Two of my favourite breweries collaborated to create this beer which was brewed at Kees’ Middelburg brewery in The Netherlands.
Both a very creative brewers who like to push boundaries and explore what they can do with beer, so I was very interested to see what they came up with. The answer was an orange chocolate stout.
Kees chose the Dutch oranges as his contribution, while Ronald opted for pure Belgian chocolate. The result is a very tasty, slightly sweet but not in desert stout territory beer that I reckon has a bit of a good old jaffas vibe to it.
Pouring almost black in colour, the aroma is full of chocolate (of course), cocoa, caramel, dark fruits and some roasty malt. It sounds like it will be really sweet, and all of those aromas do come through in the flavour, but there is a balance of bitterness, roasted malt astringency and the orange citrus that lift this beer up.
It is actually really well done, very smooth mouthfeel and that wonderful balance that even leaves a citrusy, bitter zing in the aftertaste.
A Belgian Export Porter from a brewery more known for their Flemish sour ales
Barossa's GABS entry for 2019 was the Peanut Butter Chocolate Milkshake stout. The name says it all!
A combination of English and German smoked malts combine in this rich, tasty dark treat
A tasty sweet milk stout with the addition of smoked wheat malt and whole vanilla beans
by Brouwerij Emelisse/Slot-Oostende
A 5.5% sweet stout presenting loads of sweet chocolate and toasty malts, hints of coffee and an undercurrent of vanilla
A chocolate oatmeal stout with loads of fresh strawberries added
by L'Arogante (De ProefBrouwerij)
A Belgian Stout with loads of roasted malt, chocolate and coffee with a solid hop bitterness
An easy drinking Belgian stout that is a little sweet at first, with a dry and bitter finish
A Russian Imperial Stout brewed to an original English recipe from 1750
A slightly happier version of a classic barley wine, using Cascade and Citra hops
A rich caramel malt body with a good dose of hop bitterness and a dry finish
An Imperial Saison aged 6 months in Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrels
A delicious dessert beer, this is like caramel fudge in a glass
Probably the flagship beer of Kees' beer portfolio
This beer replaces the Double Rye IPA, loaded with Mosaic, Simcoe and Loral hops with a crisp malt body
The second variant of Kees' Double IPA, double dry hopped with Simcoe & Amarillo
A spicy Rye Imperial IPA, with generous additions of Citra, Simcoe and Cascade
An old 19th Century beer style, dragged into the current craft beer world by a creative and talented brewer
A triple dry-hopped Imperial IPA, the 2020 single hop edition features Chinook hops
An IPA from Kees, finished with a French saison yeast for an interesting mix of beer styles
Kees' version of a NEIPA - or at least a hazy IPA - full of Citra, Mosaic and Loral hops
A new version of Kees' hazy IPA featuring Citra, Mosaic and Loral hops for a soft, juicy IPA
A lightly smoked summer dopplebock - apparently it's how the 'Indian's celebrated the autumn!'
Pils and Munchener malts, Amarillo hops, coriander and mango are all fermented with yeast from Westmalle
A milkshake IPA, made using lactose and with the addition of fresh mango and vanilla
A hop-driven pale ale dry-hopped with loads of beautiful Citra hops
Pineapple, coriander and szechuan peppers plus a little lactose make for an intriguing milkshake IPA
A really juicy, and very intriguing, single hop IPA using experimental hop HBC472
A chocolate oatmeal stout with loads of fresh strawberries added
A rich Russian Imperial Stout with cinnamon and brown sugar, based on the traditional Dutch pastry dessert
This Bourbon barrel aged imperial stout is a three-way collaboration with Alvinne (BEL) and Velka Morava (RUS) brewed at Brouwerij Kees
