I found this at Green's amongst the veritable candy-shop selection of excellent brews they offer. It looked interesting and was modestly priced at $2.99 for a 11.2oz bottle. Ok…modest for me. Yet, this sort of thing is not an every day beer, so I can "afford" to drink like this occasionally. Besides, my homebrew hobby yields much cheaper results that constitute the bulk of my beer intake. But reviewing a session beer is somewhat boring. This sort of thing makes it fun. Ironically, when doing a little more detail research, I found that ratebeer.com had zero reviews and beeradvocate.com only had one review of this exact beer. Bob Townsend did a nice write up in the AJC, but I would say that based on the number of reviews, its fairly rare or at least not widely known.
Ok enough…on to the drinking.
This Belgian Strong Dark Ale comes in a plain looking bottle, adorned with a nice label that contains what looks like a church or abbey. It's probably the latter, as this beer is a commercial version of an abbey ale. It pours a hazy amber color, swirling and cloudy, accompanied by a huge, off-white head that dissipates slowly and steadily. I drank this one from my Duvel tulip glass so as to maximize bouquet and appearance.
Nose is a big Belgian malt aroma, mixed with a combination of spice, earth, and a kind of lactic funkiness.
Mouthfeel is medium to medium-full, bigger as it is warms. Creamy and smooth, yet also grainy.
Taste is initially a big, full sweet malt, balanced by a tickling spiciness. The aroma complements the taste, with elements of wood, earth, a sour hop flavor, and a vague notion of alcohol, yet all very well-balanced and subdued. No one flavor dominates here. As it warms up, the flavors and aromas become more pronounced and the 9.5% ABV is more evident than at start.
Overall, an excellent beer but far too expensive and rare to be enjoying on a regular basis. For a good alternative, try Unibroue's Maudite, which is just as complex, cheaper and more widely available. Go for it.
Labels: beer reviews