Kabert
Portsmouth Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

330ml bottle poured into a snifter.

Pours a pitch black with a small dark brown head. Nose is malty and sweet with a nice fruity nose.

Taste is bitter and rich, sweet and chewy. There's a nice strong alcoholic bite on the finish and it's very rich. Mouth feel is light and sharp. Very good and tasyu

 

 

 

 

Another bottle in my debt to nerd who always brings the best stuff (thanks Mike!). Small bottle shared at our DLD table.

This beer was dark black and opaque, no surpise when you consider the visual attributes of Kate the Great and Black Albert. Nice aroma of roasted malts and dark fruits, similar to the plums/raisins I get from Black Albert. Not as much of the cheese I get from Kate the Great (which is OK with me).

The taste is also closer to Black Albert than Kate, all the dark fruit and roast, along with a little cocoa. Honestly I remember thinking that this beer wasn't as good as either base beer, but it might be that it improves on the Kate a bit. Either way I think Black Albert suffers from dillution.

Nice thick body, not so different from either base in this dimension. Creamy mouthfeel.

Overall an interesting experiment that I feel lucky to have tried. But once is enough, not so good as to recommend spending a fortune hunting down.

Thanks to Mike (nerd) for sharing this long-time want. At least I remember who brought this one. Served in a taster pint glass.

A - Dark, dark, brown body. Significantly less foam than Black Albert, although still a decent amount that settles to a big ring of bubbles with some dark tan wisps on-tap. Minimal lace.

S - Black Albert dominates with notes of anise, candi sugar, fruity Belgian yeast. There's only mild Kate presence imparting more in the way of chocolate and oak.

T - Again, I get plenty of Black Albert but only mild fruity port and chocolate notes from the Kate element. Lots of dark fruit and Belgian yeast character.

M - Low carbonation, medium-full body, smooth texture, negligible alcohol. Pretty enjoyable stuff in this regard.

D - Quite similar to Black Albert in my opinion, although other reviewers say it tastes more like Kate to them. In any case, a quality stout, but not a blend that improves on the components either.

Big thanks to nerd for sharing

A - The brew pours a black-brown hue, oily, and is capped with a mocha head.

S - The nose suggests a pretty straightforward RIS, and is comprised of deep roast, chocolate, anise, slight vinous notes and oak tannin.

T - The taste confirms that this is indeed a straightforward RIS; notes of bitter dark chocolate, oaky vanilla, and dark fruit are the mainstay. Hints of dark cherry and anise are present as well.

M - Silky and softly effervescent equals creamy and enhancing; I have had a number of Stouts today, and this has a very good feel, relative to most.

O - This is not terribly exciting for me in any way other than theoretically but there is no doubting that it is a solid RIS (with a slight Belgian twist). Overall, in this case, the whole is not the sum of its parts. Would definitely prefer regular Black Albert to this.

Mad props to the man nerd for sharing this and may other fine brews at DLD.

A - Black beer with a finger of mocha head. Looks a little purplish and brownish on the edges. Head faded to a partial cap.

S - Dark fruits, vanilla, oak, little bit of spice and wood. Chocolate and a bit of yeast. It's an interesting combination, and you can kind of pick out the individual beers.

T - Dark fruit, chocolate, oak, little vanilla. Intersting BA yeast presence that is nicely muted by the roasted malts, coffee, and darker bitter notes of the Kate. I'm not necessarily a huge fan of either of these beers, but this is solid.

M - Viscous, full bodied, somewhat active carbonation.

O - A good beer, not my favorite as far as a take on RIS, but it will appeal to a lot of people as it is quite complex. I've always thought KtG was a good, but massively overrated beer with decent balance, but adding the BA to it gives some dimensions you won't find in a lot of brews of this type. Worth having.

Huge, huge thanks to nerd for opening up a bottle of this at DLD 2011. Couldn't have been more excited. Served in a SAVOR snifter.

The pour is nearly black and appears to be fairly thick based on a quick swirl. The head is mocha and sticks around for a short while before falling into a thin collar with a few random swirls of a cap on top. The nose carries the Black Albert portion of the brew with some light fruity notes and a bit of a creaminess that I always associate with Black Albert. Chocolate, oak, and light roast come through after that. You can definitely pick out each of the beers, though I think Black Albert makes a stronger showing in the nose.

The flavor doesn't hit quite as well and the characteristics don't meld as well as in the nose. There are some fruit notes as well as oak and chocolate. Some brown sugar there as well. A bit of a light creaminess throughout, which carries over into the feel. Fairly full body with lighter levels of carbonation, which brings through a nice smooth and cream-like finish.

A very solid beer that I was beyond enthusiastic to try. Very, very enjoyable and a good day indeed. Thanks again, Mike.

Never say never. I am a huge fan of both Kate the Great and Black Albert, and I had pretty much given up on ever trying this one.. A huge thanks you to nerd for sharing this at DLD.

The beer is a near black shade, with a thin, wispy head and a touch of lacing. The aroma is of roast, dark fruits, chocolate, yeast. The flavor really brings a good bit of both beers. A very intriguing blend. It's like a slightly more complex Kate. The feel is medium bodied, with moderately low carbonation, smooth on the palate. Alcohol content is hidden well. A very intriguing and unique brew, I am eternally grateful for the opportunity.

Huge thanks to Mike (nerd) for breaking this one out at DLD. Been really dying to try this one, and I know how tough this one is to find, so I was pumped when he brought this from SF. Poured into Jackie O's mini-snifter.

A - Pours black, tan/mocha head, some bubbles here and there on top and a thin collar around the glass.

S - Sweet dark fruits, you can really pick out the Belgian yeast from the nose. Dark chocolate, oak, burnt sugars. After the big dose of Black Albert dark fruits, the chocolate and oak (Kate) round things out.

T - Big dark fruit notes from Black Albert followed by chocolate, oak, cream, and burnt sugars, which I contribute to Kate. Slight coffee, charred malts, slightly chewy.

M - Medium to full, good carbonation for the style, creamy finish.

O - I enjoy both Black Albert and Kate, but neither blow me away. So, perhaps I should have rethought how much I would actually love this one then bank on the hype I built up for it. That said, it's still very enjoyable and I would def have it again.

Bottle #42/48 provided by Buckeyeboy at a recent tasting where we opened a '10 Kate and a Black Albert all side by side... Thanks Jeremy for the opportunity to sample this one.

Pours with a 1" dark tan head.... okay cap... lace shows better on later glass swirls than the initial pour.

Nose has lite spice and booze with a pretty pronounced dark cherry presence.. more cocoa than roasty notes.

Flavor mirrors the aroma with a bit of raisin to sweeten things up a tad... I can definitely pick up the Belgian yeast from the BA, but the cocoa and sorta chocolate covered dark fruits balance things nicely... thick without being chewy... coating and enticing... still the carbonation is a fine and present small bubble that strips just enough off the palate to make me want another sip.... or perhaps bogart the rest of the bottle.

Overall though, I really don't care a whole lot for Black Albert but I will never turn it down.... And I've always loved Kate, but I just don't think the parts of this bottle outweigh the Kate at all... the BA does add some nice complexities.

Damn impressed that Jeremy brought this to one of our humble tastings... Certainly one of the most straight up rare beers I'm ever going to get to enjoy... I have got to make a dedicated trip to the NE sometime... Ebenezer's has been calling my name for a long time.

4/4/4.5/4/4.5

Hand-filled 12oz. 50 degree bottle #32/48, gift from Chris, with thanks. Shared with emaineiacman, VTBobcat, and BrewedAwakening. Poured into small tasting glasses, it was adequately carbonated, (low) and typical for the style. Rich aromas of port, coffee, chocolate, oak and alcohol - very engaging. Mouthfeel a little hot, yet still smooth. Taste had many layers of complexity - sweet first, then on to bitter chocolate, coffee, nuts, prunes and a very long port & woody finish. Minimal hopping. Very enjoyable, and surprisingly free of oxidation considering what it went through to get into that bottle! A stellar dessert beer, especially with dark chocolate.

Next, a blending experiment: after listening to brewer Tod Mott describe the process of how he had come to the perfect proportion of Kate the Great and Black Albert to create Kabert, we decided to repeat the process for ourselves. Bottle of Kate from a kind anonymous donor, and Albert from emaineiacman. With Kabert standing by as our reference beer, we first tried each component on its own to compare it to. Kate was drier and a bit thinner; Albert was sweeter, maltier and more viscous than the blend. Then, using a pyrex graduated liquid measuring cup, we tried Tod's suggested 1/3 BA to 2/3 Kate and tasted it compared to the Kabert - except for slight oxidation notes, it was spot on. Then we reversed the proportions - too sweet! Only having a single 12oz. bottle of Kabert to play with, we didn't have enough to try more blending but it drove home the point about how trial & error can be required to find the perfect blend of 2 unique components in their own right to create something new & dynamic.

As others have noted, this beer does not exist, so perhaps I am completely making this up because I'm bored, or perhaps I snagged a glass from the wee firkin at Lion's Pride back at the Belgian Fest. Who knows?

Ok I'll stop being a dink. I was lucky enough to try a 2010 blend of two of the world's great stouts, having had Kate the Great on draft the past two years but never trying Black Albert, which made this an interesting tasting.

The strength of this beer lies in the silky dark chocolate flavors, which I attribute to Black Albert, because Kate is known more for her nose and dark burnt malt and port notes, which are present but more in the background.

This was my first beer of the day, and many other tasty rarities followed, but this one topped my list. So complex yet balanced with its flavors, though it seemed like the Black Albert notes were more dominant.

Very rare to see this one anywhere, so I'm glad I had the chance to try it. Tod, Tyler, and Struise guys: you make fine offspring!