Tronk
Siphon Brewing

Blind-tasted except for the beer's name and brewery/country, zero reviews below read (yet!)...
L- I just rechecked the bottle's volume as that is the lowest pour I've had in my regular glass for a looong while, 330ml it says, c275ml it looks.... Not to worry.
Super-deep garnet red (held to light), otherwise it appears effectively black. Pours very slightly hazy with a 1mm mid-tan fine-bubble head.
S- A deep sense of 'puddingy' richness. As in Brit Xmas puddings... deep roast rich fruits etc.
T- Ooh! Dryer than expected, in fact then right into cocoa + vinous aspect. I suspect this might be aged in wine barrels. Is it just wine or a higher% derivative thereof, as the wine note is now majorly pungent.
F- The balance is clever, pungent taste whilst having a sufficiently robust feel to mostly balance it. CO2 in the mouth is modest, but unsurprising at this height of ABV%.
O- Something different. A deep roast beer, notable cocoa (dark/dry) notes and I'm pretty sure wine (or cognac/brandy etc) barrel aged. For an overall pretty mega proposition it has a lot of finesse. Still a big proposition, for sure, so the kind of beer that's a slow sippin' one for me...
Review #1889/scoring all done, now the reveal, I get to read the bottle lables to see what I missed! ==> Ingreds incl: Golding + Saaz hops. Chocolate etc malts, and 'Belgian abbey' yeast. Top-fermented + refermented and unfilt/unpast.
330ml bottle BB: 12/05/2022 Euro 3.99 Bought from BeerMania/Belgium as part of a large pick-your own consignment to London.

 

never heard of these guys before this one, a newer wave of belgian craft it seems, and a neat little beer, happy to have had this shared with me, i love discovering this sort of thing! its a vanilla and orange quad, and its unique as they go, with less of the chateau abbey type malt richness to it and more of a drier chocolate malt type brown ale complexion to it, thin in feel for its abv and not anywhere near as sweet as the style usually is, but with nice depth still and not overexposed on the alcohol at all. the vanilla and orange are subtle to me, a little bitterness from the orange peel goes nicely with the cocoa notes in the grain, while a little brown sugar sweetness along with the vanilla makes it feel bigger and adds nice desserty depth where the grain isnt so sweet. it comes together well and isnt overly complex, but its the yeast element thats most interesting to me, not old and timeless and monastic tasting, yet also not classic estery or spicy, sort of muted but still interesting, more cocoa notes come out at the end with it, almost baked and bready to me, lightly candied with the vanilla. overall a cool mix of flavors and a relatively restrained use of adjuncts here, not sure how great the base quad is on its own, quality seems to be there but its a strange recipe. i will be interested to try some more stuff from these guys if i am lucky enough to get the chance! old world style with a little innovation here!