Tag: Belgian Stout
Brasserie Ellezelloise Hercule Stout
Belgian Stout is one of those styles that has seen increasing popularity of late as more brewers, particularly American brewers, have turned their attention to brewing this style. Which is interesting, because it is a “style” that has little-to-no lineage in Belgium itself. Until recently only a small handful were brewed, and all by very small artisanal brewers. Up until the past year, I’d only heard of a couple of them actually, this Hercule Stout from Brasserie Ellezellois and Stouterik from Brasserie de la Senne. More recently, Allagash came out with their take on the style, named appropriately “Black”, and Brookyn Brewing recently came out with their “Black Ops”.
What is to be expected with this style is that, much like the also recently arisen style “Belgian IPA”, the latitude for what the final beer can be like is very broad. Stouterik weighs in at only 4.5% whereas the other three that I mentioned all come in at 9% and above. What is more, as is typical with Belgian yeast strains, the actual flavors and aromas that they produce in the final beer can be really variable brewer to brewer. So the style becomes a bit of a grab bag, sufficiently loosely defined that the brewer can take it and turn it into something all their own. Which, I think, is the real spirit of Belgian brewing in the first place.
So what about Brasserie Ellezelloise? They’re one of those Belgian brewers that I can’t help but fall for. They brew about 1000 hectoliters per year (about 26,000 gallons), which is a fair amount but still not too large. And they do that while only brewing three different styles, a golden ale, amber ale, and stout. This beer is named after the Agatha Christie character, Detective Hercule Poirot, who (fictionally of course) hailed from Ellezelloise. The head brewer is named Philippe Gerard, whom Michael Jackson quotes as saying, “brewing is my job, my hobby, my passion…my own brewery, my own beer, that was my dream.” For anyone who has homebrewed and dreamed of either working in or owning their own brewery, this quote will definitely ring home. The brewery is outfitted with second-hand copper equipment that Gerard sourced over the course of the 8 years that he spent getting the brewery built up. The brewery has a small cafe attached to it where they serve the beers along with a cheese that is flavored with it, and from Michael Jackson’s description you really come away with the opinion that this would be a great place to spend an afternoon while traveling around Belgium.
But then, how does the beer itself stack up? It pours a deep black with ruby highlights. The nose has typical Belgian spicy phenolics, along with hints of malt, caramel, and liquorice. The palate is velvety while not being too heavy with flavors of liquorice, sweet raisins, bittersweet chocolate, and a hint of smoke. The finish is mildly sweet with chocolate and liquorice carrying through. On the whole the beer is, start to finish, sweet without being cloying, and slightly smoky without being acrid. Pleasantly mild to drink, you wouldn’t no it was 9.0%.
I don’t think this is an incredible beer and not one that I’d go out of my way to track down. But it’s very enjoyable and well worth trying if you get the chance. I’d very much like to try their amber at some point though, and will be keeping my eyes open for that. At the least, how can you not want to support a brewery (and a brewer) like this?
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