Name: Troubadour Obscura

Brewery: Brouwerij De Musketiers

Overall Rating: A

Style: Belgian Dark Strong Ale (BJCP 18E)

Serving Style: 750ml

ABV: 8.5%

Price: Bitch’n Gift

Aroma: Immense esters slap the nostrils around with bananas and figs.  Pow!  I almost fell out of my chair.  Nice silky strong malts back up the banana split with confidence.

Appearance: Deep copper-brown in color.  Billowing fluffy 4-finger head that’s thick, tan and dark.  Amazing lacing on the glass tells a rich story.

Flavor: Very bold maltiness backs up the earlier aromatics claim.  Mildly sweet with a medium finish.  Slight bitterness from the alcohol provides a nice balance.

Mouthfeel: Beyond carbonated, this sucker settles down after 10 minutes and still looks like a root beer float.  All those bubbles are pleasant when drinking this beer.  Full body with a medium finish.

Enjoyability: After drinking this beer, I looked up the style since I haven’t had too many Belgian Dark Strong Ales before and was surprised at how well this beer nailed the style.  It’s dead on in most respects with the exception that the trappist version of the BDSAs tend to be drier.  I’ve noticed most reviewers tend to call this a stout since it’s listed on the bottle, the Musketiers are trying to screw with our heads.  It’s either a really good Belgian Dark Strong or a pretty awful stout.

This is a beer that warms you up on a cold night and never lets go.  The aromas and tastes were shocking and I thought I wasn’t going to like this beer, but I’ve learned that if my tastebuds and nose get scared right off the bat, it’s generally either a really great beer or my worst nightmare.  Luckily this was a great beer.  Special thanks to Skotmigloor for mailing this to me from California!

Another take: Ba

Tags: beer review, Belgian Dark Strong Ale, BJCP 18E, Brouwerij De Musketiers, hornificiation, Mild Stout, Obscura, Troubadour, Troubadour Obscura Mild Stout

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Beer Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.