I love that beer.
Have you had Cuvee Delphine? It's Black Albert aged in Four Roses barrels. Absolutely sublime. I've always had to trade for it/order it online though. I don't think it gets distribution to the states.
Black Raspberry Albert is shelf for $40. Worth it?
Kinda what I thought.black damnation 1?
$40 is steeeeeeeeep
Pretty sure I purchased Delphine in MA before?I love that beer.
Have you had Cuvee Delphine? It's Black Albert aged in Four Roses barrels. Absolutely sublime. I've always had to trade for it/order it online though. I don't think it gets distribution to the states.
Yah. Totally steep.
Worth it? I can't answer that for you.
The only variant I have not enjoyed was Double Black.
Just an over-the-top, thick, viscous, acrid burnt character that really put me off.If you don't mind, what was it about DB you didn't like? I ask because it is one of my top 3 nonsour beers. I would do crazy things to get a few bottles.
Me too. My interest has been piqued.I kinda want to hear the whole weird story.
I kinda want to hear the whole weird story.
Me too. My interest has been piqued.
I've had off bottles of the batch 0 with the custom label.The first time the term "batch 0" was used, it was in 2011 (?) when they bottled the OG batch of black albert that was aging for ~4 years in stainless. They bottled it all up because they said they finally nailed the recipe again and were producing black albert to the same quality level that it was originally.
They bottled it just like normal black albert but hand wrote a 0 on the cap. To the best of my knowledge, all of these bottles were sold via the "yeast shop."
Fast forward some time and they created batch zero labels and started rebrewing black albert and selling it as batch 0 with the new label. Perhaps as a marketing? Perhaps because they wanted to differentiate the different brewings? Im not sure but ive read several times that some of the batch zero labels are infected. Whereas ive never heard of a report of that being the case with "the real" batch 0.
The first time the term "batch 0" was used, it was in 2011 (?) when they bottled the OG batch of black albert that was aging for ~4 years in stainless. They bottled it all up because they said they finally nailed the recipe again and were producing black albert to the same quality level that it was originally.
They bottled it just like normal black albert but hand wrote a 0 on the cap. To the best of my knowledge, all of these bottles were sold via the "yeast shop."
Fast forward some time and they created batch zero labels and started rebrewing black albert and selling it as batch 0 with the new label. Perhaps as a marketing? Perhaps because they wanted to differentiate the different brewings? Im not sure but ive read several times that some of the batch zero labels are infected. Whereas ive never heard of a report of that being the case with "the real" batch 0.
The first time the term "batch 0" was used, it was in 2011 (?) when they bottled the OG batch of black albert that was aging for ~4 years in stainless. They bottled it all up because they said they finally nailed the recipe again and were producing black albert to the same quality level that it was originally.
They bottled it just like normal black albert but hand wrote a 0 on the cap. To the best of my knowledge, all of these bottles were sold via the "yeast shop."
Fast forward some time and they created batch zero labels and started rebrewing black albert and selling it as batch 0 with the new label. Perhaps as a marketing? Perhaps because they wanted to differentiate the different brewings? Im not sure but ive read several times that some of the batch zero labels are infected. Whereas ive never heard of a report of that being the case with "the real" batch 0.
you ready for even more lolz?soooo THATS why batch 0 started being released again.... ahhhh
you ready for even more lolz?
struise was in the planning stages of having their own reserve club for the better part of 2-3 years. within that club they announced the fruited versions of black damnation AKA blackberry albert AKA black damnation 1
that beer was deemed a failure that was not good enough to be sold to the club.
enjoy those $40 silk screened bottles you peons!!!
Did they change the black damnation I at some point? I remember II as mocha bomb, III as black mes and IV as coffee club, but I remember I being a blend of Black Albert and Cuvee Delphine, not black berry albert.you ready for even more lolz?
struise was in the planning stages of having their own reserve club for the better part of 2-3 years. within that club they announced the fruited versions of black damnation AKA blackberry albert AKA black damnation 1
that beer was deemed a failure that was not good enough to be sold to the club.
enjoy those $40 silk screened bottles you peons!!!
Black Albert is one of those beers I love... and hate.
Old bottles/batches were roasty and delicious straight out the gate and even aged wonderfully IMO. However, they went through a phase where the beer transitioned from roasty russian imperial stout to more of a fruity belgian strong dark ale each time they brewed it. Several years ago Urbain admitted that black albert got away from what it originally was intended to be and that is what started the whole "batch 0" dumbness which I wont even get into unless someone really wants to hear that whole weird story.
tl;dr - the aged bottles of old roasty, charred black albert were/are amazing. The bottles from the weird belgian strong dark ale phase...not so much.
I havent had a fresh bottle of black albert since they created the labels with the "batch 0" designation. If they are back to being roasty and not fruity, I would for certain bulk up on those hoping they age as gracefully as historic batches have.
yes, it never actually happened outside a group of 20 guys who met monthly at the breweryI can't find anything about this reserve society. Does anyone know or have any details about it?
you are close but not totally accurateDid they change the black damnation I at some point? I remember II as mocha bomb, III as black mes and IV as coffee club, but I remember I being a blend of Black Albert and Cuvee Delphine, not black berry albert.
Club members were able to reserve up to 24 bottles of those in June of last year.The dude at De Kelk was talking about a barrel club he was part of. Check the label of the one we ticked there in 2013 - it was Nuptiale 2. So they definitely released some to the club.
Club members were able to reserve up to 24 bottles of those in June of last year.
I cant fully help ya but ill take a stab at it. Coincidentally they have used 3 different types of bottle coding on the labels. I understand and can translate 2 of the 3...based on your picture, you got the lucky 3rd version which I dont fully understand.the bottles i posted above, i can't remember exactly when i got those, but it was the batch before the first batch to hit the shelves in the united states. these were sent to me by a guy in belgium. this was all pre the batch 0 dust up maybe? i somewhat remember that, but it seems as if it was after i got them. is there a log of this beer posted anywhere? i'd love to figure out which batch this was.
edit: i know these bottles are pre 2010 (after reading the rest of this thread)....2008? 2007?
I cant fully help ya but ill take a stab at it. Coincidentally they have used 3 different types of bottle coding on the labels. I understand and can translate 2 of the 3...based on your picture, you got the lucky 3rd version which I dont fully understand.
The "best by April 2013" marking makes me think 2008 because im fairly certain they use the 5 year drink by dating.
Edit: Found an old review for what might be the same bottling you got. Sounds like that batch drinks like a quad moreso than RIS:
"330ml bottle, best by 04/2013, courtesy deepsouth. Thanks Jason!
Pours totally opaque, with the sort of swimmy, slowly dissipating head common to big Belgian beers. Nose is mostly boozy dark fruits, with only a suggestion of roasty chocolate. Taste is more like a gigantic quadrupel than any stout I've had, definitely thinner in body than most imperial stouts. The taste is full of rich, bready malt, rum-soaked raisins and other dark fruits, very much like an English barleywine. There's some earthy Continental hop bitterness, just enough for balance, and pleasant but faint notes of chocolate, leather, espresso, and smoke in the finish. This one is big, but not heavy-handed."
Bolded the parts of your comment that I can 100% relate to. Honestly, a couple bad experiences with delphine is what prevented me from ever buying more of it. However, I could see if a good roasty batch of black albert went into barrels and came out without infection, it could be amazing.Bought 2 of the handwritten batch 0s from the yeast shop a few years back. Drank one right away and it was and still likely is a top 5 for me.
Aged one until a couple of months ago and it was a shell of its former self.
The delphine I purchased at the same time seemed to be slightly infected.
Bought 2 of the handwritten batch 0s from the yeast shop a few years back. Drank one right away and it was and still likely is a top 5 for me.
Aged one until a couple of months ago and it was a shell of its former self.
The delphine I purchased at the same time seemed to be slightly infected.
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