Eloquent yeast-candied sugaring envelops bittersweet dried fruited piquancy to creamy caramelized center. Wispy fig-spiced raisin, plum and cherry sweetness contrasts orange-molded banana souring. Dry peat-smoked barleymalts hang in the balance as mild cognac finish unfolds. Less alcoholic and more buttery than Belgian competition, therefore easier for amateur imbibing.

Beguiling ruddy-hued Belgian-styled dubbel could be richer and more authentic, but who’s complaining as syrupy whiskey overtones embellish sweet banana-bruised cherry-juiced heft and cotton-candied caramelized apple crest. At midst, vanilla bean, rum raisin, sugar plum, and sour fig illusions crowd spicy cinnamon-coriander nook. Subdued Courvoisier, brandy, and bourbon tonicity increases complexity.

Cave aging gives dramatic bottle-conditioned copper-hued ‘aromatic burgundy’ ale a strangely convincing dank mildewed earthiness and mushroomed vegetal smidgen sidestepping dried fig-raisin frontage. Purple grape esters aid mild spiced grain finish as resinous hop bottom swells.