Geist Dark
Brasserie Du Bocq

This handcrafted beer from Belgium pours a creamy head and is usually not served very cold. This helped me actually savour the beer. There is a definite light bitterness due to the hops. Dark, with a roasty taste, it well carbonated and very nice till the last sip!

This one is a limited release brew done by the Brasserie for a Bangalore based Microbrewery. Says brewed specifically for the Indian palate. Label notes - brewed with premium 2 row barley malt with a low hop aroma and low bitterness.

The beer is poured into a wine goblet from the stubby bottle. It pours a massively dark, ruby red with a 1 inch dirty beige creamy head. The head doesn't last long and quickly dissipates into a thin coaster initially, but eventually fizzes out, giving the beer a cola appearance. The body is really pitch black if viewed from top, only gives out a reddish hue if held to light. The smell is a bouquet of dark fruits like raisins and plums with tart notes of cherries as well. A little doughy aroma wafts across if you give a little twirl, probably giving the yeast a little life.

The first sip gives you a solid chunky bite of black grapes and the zing of maraschino cherries. The beer is a little spicy from a definite use of cloves and nutmeg - giving the whole experience a nice pan from the fruity to spicy. The malt back tastes of cookie dough to make the taste pretty wholesome, though the aftertaste is a little tart and abrasive rather than smooth - what I expect from my BDA. The little spotty lacing gets immediately wiped off from the liquid swirl giving the glass a clean sheen. A second pour leaves a bigger head, though that too meets the same fate and vanishes within no time.

This beer is not the definitive BDA, but a batch brewed for a micro in India by a Belgian brewery creates a feelgood factor about the craft revolution in India, and talks about the shape of things to come. If you are in India, pls ask for the Geist dark and you will not be disappointed.