Also, I’d like to recommend Dark Star’s Imperial. It’s one of the couple of beers they bottle, so it might just make it across the Atlantic.

“i don’t know if it can be labeled as a ‘brown ale’. this is a typical and one of the only examples of what could be called ‘belgian stout’ (as in ‘belgian white’ opposed to ‘german white’). The great difference is that it is much, much, sweeter than umm, ‘brittanic stouts’, with very little burnt character. That said, i like it alot, but i can see why you would be disappointed if you were expecting an imperial stout.”

JpKoff, if you’re reading, thank you for the context!

I haven’t yet posted my thoughts on another Belgian Stout called Stouterik — as even the casual reader can see, I took a break from writing much of last month — but I found that Belgian Stout to be aromatic and creamy but still rich with bitter roasted malt and medicinal hops.