Caulfield
Freigeist Bierkultur

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Served in tulip. Dark black with a mocha froth on top. Leaves a solid lace, as if this was nitrogenated, though its not. Creamy head texture.

Aroma is great. Subtle berry aroma. Toasty and roasty. Plums.

Taste is also dark fruit and berry mixed with a coffee like taste. Only a soft gentle sweetness on the finish. Not bitter at all. Aftertaste is a long roasted malt tone. Really creamy, soft texture. Medium body (for an impy stout) and very smooth.

Tasty treat. Enjoyable. Light. Easy to throw back. Nothing too over the top. Dark fruits and roasted malts are highlighted throughout. Smooth. Really pretty good.

Almost black, just a few of mahogany edges. Half finger of light brown foam.
In the smell heavy and oily notes, toasted. Quite peculiar. The toasted and smoked malts.
In the mouth oily notes again, toasted, but a lot of soy sauce. No.
Maybe it is the rye, maybe something else, but definitely too much soy sauce.
A positive note, the alcohol is well hidden, but the rest...
Toasted? Coffe? Just a hint. Even some smoked notes, but not convincing at all.

 

Got this at De Bierkoning in Amsterdam. The ten euro price tag has deterred me for a while, but I eventually broke down.

From a 375ml into a snifter

APPEARANCE: A mudy brown pour yields a cascading, thicker looking, one finger, tan head with very good retention. Creamy had fades to a thin, bubbly wisp. Sienna bown body with no carbonation evident. A swirly wisp remains but leaves no lacing down the glass.

SMELL: Roasted and burnt malts, molasses notes, cocoa powder and some dark, baker's chocolate. Molasses and dark chocolate work well together, with touches of sweet cream. Medium strength.

TASTE: Roasted malts, charred notes, some molasses and a bit of soy sauce up front. Aftertaste is plenty salty with quite a bit of soy sauce, and then some sweet molasses and bitter bitter dark chocolate that attemtp but fail to balance the salty soy and licorice flavors. Wish the molasses and chocolate came out more like in the nose, but as it is now, it's a little salty soy-sauce heavy and somewhat vegetal. Not my style.

PALATE: Medium body and somewhat modest levels of carbonation. Heavy enough, though a little watery going down, and finishes rather sticky on the palate. Would prefer more creaminess, but oily and heavy enough on the palate.

OVERALL: While I love this style, this is not my type of interpretation. The flavor is a little too salty and soy-sauce heavy for my tastes, but otherwise, there is some potential here for sure. Would like to try more from this brewery, but as it stands now, I'd pass on another bottle of this one.

375 ml bottle, BB date reads December 2013, into baby 180 ml Chimay glass. Pours opaque very dark reddish-brown viscous body. Even the most vigorous pour fails to impress by giving birth to any head apart from short-lived soapy patch that reemerges with each swirl. Albeit the appearance is not fully inviting there is always hope a dive could reveal a rich life beneath the still surface. Aroma is centered around the rich fruity esters of dark fruits - plums and raisin in particular - & roasted malt with strong chocolaty character, surrounded by malt with caramel and unrefined sugar-like sweetness, vinous notes and well integrated alcohol. A careful sniffing session reveals rye bread. When it comes to the flavor, the center-stage is taken by plummy, pruney and raisiny fruitiness complemented by chocolaty overtones from the roasted malts. The malt-backbone is thick and solid with caramel character, furthermore there's pumpernickel tartness and evident alcohol strength. The finish is unexpectedly dry for such a malty brew with lingering hoppy bitterness, mild roastiness and warming alcohol that jointly counterbalance the malt and round the profile. Very full bodied without getting syrupy, chewy with delicate carbonation and velvety smooth texture.

In short: an intensely fruity, chocolaty and warming, malt-oriented imperial stout lacking harsh burnt notes. I've been caught by the catcher in the rye with his first attempt.

A - dark with a thin cascading, brown/tan head

S - nice chocolate smell with roasted malts

T - chocolate again, lots of malts, creamy with some sweetness

D/M - very nice and creamy mouthfeel, alcohol does not attack you at a all, a solid IS

The first ever Imperial Stout from Germany, Freigeist (Sebastian/bierkompass.de) is doing some great things! I look forward to more beers from Freigeist.