Kerel Stout
VBDCK Brewery

 

Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a very dark mahogany brown with little light transmission in the glass and a fine, two finger khaki head with great retention and nice lacing. Aroma of dark toasted malt, cocoa, Belgian yeast, a touch of dark dried fruit and mineral. Flavor is dark toasted malt with light char, bakers chocolate, dry caramel, mild dark dried fruit and a little coffee in the finish. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. It's been a while since I've had a Belgian stout (and they have such a distinct flavor from the yeast it should be reinstated as a style here, IMO), and this brings back happy memories; I really like this style. Overall, it is reminiscent of an English dry stout, but with the fruit notes of Belgian yeast, which I find winning. Flavor is subdued, but well balanced with light, but flavorful malt char and some chocolate and coffee character, but all fairly mellow. I was concerned about the Batch 22 06 on the bottle, but although it looks like a date, I see this 22 batch has been reviewed since 2017, so I guess it's just a plain batch number. There were not age flavor here either. I could have used a little more flavor depth, but for the ABV, this is quite nice. I'd get this again. The label shows a very strange sense of humor,some of which I do not understand, but it's interesting.

From a 11.2oz bottle. No date that I can figure out.
A bit of a hiss upon oppening, no smoke. It looks black in the glass, but when I hold it to the light, there's faint amber hues shining through. There's a 2 finger tan head. The retention is decent and there's sticky lacing on the glass.
The nose has a bit of cola notes. Caramel, toffee, rosted malts.
Taste - The flavor is quite light for a stout. There's hints of dark roasted chocoalte, caramel, and toffee. All flavors are light and faint.
Light bodied. Clean feeling.
I've heard Belgian stouts are very light and mild, and this holds up to that. Does it taste good? Yes. Is it lacking? Yes.

Verbeek-Back-De Cock Brewery "Kerel Belgian Stout"
11.2 fl. oz. brown glass bottle coded "22 06 06:45:370". Sampled on 11 May 2024
$5.99 @ Total Wine & More, Claymont, DE

Notes via stream of consciousness: As expected it's poured a black body beneath a two finer thick head of tan foam. When held to the light you can see along the bottom of the glass that it's actually brown. Some very nice glimmers of orange and ruby also show us that it's fairly clear. Ashen roastiness, floral hops, and a touch of mild chocolate greet you in the nose. There's not a lot going on there, but the flavor is quite rich with plenty of chocolate, including both bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate. The ashen roastiness and floral hop character remains, and a firm bitterness balances it leading to a dry, bitter, and roasty finish. In the mouth it's medium in body on the lower end, and gently crisp-then-smooth across the palate. It's not a very complex beer but it makes up for that in straightforward drinkability.
Review #8,970

11.2 ounce bottle, batch 22 06, thanks to Brutaltruth for this one! Served in a snifter, the beer pours dark brown/black with about an inch tan head. Head retention and lacing are both good. I like the aroma, the brew smells like roasted malt, dark chocolate and some coffee. Taste is similar to the aroma, but with the addition of some dark bread and dark fruity flavors. Mouthfeel/body is medium, it's smooth, a bit slick and easy to drink with a moderate amount of carbonation. I liked this one, it's a good overall brew and definitely worth trying if you've never had it before. Solid brew for sure!

11.2 FL. OZ. bottle
Served in a pokal glass

This beer pours dark brown and doesn't have much of a head.

Roasted malt aroma. Hints of chocolate.

Roasted malt flavor with a slight bitterness. Hints of burnt popcorn.

Thin bodied for a stout with a thin mouthfeel

Reminds me of the stouts I attempted in my brief homebrewing career. Drinkable, but nothing to brag about.

 

330 ml subby bottle. Unclear date code

pours a very dark brown color, almost black. khaki colored head. aroma is roasty, a bit of dark fruit, and some earthy Belgian yeast phenols. Similar flavors in the taste, has a bit of a cola flavor in the finish. medium bodied.

Looks thin. Foam is white/gray.
Smell is a bit one dimensional. I don’t really pick up the typical notes I would expect from a stout.
Very bitter for a stout. The flavors have some coffee and malt, but also some pale ale flavors.
Feel is effervescent, as expected in a Belgian.
This love child of a Belgian ale and an American stout doesn’t really seem to work well.

Kerel Stout has a thick, vibrant, overflowing beige head and a dark brown appearance, with heavy sheet lacing. The aroma is of brown bread crust, cream, and yeast. The flavor is of those elements, with faint coffee & chocolate notes. Kerel Stout has medium bitterness and body. It has a dry finish.

RJT

From the 11.2 oz bottle in a snifter. This big foamer pours a dark mahogany
reddish brown with a monster head of khaki foam that settles to a thick fat layer
with nice lacing. Nose of smoke, roasted malts, char, dark coffee hints, dark
bitter cocoa notes. Flavors follow but lightly surpass with a fine presentation of
dark cocoa, dark coffee hints, dark fruit touches of raisin, and heavy smoke and char.
Mouth feel is medium medium high carbonation that is very effervescent and
prickly, and a rich smoke and roast finish.

Overall, interesting but not what most Americans would refer to as a stout
as well as missing that soft mouthfeel associated with Belgium.

Cheers

L- Tip: take the pour reeeeeally slowly. This was completely rested and chilled but on the first 50ml the glass, my regular clean tasting glass, was full of foam. It's currently, +5mins, 1/2 poured and 25% beer with 75% of the glass foam. I don't rate that as a -ve BTW, just means the pour will take quite a while. Should have used an outsize glass...
Supeficially black, but beld up to a halogen it's a very deep ruby red. Poured clear with a vast pillowy dark-tan head atop.
S- Roasty-toasty + timber-log fireplace cinders.
T- Closely follows the smell quite deeply roasty-toasty, the 'cinders' are now hints of smoke. There is a moderate hoppy-dry flourish into the finish.
F- I was wondering what the ABV% is, since I haven't directly sensed it yet; modest or subtle. This is pretty well hopped and on the dryer side of medium.
O- Not a born drinker of black beer but this is a nice one. Quite pungent yet bright hopping gives balance. It comes over as more trad rather than anything new-fangled. I'd drink this one again. the solid profile is well suited to winter. I'd be interested to try an iteration of this with a ballsier ABV than 5%...
BB: 06/02/22. My bottle says it's 5.0% £3.69 Bought from TremblingMadness/York for home delivery to London.
ps. Now I can see that there is sediment adhered to the bottom of the bottle, so using an outsize glass might be an idea if you don't want a slooow-mo pour and the risk of stirring it all up.