Van Den Bossche Buffalo Belgian Stout

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Poured from the 0.75L darkish brown with frothy tan head. Initially the aroma is figs and raisins. As it warms it becomes even fruitier. Not very stout like. The taste starts with lots of carbonation for a “stout” that causes an explosion of dark fruit flavors like dates, figs, raisins and tart grapes. Then I get coriander and a hint of cinnamon almost midway. Beyond that are faint notes of molasses and roasted malts that show up to put on a brief sense of a stout flavor. But not really. At the finish I’m left with tingling residual carbonation, fig and prune fruitiness and an ever so slight roasted maltiness, possibly chocolate. This brew is much more Belgian Ale than Stout.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Bottle; Poured a dark black/brown with light brown head. The aroma was leafy and hints of sweetness. The flavor was rich roasted malt.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Dark ruby, almost black, with light brown lacing foam head. Light aroma, little caramel what I would not expect. Tastes sweet to, not like a srout. (Velp 201402)

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

C: dark brown, solid, red edges, huge brown head
A: yeast, roast, molasses, coffee
P: medium full
F: dark roast malt, molasses, licorice
O: Excellent tasting beer, color could be a bit darker though

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

as a stout, this beer is a rather expensive joke, let alone as an imperial. had more in common with a pepsi in look, feel, and even flavor. light malts, a touch of roast, lots of fruit, and butterscotch and yeast. not a horrible beer, classified as a belgian ale. still average, though. but to pay 9.99 for this "stout" kinda pisses me off :)

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

750ml bottle -

This was a freaky stout. OK, I get it that it's a Belgian stout but I got this butterscotch-y thing on the aroma along with blackberries and Coke. No chocolate, no roasted malts. Berries, Coke and butterscotch. It wasn't horrible, but...just....odd. Flavor brings some smooth caramel malts, more berries, licorice and dry chocolate powder. I can't really consider this a stout, but whatever.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

Not quite as powerful as the Stone IRS I sampled right before, but definately tastey nonetheless. Pours a dark brownish black colour with a big off whiteh ead. Caramel and syrupy sweetness on the palate. My goodness it's got that maple syrup notes all around. Creamy and full on the palate, but in the meantime I'll assume there could be better.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Sampled on 12/12/2008. This stout pours a medium dark brown color from the bottle. Small to medium sized tan foamy head. The aroma is chocolate, roasted malts, coffee and yeasts. A medium bodied stout. The malts are chocolate and coffee. The hops are earthy and floral. Has that yeasty Belgian character. Good carbonation. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and dry. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Bottled. Very deep rubyish amber colour with brown mediumsized head. Arima is malts, soma sour fruits, spices and mild notes of plum. Flavour is mildly roasted malts with some fruity notes. Aftertaste is a nice mix of nuts, caramel and quite strong notes of roasted malts. Rather sweet, otherwise very pleasant.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

When poured carefully the beer produces a four-finger thick, brown tinged, dark tan colored head that sits atop an almost black, very dark brown colored brew. The beer showed brilliantly clear, rich, light chocolate color in the thin steam flowing into my glass. The aroma is quite fruity, in fact it is quite noticeable as I pour this brew and smells strikingly of a fresh cut, aromatic apple variety (a sort of mix between Macintosh & ripe gala apples). The fruitiness is most definitely the dominant characteristic of the nose; touches of plums & fresh figs join the apple notes. Towards the end there are some dusty, toasted malt notes that perhaps hint at chocolate aromatics. While the aroma is quite enticing, I wish that a bit more malt complexity came through. As my nose gets used to the aroma a touch of funkiness starts to be noticeable. I don't think it is anything more than yeast derived, but I get soft notes of damp leather, musty earth and a complex mix of esters and light phenolic notes.

Lightly sweet tasting and still quite fruity throughout. Even in the flavor this really reminds me of perfectly ripe, aromatic apple varieties (though it is not nearly as intense as a sweet cider). Quite light and easy drinking, this drinks like a beer of far lesser alcoholic strength. A touch of tannic astringency becomes noticeable in the middle, and lingers on in the mouth through to the long finish. This seems to be a signature from the dark malts used in this beer. These dark malts notes also add a hint of chocolate, some dusty grain husk character, and perhaps a bit of roast chalk. A touch of the subtle yeast funkiness noticed in the aroma is noticeable here in the taste, just enough to add a hint more complexity.

The couple of times that I have had, I have really noticed how drinkable this brew is; it is very well integrated, and the body is light enough that it is quite quaffable (a dangerous quality in a brew of this strength). Part of this is that it is a relatively simple brew and even by Belgian stout standards (yeah I know, it is not like there is a ton of these yet), it is quite light on the roast character. Still it is quite enjoyable