DOK Brewing Company are one of the new wave of Belgian breweries. The commenced operations in mid-2018, and invite patrons to visit their microbrewery and 30-tap beer hall located in the northern suburbs of Ghent. Just a bigger version of Brugse, Ghent was always my favourite beer-city in Belgium, so now there’s just one more reason to stop there (when we are allowed to travel again).
As a brewery they are quite atypical for Belgium. They are very adventurous in the styles of beer they brew, seemingly taking on virtually any style. But most of the beers I see are more international, rather than anything you could describe as traditionally Belgian.
This beer is a great example – I can’t think of more than 6 or 7 Belgian-brewed Black IPA’s.
This is an interesting version of a style that probably had its heyday 7 or 8 years ago. It pours more a darkish brown than black, but there are lots of roasted malt notes that combine with the tropical fruit and coconut notes from the dry-hopping with Sabro and Columbus hops.
Dark chocolate, roasted malt, coffee, and a sustained bitterness (from the Magnum bittering hop) dominate the tropical fruits flavours that we might expect from the dry hop. Coconut is there in behind, along with a little citrus, pineapple and an earthiness that aids that firm bitterness for a dry and bitter finish.