Christmas calendar #22 So cool, can't even remember when's the last time I've had ice distilled beer. Best before 25.12.2025 Temperature: +12 C Coffee brown colored beer. No foam, looks like there's no to very little carbonation. Not sure how I should score this one: 2,5/5 The aroma is big and bold. But not boozy. This is how strong Imperial Stout should feel. There's also a neat spicy/hot chili aroma rising from the glass with a smoky punch. Some chocolate and roastiness, even licorice. Really nice: 4,5/5 Mouthfeel is intense! Oh yes, it is! Full-bodied with lots of alcohol and a hot chili feel. Still, this manages to be drinkable (I mean as a 25% ABV). Very low carbonation. Not sure if there's any bitterness. The alcoholic and chili feel is on control: 4,75/5 Taste starts with a "dark" malty taste with sweetness, coffee, and chocolate. And then some smokiness. But then comes a barrage of chili and heavy alcohol. The sweetness comes back in the aftertaste for a short time before the chili takes control once again. Good complexity! 12,75/15 This is probably a third ice distilled beer I've tasted. And most likely the best one from those. Really big, really bold. I'd like a bit less chili and a bit more "beer". Relatively easy-drinking, surprisingly. Fascinating one: 17,25/20 =42,25/50

Tonight's last dance has been saved for something that I'm afraid is gonna be like a once in a lifetime thing. I will taste my second ever Jopejskie/Jopenbier and even so that I can review it side by side with another Jopejskie. Jopejskie is a historical beerstyle from the Gdańsk Region in Poland only. To my knowledge, there are just a few Jopejskies available in Poland and in the entire world right now. The benchmark is a Jopejskie by PG4. The assessed beer is Gaja by Olimp (the label says the ABV is 6.5 %). I have reviewed PG4's Jopejskie twice and rated it as full five stars both times. I will not review PG4 anymore, my two reviews are in Pint Please if you're interested. However, I'll use PG4 as a baseline against which Gaja will be reviewed and rated. This comparison and review is made possible by God-Emperor's Wraith Form who was so kind to donate a bottle of Gaja to me. Thank you so much!!! 🙏🏻 PG4's brew I had bought myself in Gdańsk in January. Ok, so much for the introduction. Let's cut the crap and get started. The beer looks opaque jet black, just like the PG4's version. A small difference is that Gaja produces a faint tan short-lived lace ring on top whereas PG4 is fully headless. The scent offers a good amount of licorice, molasses and a tiny injection of sour lingonberry, accompanied by roasted rye malt and a tad herb liqueur. The fragrance is a bit thinner and sourer than that of PG4's product. The taste is considerably thick and herbal. I pick herb liqueur and generous licorice, a vast bowl of prune, some raisin, thick sticky syrup and a bit of date. On the berry side, I detect raspberry and lingonberry. Surprising! The biggest difference is that PG4 is even more velvety and fuller and lacks berry-like hints whereas Gaja shows even remotely sour aromas. The body is robust. The beer finishes with herb liqueur, loads of licorice, thick syrup and a reasonable amendment of lingonberry as well as some raspberry juice. Prune and raisin step only hastily in the limelight, just to disappear in the shadows almost immediately. The aftertaste serves raspberry licorice candy for the tastebuds over medium to long duration. The main difference is linked to softness, fullness and sourness, just like in the actual taste. The mouthfeel is full, heavy, relatively sappy, sticky and lip-glueing. It's also savory, distinctly herbal and especially liqueur-like as well as remotely tart. Moreover, the mouthfeel is reasonably soft and smooth but lags behind the incredible velvetiness of PG4. Still extraordinary! 🖤🖤🖤

💥💥 2 0 0 0 💥💥 It's here, finally. New millenium. Special beer for special number. 25% abv Ice distilled Chilli RIS. I love ice distilled beers, even though they often are not very balanced ones. Doesn't give that viscous of a look inside the glass. Barely any foam and black color. Scent is nice. Smoky chilli, but lot of sweet, woody soy sauce. Latter reminds me of Baladin's Kioke Xyauyu. Read that chilli will dominate the flavour. Let's see. Dark concentrated malts, smoked paprika, lot of spiciness that hits the whole mouth and throat. Leather, little soy sauce. Very warming. Finish has a lot of tasty chilli powder laid on a leather basis. Body is semi-thick and round if not considering chilli bites. Alcohol doesn't really feel or taste (could be due to chilli covering it up). Surprisingly consumable. Now it's been a while I drank a chilli stout. Brewdog's Dog series and Abraxas are good examples that come into mind when thinking about a chilli beer. Would be nice to compare a Dog series with this one. In all, I'm not very fond of spicy things but this does not feel too spicy. It's quite balanced here. Then again 100ml size is just perfect for this. I really do forget that this is 25% after all.