by Totem
Totem is another of Belgium’s (relatively) new, small breweries. They commenced gypsy brewing, first at Brouwerij Anders in 2014, then with Bryggja Brewery from 2015. They finally set up their own brewery in 2019.
They tend to brew beers which are very atypical for a traditional Belgian brewery. No sign of any dubbels or tripels here!
This beer is a Russian Imperial Stout with coffee and ‘speculoos’. Speculoos is a type of spiced shortbread biscuit. The biscuit is traditionally made just before St Nicholas’ day in The Netherlands.
The colour of this beer is awesome, as it pours very thickly from the (quite solid!) can. Big aroma of coffee and some spice, with chocolate, caramel, raisins and dates. The flavour isn’t as sweet as the aroma or body might suggest. A dark chocolate bitterness comes with a pappery and slightly earthy note in the very long finish.