BrewDog Black Jacques
keg&bottled, special
Black Jacques is a twisted and complex beer that will try and thwart description at every turn.
A black saison, brewed with oats and wheat for a silky mouthfeel, spicy hops, and Carafa malt for colour, Black Jacques has been tucked away in oak barrels (previously used to age red wine) for 9 months.
On the nose there are endless and complex interactions between cola, chocolate, coffee, mint humbug, warming oak, and spice. The myriad flavours touch on treacle, ripe banana, espresso, brandy, and a clean herbal warmth.
Black Jacques is a twisted and complex beer that will try and thwart description at every turn.
A black saison, brewed with oats and wheat for a silky mouthfeel, spicy hops, and Carafa malt for colour, Black Jacques has been tucked away in oak barrels (previously used to age red wine) for 9 months.
On the nose there are endless and complex interactions between cola, chocolate, coffee, mint humbug, warming oak, and spice. The myriad flavours touch on treacle, ripe banana, espresso, brandy, and a clean herbal warmth.
3.6
167 reviews
Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Community reviews
Nez : assez vineux (normal), un fond éthylique quasiment whisky. Touches prunes et figues.
Bouche : pas mal de corps, bien vieillie. Légèrement vineuse. Un peu limitée mais ça reste bien buvable.
This is a superb! Wonderful nose of wood, barrique barrel, reminiscent of a very dark, very complex red wine, vanilla, red berries, raisins, rum, dark, sweet cherries and hints of homemade raspberry marmelade. Taste then is as deep as it is precise, tender barrique notes, vanilla, moist dried plums all finishing Saison-dry. A beer that should be given to all those winedrinkers out there turning up their uneducated noses against "beer".
Nyt on mynthonia jännästi tummassa oluessa - sekä tuoksussa, että maussa...
Backlog, ocena przepisana z untappd, w ramach uzupełniania profilu na ratebeer.
- dunkle fast schwarze Farbe mit geringer Schaumbildung
- Aromen nach Trockenobst, Vanille und einer ganz zarten
Kaffeenote entströmen dem Glas
- die Carbonisierung ist absolut perfekt für diesen Biertyp
- geschmacklich wird die Rotweinfasslagerung nochmals
spürbarer
- hier kommt dann auch eine angenehme leicht säuerliche
Note hinzu
- im Abgang dominiert dann wieder die süßliche Malznote
- abschließend ist noch zu erwähnen, dass der doch recht hohe
Alkoholgehalt sich nie unangenehm in den Vordergrund drängt
bzw. bemerkbar macht
Fazit: Es ist ein fantastisches Bier, obwohl die Reise stark in Richtung Rotwein geht
Sampled at Copenhagen Beer Celebration 2014. Session 4. Pours clear, dark brown with a light, tan foam head. The nose holds burnt sage. Medium to big sweet falvour with notes of chocolate, light herbs, mellow Belgian yeast, light roast, burnt bread. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Nicely balanced finish, with further toasted herbs and chocolate. Good stuff.
Bottle 330 ml. Aroma and taste:herbal, hints of fennel, burnt and roasted malt, red wine and caramel, a bit dried fruits and wood.
From bottle in Belgian ale glass. Pours near black with thin, fleeting tan head. I aged this for a year, but it was still 8 years from the use by date! Red wine and oak come through in the aroma. An interesting mix of flavours to juxtapose dark malts (cola, choc, treacle) with fruity saison notes. Unique and enjoyable.
A dark brown beer with a tan head. The aroma gas notes of malt, chocolate, and bread. The flavor is sweet with notes of roasted malt, alcohol, and wood, leading to a tart finish.
33cl bb2024, merci hugi. "Imperial Black Saison" directs the palate toward an imaginary locus where chocolate roast meets wine tartness and barrel dryness, and this beer does deliver: deep vinous vanilla and added bourbon caramels over Wiener Kaffee in the nose, bitter chocolate coated red berries both in aroma and continuing harmoniously in taste. Tartness on the palate and flavour is that of a suave, meaty Merlot added to bitter chocolates and some Mon Chérie and brandy-soaked leather kitsch peeking through. - Excellenty rounded, luscious mouthfeel and not a whiff of abv. Dense and opaque beer else, in line with the horror vacui approach of the US ImpStout: no airholes beyond some fruity wine barrel bubbles have been left in this black hole. - "...a burnt barrel, a tattered tricolore...": The literate label deScription goes beyond mere marketing soap bubbles and betrays the Brewdogs’ class to don a punk exterior while wielding Shakespeare’s tongue with as much brogued ease and gentle irony as they brew these uniquely layered, postmodern beers.
Bottle at pudel, tallinn. Black color, light brown head. Aroma has saison notes, wine, licorice, oaky notes, some berries. Complex body has berry notes, licorice, wine notes, coffee. It’s like 15 different flavours in one beer. I like it.
Bottle at home. Two year old bottle. The color is dark brown to black with a small light brown head. Spicy aroma of caradamom, anise, oak, coffee beans, licorice, liqueur, chocolate truffles and cola. Very complex and compact. Slightly sour flavour that is similar to the aroma with more oak, red wine, spices, coffee beans, liqueur and dark chocolate. Has a slick and silky mouthfeel, full-bodied and a light bitterness. A very complex and interesting beer. Like nothing else I’ve tasted.
27 Dec 2015, bottle. black. nose is sweet, meaty, tobacco, lots of alcohol. med body and fizzy. wow! HUGE alcohol, lots of wood, nail polish, tobacco, meaty, some cola, bitter chocolate and alcohol burn. fun. not delicate at all and alcohol is a bit overpowering. still, very good.
Bottle @ gambrinus, Tartu. Pours deep dark brown with small brown head. Aroma is nicely roasted malts, some mint, coffee,some sourish, chocolate, earthy, berries, black currant, oak leaves, winey notes. Taste is medium bitter and pungent, cofee, some wine sweetness, dark chocolate, mint.I would not say that this is A belgian strong ale. Its somewhere between Imperial stout- old ale- and some kind of weird sour. Really good beer
330ml bottle from Brewdog online store. Pours black in colour with a beige foam head. Aroma is grains, woody, formic acid, chocolate. Taste is dark malty, with chocolate & coffee, and notes of cola, oak, vanilla, spice. Smooth mouthfeel, medium bodied, soft carbonation, roasted grassy bitter warming finish. Quite drinkable.
330 ml bottle bought at Gorgeous Wine & Cigar in Yuen Long.
Looks: Opaque deep blackish brown colour with thin trace of yeast sediments; One-quarter finger head and soapy beige foam which fades in 20 seconds. Good sticky lacing with zero carbonation.
Aroma: Very fragrant dark malt, with strong red wine, strong oak barrel, strong yoghurt, strong mint candy, raisins, light Cola, light dark chocolate, light coffee, yeast, lemon and light grass.
Taste: Medium sweet malt, with strong mint candy, strong red wine, Port wine, moderate tannic, wood barrels, strong yoghurt tartness, strong molasses, spices, strong lemon, moderate bitter hops and light grass.
Body: Close to medium body. Quite smooth palate.
Mouth Feel: Pretty good dark maltyness is almost blanketed by robust red wine, Gueuze-like yoghurt tartness, and wood barrels. Strong mint candy set out the tone, also strong Port wine gives the hidden booze a light nice warmth along the way. Light chocolate and coffee reverberate. Spicy and strong lemon to round. Very nice and interesting!
Hoppiness: Lemon and light grass in nose, with stronger citrus in taste. Bitterness comes from light grass and barrel tannin for a lasting, moderate astringent winey-malty finish.
After Taste: Fairly dry. Very winey, tart and minty to mouth.
Comments: I would have asked what the hell is “Belgian Black Saison”, but in the end it doesn’t matter. This is a Frankinstein that works pretty well. The red wine barrel may be overbearing but somehow being compensated by the beer’s smoothness, humbug and warmth. Were its not the prohibiting price (US$25 apiece), I might stock a few more to age it. A well-made beer but not quite a top Belgian nor Saison. Worth a try for sure.
P.S. Thanks for the Youtube “Beer Barrel Polka” for my 1200th rating! : )
KRS 280315. Dark brown colour with a beige head. Flavour is banana, brandy, fruit, roasted malt, alcohol, oat, hop, pine, spices, chocolate, coffee, herbs. full body. Very nice beer.
330 ml bottle shared by Werckmeister, many thanks!
Black body, with a small, dense, coffe colored head.
Aroma of oak, coconut, red wine, menthol, spices, dark fruits, some coffee, some alcohol.
Taste follows this, with some more dark chocolate and more coffee.
Medium, quite oily mouthfeel, with a soft carbonation.
Finishes smooth, roasty, quite dry, wooden, vinous, with chocolate, coffee, liquorice, subtle alcohol.
Very nice, unique stuff. Really complex, with quite oppositional notes, that fit together well though. A mix of dark malts, wine barrel notes and some crazy, menthol like notes, which I like. Overall a quite uncategorisable beer and a very interesting sipper.
330ml bottle at home shared with Saeglopur from trade with Sebilinz, many thanks. BB 04/2024. almost black color, small dark coffee-colored head. smells coffee, grapes, marzipan, wood, some sweetness, coconut, some more (dried) fruits, light berries, light vanilla. full body, soft carbonation, slick mouthfeel. tastes creamy, red wine, grapes, some sweetness, coconut, wood, roast notes, some alcohol, some spices. finishes rather spicy and dry with notes of grapes and wood. good stuff, liked the smell almost a bit more than the taste, but both quite good, finishes just a tad too dry / spicy for me. Would definitly drink again.
Pitch black with a small chocolaety brwonish head. Aromas of some funk, maltyness, vanilla, red wine, woody notes and dark dried fruits develop. Soft carbonation, velvety texture and fully bodied. Short fruity-malty sweetness with a well balanced red wine earthy astringency. Lasting light astringent yet harmonic finish.
Robe noire, fine mousse beige.
Odeur de tonneaux, alcool, chaleur,malts, chocolat.Aussi du vineux.
Bouche : rondeur, douceur, vin, bourbon, chocolat, légère acidité.
Génial.
Rated based on notes taken 7 Sep 2014 -- Dark malt, tart, wine, there’s a lot going on here.
Tan head black pour medium carbonation aromas strong grape rich wine of the red type burgundy like oak note spice toffee caramel very rich spice the flavours well accentuated spices red wine note toffee caramel pepper clove dried fruits great stuff on the taste buds sweet the finish rich red wine and oak mix spices fruits lasting goodness throughout wonderful rich full bodied Saison
0,33l bottle from a friend. Pours very dark red with a low tan head. Aroma is sour roasted malts and coffee. Flavor is sour roasted malts, coffee, alcohol and some hops. Elegant. Nice.
Bottle. Cool label (So... does the cat/freak have little holes in his hat for the ears? It really looks this way). Pours a stout-like dark body with a medium to small beige head. Aroma has currant seeds and hints of jammy red wine, I’m no expert but perhaps it’s Shiraz. Later some firm okay notes. Sweet red Shiraz wine flavour with more barrel wood and soft vanilla. Nice beer but quite overpriced (12 EUR). This feels like a mix of wine and beer but I doubt one can achieve the same level of oakiness and smoothness by just mixing any red wine and dark beer together.
Bottle from Rehills, Newcastle. This inky black beer pours with a quickly disappearing thin tan head. It has a chocolate and tart, spicy wine-like flavour, strong oak and vanilla notes followed by liquorice, tart red fruit and sherry notes on the finish.
Mørk brun/svart farve med kremet beige skum som avtar. Lukt av røstet malt, karamell, frukt, vanilje og treverk. Smak av røstet malt, karamell, sjokolade, frukt, krydder. Fruktig vinøs rødvinsavslutning.
33cl bottle at home. Dark reddish brown with almost no head. Full body with low to moderate carbonation. Sweet and sour with some subtle bitter tones. Ripe cherries, chocolate, brown sugar, vinegar, warming alcohol and herbs. A tasty complex somewhat sour brew.
Bottle. Black with tan head. Aroma of dark fruit and red wine. Taste of chocolate, wine soaked fruit, vanilla, liquorice. Alcohol backs up the body nicely. Woody wine finish.
Red berries and fruitiness in the aroma. Sur, berries and coffee in the aroma. Good bitterness which fills the upper and front part of the mouth forever. Good but slightly bitter. Follow me @ Kung av öl @ Facebook for more pictures and ratings.