful, with milk chocolate and vanilla character at the swallow. A bold and persistent finish of earthy peat flavors, leather, oak, whisky, vanilla notes and some milk chocolate. Flavorful for sure.

PALATE: Thinner body and higher levels of carbonation. Foamy on the palate, airy, goes down foamy with a decent scratch and finishes a bit mouth-coating. Some heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is one that had piles of promise but lost out in its execution. The nose and flavor are great, but it’s simply too carbonated and foamy to really be enjoyable. You could try to degas it and perhaps it’d be more agreeable, but who knows. One I'd love to try another batch of but hopefully the foamy, overly-carbonated issue is soon a thing of the past. It's reared its ugly head a few times in recent memory.

 

 

Poured from the bottle into a snifter glass.

Very large amounts of foam off the pour, ballooning up large at nearly three fingers. Very light tan color, and settling down with good lacing and big creamy bubbles all around. Body color is a simple dark mahogany brown, some hints of clarity along the edge.

Aroma is quite impressive and varied. Light touches of honey with a dark roast, and light brown sugar. A big earthy sense of oak and peat like smoke and grass. Real varied and complex, with hints of fine sandlewood like quality, even a touch of hazelnut as well. This is real nice.

Very interesting tasting beer. Classic light bodied porter mouthfeel, but a real snappy and sharp palate. First sip is a big charring bitterness mixing with a real milky hazelnut and nutty nougat like flavor. Afterwards more hinting smoke and earth pile on, not quite cigar like, but definitely in the traditional whisky realm. Sweetness is pretty subdued which is nice, as is the large abv. Has this real smokey chary wonderful finish that really lasts with lingering bitterness.

Real unique tasting big porter.