Silver Series: Morphosis Brandy BA
Pühaste Brewery

 

Got this from Duvel guy in Utrecht

From a bottle into a snifter
Best Before 24 January 2027
Collaboration with Brouwar Pintas
Brandy Barrel aged Imperial Baltic Porter

APPEARANCE: Pours out black and yields a small, medium looking tan head with decent retention. Head quickly recedes to a solid half wisp and clings to the glass. Black body with lots of carbonation evident. Ends up in a solid ring with a nice swirly wisp. A splotchy wisp remains leaving no real lacing on the glass.

SMELL: Lots of brandy barrel on the nose. Very potent. Oak, dried dates and other dark fruits, some light milk chocolate and vanilla aromas, with touches of leather as well. Bold and aggressive.

TASTE: Big and flavorful, with lots of brandy barrel, oak, dark fruits, some roasted flavors, milk chocolate and plenty of booze at the swallow. Bold finish is boozy and bitter, with lots of brandy, dark fruits, roasted flavors, some milk chocolate, vanilla cream, leather, and plenty of hop bitterness and alcohol lingering on the palate. Very flavorful with lots of the good stuff going on.

PALATE: Medium-fuller body and slightly higher levels of carbonation evident. Plenty of weight and very thick and creamy, goes down fine with a bit of a scratch and finishes quite sticky. Decent heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is excellent. Nose and flavor is bang on and the feel is really nice as well. It could be a touch darker and the carbonation is rather active for the style, but otherwise, this is really well done. Lots of nice barrel character and a great, thick base porter to support the show. Well made and well worth checking out if you get the chance. Cheers!

 

L- Pours inky black with one of the darkest tan heads I've seen in years. That head is slolwy fading but considering the ABV% it was impressive.
S- Coffee and brandy.
T- Good grief this is sweet, intensely so. This is blind-tasted but I suspect it might be loaded with lactose. There's surely some kind of full-on non-malt sugar added... Oh, and yes the brandy note is clear.
F- Sickly sweet. Thick feeling.
O- What a surprise; such a disappointment. This might just be the sweetest beer I have ever encountered. I strongly suggest anyone trying this start it off very well chilled, and perhaps not to linger. I reckon on 1 in 500 or less beers I take the first sip and wonder if I'll have to sink the rest. Sad to say but I've a couple of other beers from this brewery too...
330ml bottle from Trembling Madness, York, UK BB: 24/01/2027 Batch: 436

 

Pours a pitch-black coloration with a large, creamy, mocha-colored head. Smells of slightly roasted, caramelly malt, intense milk chocolate and distinct dark fruit and red berries, with notes of raisin, plum, cranberry and grape, as well as just a hint of licorice. Taste is an excellent balance of slightly roasted, caramel malt, rich milk chocolate and distinct dark fruit and red berry notes of raisin, plum, cranberry, red currant and red grape, as well as spicy hints of vanilla, licorice and nutmeg. Finishes bittersweet, with a light/medium sweetness and some chocolate, dark fruit and spice lingering in the aftertaste. Full, creamy mouthfeel with a rich body and light/medium carbonation.

Another absolutely exceptional barrel-aged brew from Pühaste, who are much less well known than Pohjala from Estonia, but at least on equal footing with their very own Silver Series, which rarely disappoints. This is probably one of my favorites from the series, with a deep Brandy character of dark/red fruit and and spice underlying the rich caramel, choccolate, slightly roasted malts here, with an intoxicating aroma and full and creamy body and mouthfeel as well. Overall, this makes for quite a full, complex Imperial Porter that feels sweet and warming without ever turning too cloying or boozy, with a rich complexity and subtle balance.