Troubadour Westkust - Brouwerij De Musketiers

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

4.45/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Max's yesterday. First time I've ever seen this beer.

The beer pours a very dark brown amber color with very good head retention and considerable sticky lacing all around. The nose is complex and terrific in this beer, as i pick up caramel, chocolate, smoke, light dry citrus and a hint of burnt toast. The flavor profile replicates the nose, with the dry citrus and burnt toast flavor balancing the moderate sweet choclate, brown sugar and caramel beautifully. The beer dries out fairly well on the long finish, and mouthfeel is fairly full otherwise. Alcohol is well integrated into the flavor profile, and so drinkabiltiy is pretty good.

Another excellent beer from these guys. I'm beginning to think they can't miss.

Serving type: on-tap

11-04-2012 15:36:54 | More by johnmichaelsen

DoubleJ

California

4.45/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Not listed on the draft menu at Gollem, the bartender recommended that I give this Imperial Black Ale a whirl. Trusting him this time reaped a major reward. On to the beer:

The color is black as ink and topped with a long lasting head which leaves a lot of lacing around the glass. One smell had me feeling for good things to come. The aroma is very strong and brings burnt chocolate, brownies, and plenty of resin. Bring it on!

This is Belgian ale, but it tastes very American. The taste is powerful, leading off with semi-sweet chocolate and a big hoppy flavor. The hops bring a tea-like flavor. It also brings burnt leaves, yet despite all this, the big malt and big hops manage to work together instead of trying to one-up each other. It's full bodied and smooth, with the final touch being an ABV level which is hidden very well.

Now that's what I call being impressed! This is not your usual Belgian ale in terms of beauty, finess, or character. This is a beast of an ale, and well excecuted. An absolute must try if you find it.

Serving type: on-tap

05-18-2013 02:31:05 | More by DoubleJ

thagr81us

South Carolina

4/5  rDev -5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served from tap into Troubadour tulip. Poured a massively dark brown (almost black) with a three finger light tan head that subsided to one finger very slowly . Maintained phenomenal lacing throughout the glass. The aroma was comprised of sweet malt, roasted malt, earth, dark chocolate, earth hop, and subtle spice. The flavor was of sweet malt, roasted malt, dark chocolate, wood, earth, earth hop, and subtle spice. It had a medium feel on the palate with medium-high carbonation. Overall this was a good brew. The roastiness you would expect from the style was definitely there. The dark chocolate aspect going on was a nice addition to the other aspects going on in this one. For te style this one definitely stands out from some of the other examples with a really good balance. Glad I got the chance to try this one and suggest you do the same.

Serving type: on-tap

02-03-2013 00:44:30 | More by thagr81us

tdm168

North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

On tap at World of Beer Raleigh. Served in a snifter.

A - dark brown with a thin white head that has great retention

S - coffee, chocolate, toffee, roasted malts

T - chocolate, roasted malts, charcoal, coffee, bitter finish

M - full bodied, well carbonated

This is a really solid offering. It's labeled a Belgian Style Black IPA, but this drinks like a really smooth Imperial Stout. It has great flavor, it's complex, it's balanced, it is definitely worth trying.

Serving type: on-tap

07-27-2012 09:25:58 | More by tdm168

CrazyDavros

Australia

4.5/5  rDev +6.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.75

Pours brown with a lasting head.
Nose shows complex roasted malt with chocolate, cocoa, roasted coffee and oatmeal notes along with very soft spicy and resinous hops. Lovely.
The complex roasted malt follows as a flavour with more coffee. Some booze follows, lending a coffee liqueur character. Not all that much hops but there's some definite resinous and piny notes. Well-balanced bitterness in the finish.
Nice soft carbonation, but it could be upped a little.

Serving type: on-tap

02-11-2013 11:05:18 | More by CrazyDavros

farrago

New Jersey

4.59/5  rDev +9%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

An average pour easily fills half the glass with tan foam, mostly smaller bubbles but not a dense microfoam, excellent retention and as it slowly dissolves starts to dimple and take on a more delicate wispiness, once it leaves enough room to assess things, thin but ultra-sticky lacing is revealed, random broad blotches across the insides of the glass. Extremely murky brown liquid with a yellow tinged glow to it, too opaque to see if there’s any bubbles around. The nose has an explosive quality to it, a hand grenade of cocoa, coffee, rye bread, burnt caramel, dried cherries and raisins, pine needles and charcoal, softens some into oats and other cereal grains, what’s interesting is how it lacks ostentation and no one element shouts above the others, hard to achieve this kind of integration at its size and volume. It’s medium-bodied and has an overall dryness which lessens its weight, much more roast here and crisp snap. Bitter dark chocolate, coffee bean, leafy herbaceousness and cracked pepper, only after some time will it let out the sweeter caramel to butterscotch notes. Some cherry and dark berry but the fruit is light and close to zero citrus presence. The carbonation has some gears in reserve and keeps it kicking forward. At the end you get a good dose of black licorice and sour breadiness. Both texturally as it vibrates and in terms of flavor intensity, long finish. Intelligently impressive.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2013 04:26:01 | More by farrago

whoneeds8

Texas

3.95/5  rDev -6.2%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured into a tulip glass black with a HUGE white head. The head retention is AWESOME. The Lacing . . . seriously, I don't think I've ever seen lacing down the glass like this. The retention and lacing alone deserves the 5, it's literally a "hey, look at this" moment.

I have a lack of scent, and really can't point anything out on the scent of this beer.

The taste has alot of coffee, cocoa, and carmel. There's alot of dark roasted flavors in the palette. Not much Belgian yeast flavor that I would expect.

I agree with the previous review, this really is more like an Imperial Export Stout. Mouthfeel has about that much body, not thick like an IRS, but not like a IPA either. Carbonation is good.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2012 00:38:10 | More by whoneeds8

vickersspitfire

Texas

4.71/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

The aroma is awesomely captivating as you pour it out, dark fruits, some spices and mild roasted malts mixed in with some light coffee smells all collaborate together to work up your appetite for this ale. It looks like a great ale, thick fluffy head filled to the max with billowy bubbles, very creamy and all rounded together by a thick wall of lacing. Did I mention it’s a tan color! The body of the beer is very dark; I can’t even get any other hues when held up to the sunlight, its simply dark brown mixed in with some reds creating an almost black body. Crisp and sharp at first, it reminds me more of a stout at this point. It’s slightly creamy and the mouth feel is medium to thin, leaning on the thin side. Its mildly tart overall and the dark fruits and spices come out as it hits the center of your tongue, the roasted malts and coffee flavors come out right before the aftertaste kicks in. As it warms up, the mouth feel become a little thicker and is definitely a medium bodied beer, the aftertaste remains the same, slightly bitter with dark chocolate and tart berries.

Serving type: bottle

03-16-2013 18:21:04 | More by vickersspitfire