Not sure if this is a rebottling of something or a totally limited brew. Either way, the jug is cool. The printing is silk-screened.
The beer itself is an easy drinker. Nothing super complex. Tastes more like a young Belgian abbey crossed with a wit to me. Clearly, I am taking this summer super-cas(ual).
I forget where I saw this, but it's an interesting looking beer so I picked it up. 13%ABV is proudly displayed on the neck label. For a blonde ale, this is pretty potent. Also, interestingly, this is a French product, not Belgian. It is also a slightly smaller format. I had assumed it was an 11.2oz/330ml bottle but it is actually 8.4oz. Two small numbers are also printed: "28.09.12" and "L12.2.08". I suspect the first is a drink-by date. The second could be a bottling date, but the convention isn't consistent with the first, so it may not be a date at all.
As I was passing the glass to my other side, I got a whiff of wine but not much else. Frenchies. I was concerned that the taste may also reflect it's aroma but was pleasantly surprised. It's a creamy, malty base, rather sweet and esther-y with lots of bananas not cut with a lot of spices, hiding its ABV fairly well until the end. I can taste a fair amount of alcohol there, and it lingers somewhat.
I'm not sure what do do with beer, really. At 13%ABV and its level of sweetness, it's not going to go before or during a meal. The only other thing I would think of is as a dessert beer, which might be ok, but I'm not digging the alcohol aftertaste. To me, this is going to be more of a novelty beer. There are other beers and liquors better suited to fill the dessert or dessert accompaniment role. It's not terribly complex either, so I can't imagine myself wanting to sit down with just this. Eh, a bit of a miss for me.
Also, still abusing that abbey tag.
North Coast, in my opinion, is a bit of sleeper brewery. They don't seem to get much spotlight time, don't immediately come to mind, or seem to put out very many beer. But everyone knows (or should know) Old Rasputin, one of the best examples of RIS. I'm also a big fan of Brother Thelonious which I had way back when I was first really getting into craft beer. I also had their Old Stock Ale a couple years ago as a random bottle pick during a random drinking night at the OT. Even then, I still hadn't put it all together as I remember not knowing who North Coast was at the time. Now that I think about it, North Coast doesn't advertise heavily on their labels, just a small round seal out of the way of some eye-catching, detailed graphic.
I will admit the cork gave me more trouble than usual, taking a good solid minute of working the cork around the bottle several times but then I got to the beautifully clear, bright golden pour with a full head. I don't have much to say about this, to be honest, and maybe that's a virtue. Pranqster is a Belgian-style golden ale, and that's exactly what it tastes like. Classic Belgian yeasty+spicy aroma but subdued. Rich yet light on the tongue, slightly sweet and fruity, dry with a mellow bitter finish. The head retention is rather low which affects the overall mouthfeel a bit, but that's forgivable.
Overall, this is a great beer, especially considering the $6 price tag on the bomber. The 7.5%ABV is certainly manageable over a night. It's flavorful so it stands well on its own. BA marks it as an aperitif/digestif or with game or salmon. Given the dryness, I'm on board with the fish, but I don't agree with the salmon.
A curious, stout bottle, reminiscent of Maredsous, which I picked from the WF loose Belgian bottle section. It's brewed with sweet gale (bog myrtle), an herb used in Medieval gruit ales, apparently. The foamy head is indicative of its Belgian origin, as is its yeasty, slightly spicy nose. It's rather sweet tasting, not merely a sweet malty taste, but legitimately sweet like a sugary candy. It is, however, in moderation and balanced, and I would expect no less from a Belgian beer. There is a slight flower petal taste and finish that is refreshing, and a hop character is not very noticeable. It finishes clean and slightly dry with bit of dried grass.
I'm always up for trying interesting beers and that usually means beers brewed with random plants. This is an interesting, albeit somewhat tame, beer. I'm not terribly familiar with gruits and this may actually be the first I've seen related to the style. I can only give this a decent rating, in all honesty. There is nothing truly memorable about the taste itself, unfortunately, and for the bottle price, it's not really worth it.
Also, I'm further abusing my "abbey" tag to be somewhat analogous to "Belgian". I should fix that some day.
Thick, creamy head. Darker golden straw colored, clove in the nose, refreshing. Good carbonation, milder spice profile than Heogaarden which makes it more drinkable. Only 7.5%ABV. Rich and satisfying without being filling. Easily a contender for my top tripel.
Terrible pour. Cannot do my no-tilt pour on a tulip glass.
I've been staying off the Belgians for a while for various reasons. Wanted to give this a go so I can start moving on from St. Bernardus, but I still have a Watou left. Light, crisp, hay flavor, very mild and refreshing. Seems a little thicker and less effervescent than I'd like in a tripel.
My tripel is still way darker than this.
Pours dark, nearly opaque, caramel color. Luxurious head but small, not fine, bubbles. Taste is less malty and more creme brulee but without so much sweetness, maybe golden raisin. Less carb that I would expect. I might reckon that I prefer the Pater 6 to this. Read on BA that some dude got this in a mixed 4-pack that came with a chalice. I want the chalice.
Malty, a bit bitter, a bit hot just before the finish? Not the most drinkable quad I've had.
The first Smuttynose I've bought. Can't say I'm too impressed. I've had Smuttynose on previous occasions and wasn't too impressed then either. Everything seemed a bit thin. I expected a little more effervescence from this one, which is what I like in my dubbels and tripels. It's almost barley wine-ish in its utter flatness. Meh. Also, this is 12%ABV. When I read it, I said, "Whoaaaaaa."
New release from Flying Dog. Pretty interesting combination. Reasonably priced for a 6-pack of something interesting (~$9). Head died pretty quickly, very weak bouquet but getting hints of hop and some kind of sweet spice from a deep inhale. Super fruity on the palate, solid but not crazy hop bitter, good floral throughout. The finish isn't much too talk about but it's clean. The body is somewhat disappointing. I expected the bret yeast to contribute more, but it makes an interesting showing in the taste profile. Weird thing about it all though was that there was no yeast in the bottle. So I guess it's not meant to be conditioned which is unfortunate because it could be pretty interesting. Maybe it'll make an interesting homebrew experiment in the future.
Picked up a 4-pack on sale. Flying Dog is kind of a hit or miss but this is a pretty good hit. Refreshing and crisp, a bit sugary. Definitely worth the sale price.
This is kind of a weird brew. Half doppelbock, half Belgian-style dubbel with date concentrate. 7.8%ABV
Dark red, mahogany, almost opaque. But lighter bodied than the color might suggest. Nice fruity nose. It's a lot like a doppelbock but with more effervescence. As far as taste goes, nothing really stands out to me, so it's actually kind of boring. I think I can taste the date a bit with kind of an earthy finish. Though to be honest, if I had tasted this blind, I would have no clue about anything about it other than it tasted just a bit fruity.
Ommegang's winter ale. Belgian dark ale spiced with coriander, mace, grains of paradise, cardamom, and orange peel. Tastes like a traditional Belgian dark ale but with witbier spicing. The sweet orange peel really comes through in the nose. I'm told it tastes like Christmas.
It's good but rather pricey. I'm on the fence about buying more. I can't imagine myself drinking this outside of the season and there are other beers that I'd probably prefer for cheaper.
Coriander, orange zest, concentrated Hoegaarden, spicy, spice-y, cinnamon. I like it. At roughly $12/6-pack, it's a little pricey, but I can see some circumstances where I'd opt for a sixer of this than a hit-or-miss venture of trying to pick out a new Belgian abbey ale.
80% Belgian-style ale, 20% Belgian-style ale aged in wine barrels with orange peel.
Given its young age (bottled July 17), I wasn't sure what to expect. In short, it's a Hoegaarden. Spicy nose, very frothy head, light body. The barrel-aged ale comes through clear. It's not bad now but a few years in the bottle (good sediment at the bottom), and I bet it'd be awesome.
Now that Goose Island is distributing here, I've found some of their Reserve line here. And Matilda got a new dress. A case will run about $130. I'll pick one up and squat on it over 5 years or more.
The bottle I have here is 2009 vintage. Sadly, it tastes nothing like the Matilda I had last summer. But I expect some better flavors to develop over the years. Currently, it does taste obviously young, little malt, almost sour, and fruity. Light carbonation and exquisitely clear red amber.
Oddly, this bottle wasn't as good as the first. Not too sweet and malty, but lacking a bit of carbonation, making it a bit heavy. I thought I would have a bit more to say.
I'm debating whether my tagging scheme was rich enough. I tried to not have an explosion of redundant tags based on what certain breweries wanted to call their brews. This is Belgian-styled, but I wouldn't really call it an abbey.
Again, some leftovers. It won Beer of the Year some year. Pretty good, interesting malty taste, sweet, raisins are the dominant flavor. It is damn pricey though. I think we billed it about $10/6-pack? I might pick it up for myself in the future sometime. But not anytime soon.
With a name like Nocturnum, I shouldn't have been surprised with how dark amber this is. I don't pick up on the medicinal smell that others seemed to note until after swallowing, but the mouthfeel is thin and would be clean except for the ridiculous amount of yeast sediment in the glass which invariable ends up in my mouth. You can even see it in the picture. It's not that I'm bad at pouring beer. I just didn't want to throw out half a bottle. There was that much sediment. I do like the carbonation and the malty caramel taste, but I want to have a go at it from the tap sometime, preferably with less sediment.
I don't remember anything about this actually other than the fact that it was not as great as everyone seems to think.
Look. I highly doubted anything not coming out of Belgium and calling itself Belgian-styled was going to leave an impression on me. And I was correct. But as long as you go into something with lowered expectations, you can't be too disappointed, I suppose.
Looks like an abbey. Kind of smells like an abbey. But they really mean it when they say, "...brewed in the style of a Belgian 'Double'..." Style. Of. Not "is". Nothing much to report other than a watered-down abbey knockoff with hints of apple.
