Winter Beervana #5 - Winterkoninkske

Name: Winterkoninkske
Brewery: Brouwerij Kerkom
Style: Belgian Strong Dark
Brewed In: Kerkom-Sint Truiden
Origin: Belgium
ABV: 8.3%
Serving Glass: Goblet
OMG Beer Rating: 7.8


Appearance: Pretty pretty beer! Dark body, cloudy, with a hovering, lingering tan head. Looks...rustic?

Aroma: Plums, hint of a sweetness that reminds of brown sugar or caramel. Mineral notes. Not a lot of juniper but there's some spices buried in the aroma.

Taste: Bit of a cloying sweetness from the plum-sugar combination. Spices are indistinct but present, and a metallic cinnamon-ish flavor comes through clearer than the rest.

Mouthfeel: Starts creamy, ends sweet but with a hint of bitter. Booze well hidden.

I couldn't love this beer, and felt like a lot of the attempts to make it stand out (more hops probably used, juniper) just ended up detracting from the final product. Perhaps, the sweetness developed from how much time it takes to get from Belgium to a beer shelf at a liquor store, but there just wasn't enough going on in terms of flavor to keep the beer from being just a decent attempt at a unique belgian dark ale.