Brouwerij De Musketiers - Troubadour Obscura

For the Eighth Beer of Christmas, we try one beer for all and all beers for one. Well, all beers for me ... that's kind of my personal credo. But I'm always willing to share.

Brouwerij De Musketiers
Troubadour Obscura

While "Troubadour" stands out on the bottle, the name of the brewery is actually "the brewery of the musketeers." If I'd noticed that instead of "troubadour," I would have bought their beers a long time ago, simply based upon my adoration of Alexandre Dumas' classic novels.

A thick (but quickly disappearing) head of light beige foam topped the glass of dark chocolate brown beer. It was opaque but let light in around the edges of the glass to create a burnt sienna glow when held up to a lamp.

The beer gives off the mild scent of slightly overripe dark fruits - strawberries, blackberries, dates, and such. There's a bit of dark rum in there as well as a hint of a fancy glass of hot cocoa (not the Nestlé Quik version of hot chocolate that I grew up on).

Liquor soaked dates and figs are a big part of the taste. There's also some bitter chocolate with caramel and toffee notes. It's definitely sweet and chewy with low carbonatoin. It's very stout-like, so I'm not sure where the term "mild stout" comes from other than the mouth feel is not quite as full and rich as some of the stouts that I call my favorites (Deschutes' Obsidian, Santa Fe's Imperial Java, and Great Divide's Yeti ... coming up in a couple of nights.)

This is not a bad beer. In fact, it's pretty good. It beats Guinness hands down. But at $12 per bottle, I'd rather enjoy a six pack of Obsidian or Imperial Java for a few dollars less and nearly three times as much beer. Or a Yeti, of which there a variety of styles with different prices but all are deliciously enjoyable.

Stats
Brewer: Brouwerij De Musketiers
Location: Ursel, Belgium
Website: http://www.TroubadourBieren.be/en
Style: Stout
Alcohol Content: 8.5% ABV
Interesting Note: I am digging the story of this brewery. It's what I would want for my story if I had a brewery. Four friends in Belgium start a brewery and name it "Brewery of the Musketeers" because, "Like the real French Musketeers of the 18th century, the 4 friends bundled their enthusiasm and efforts, and created 'the Musketeers brewing company'."