Tonight's beer: Black Diamond Brandy Barrel Aged Grand Cru
Smells like dark dried/candied fruits, with brighter hints buried within. Dark bread, caramel, flickers os baking spiced—mainly allspice and cloves—and a healthy dollop of of dark spirits (mostly brandy). A vague whiff of vanilla.
Starts out surprisingly tart (not vinegary at all; tart)—there's no hint of *that* in the nose—then goes all dark-fruity and baking-spicy: figs and raisins and cherries and allspice and cloves; flickers of plums and cinnamon. Caramel and dark bread shoulder forward more through the middle, with brandy and vanilla providing backup. The beer does shift slightly dryward toward the end, but never quite makes it.
Very light-bodied, with decent soft/sine carbonation. Some of the prickle could be booze (and probably is, at 9% ABV), but there's no real heat; alcohol is at least carried well, if not hidden or buried. By the finish, gently drying and remarkably refreshing for such a strong beer.
A pretty surprising beer: The only other beer I can think of that plays at combining sour with Belgian Dark Anything is the Petrus Dubbel Bruin. (And the fact the tart isn't in the nose at all is way I typed that part of my notes up.)
It's a very drinkable beer, graceful and balanced and integrated, for being immensely complex and intense (and pretty strong). There's lots of stuff here, in terms of ingredients and techniques and flavor and all that ... stuff, but the beer holds together nicely. Seeing that this is from 2011, I can't help but wonder what a fresh bottle would be like, how this bottle has evolved over the past couple years. I think this is the third big-time winner I've had from Black Diamond. Impressive and delicious.
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| Black Diamond Brandy Barrel Aged Grand Cru |
Smells like dark dried/candied fruits, with brighter hints buried within. Dark bread, caramel, flickers os baking spiced—mainly allspice and cloves—and a healthy dollop of of dark spirits (mostly brandy). A vague whiff of vanilla.
Starts out surprisingly tart (not vinegary at all; tart)—there's no hint of *that* in the nose—then goes all dark-fruity and baking-spicy: figs and raisins and cherries and allspice and cloves; flickers of plums and cinnamon. Caramel and dark bread shoulder forward more through the middle, with brandy and vanilla providing backup. The beer does shift slightly dryward toward the end, but never quite makes it.
Very light-bodied, with decent soft/sine carbonation. Some of the prickle could be booze (and probably is, at 9% ABV), but there's no real heat; alcohol is at least carried well, if not hidden or buried. By the finish, gently drying and remarkably refreshing for such a strong beer.
A pretty surprising beer: The only other beer I can think of that plays at combining sour with Belgian Dark Anything is the Petrus Dubbel Bruin. (And the fact the tart isn't in the nose at all is way I typed that part of my notes up.)
It's a very drinkable beer, graceful and balanced and integrated, for being immensely complex and intense (and pretty strong). There's lots of stuff here, in terms of ingredients and techniques and flavor and all that ... stuff, but the beer holds together nicely. Seeing that this is from 2011, I can't help but wonder what a fresh bottle would be like, how this bottle has evolved over the past couple years. I think this is the third big-time winner I've had from Black Diamond. Impressive and delicious.
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