De Zwarte Sinjoor Special

[Viv]

DE ZWART SINJOOR SPECIAL   

One-off ( Imperial Stout ), barrel aged, and stronger version of the Sinjoor,
from Pakhuis, with an ABV of 9.0%. New brew for me.   

Pours a jet black with a tinge of ruby burgundy, with a good sized light tan
bubbly creamy head. No lacing.

Bitter coffee and cocoa aroma.

It's thin to medium bodied, and nicely carbonated with a smooth, creamy and
luxurious mouthfeel and taste. Overall quite a subtle ( Belgian ) taste,
but still complex enough with lots of malts, hops, and spices, plus the dominant
cocoa powder, dark chocolate, coffee, mocha, caramel, and toffee. As it warms
the rum, brandy and sherry appear in the background. Generally dry, and bitter
with a long aftertaste. Flavours don't really get a chance to develop so it's
essentially a bit too refined and subtle to be a top brew but it's still a nice
one...


Cheers!


Viv

[Trappist]

and spices

Hi Viv,

Looks like a great beer to me.
You also tasted spices, which actually come from the infused Elixir.





I'm nearly 100% sure they have used the famous local Antwerp Elixir d'Anvers for that. Quite interesting 

Cheers,
Filip

[Viv]

Hi Filip,

Ah, that explains the "Elixir" on the labels...........

I've neither heard of Elixir nor tasted it so maybe the flavour was there but I
didn't recognise it.

Interesting.

Cheers!



Viv

[Trappist]

I've neither heard of Elixir nor tasted it so maybe the flavour was there but I
didn't recognise it.

Viv,
The basis of this 37vol% liqueur are a number of distillates of dried herbs and dried fruit.
Cinnamon, saffron and star anise play a leading role here, the other ingredients are the distiller's secret.
The label says that 32 aromatic plants were used!
After mixing the distillates with pure alcohol, the drink is sweetened and coloured.
Cheers,
Filip