 valpoaj (344), Valparaiso, Indiana, USA
Jul 3, 2009 Batch 2 aged approximately a year in the cellar. Pours murky brown with a thick off-white head that leaves substantial lacing. Aroma is sweet and inviting...loads of caramel malt, dark fruit, yeast, and spice (cinnamon?) Flavor is heavy and full of dark fruit (raisin), loads of sweet, sugary caramel malts, and yeast, along with that hint of spice in the background (now I feel like I’m picking up cinnamon and nutmeg, but only at times). Finishes strangely bitter and has a hoppy feel to the close...dunno if I like this or not. Palate is heavy, but not particularly oily, and has a good level of carbonation. Good brew, if not fantastic in any category.
Meatmallet (99), Salem, Illinois, USA
Jun 28, 2009 Pours an apricot color with a thick beige head. Smell is sweet and a little spicy on the nose. I get white grape, brown sugar, raisins, and plums. Has a light tartness to it. Nothing overpowering or amazing about it though.Has a very peppery taste to start which is followed by the sweetness of the raisins and plums. I also can taste a bit of citrus like mandarin oranges.Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
rustychiles (864), Mesa, Arizona, USA
Jun 25, 2009 Batch 1
Pours a slightly hazed brown with a large off white head. Aroma is caramel, dark fruits, spices, toffee, yeast and a little earthy. Flavor is candi sugars, caramel, dark fruits, spices, yeast, chocolate, biscuit. Finishes bittersweet with some faint faded hops mingling with the sugars and a slight chalkiness.
Nicely crafted Belgian Strong Ale. I heard the newer batches aren’t as good, but I’ll have to wait 2 years to find out.
curly (412), Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Jun 18, 2009 Pours opaque brown-orange with a sudsy beige head. Lots of yeast aroma accompanied by sweet fruit and honey. Taste consists of sour cherry, toffee, yeast, anise, and ripe dark fruit. Finishes with roast.
boomer0813 (29), denton, Texas, USA
Jun 18, 2009 Color was brown with a white head. Taste was with lemon, honey, spice, and black cherry. Aroma was lemony with cinnamon. Not my style of bber.
carruthm (889), Seattle, Washington, USA
Jun 18, 2009 First whiff is of sugary sweetness and even some fresh hoppy sweetness. The pour from the bottle was clear orange with a medium head that left some nice lacy rings. The taste was a balance of sugar sweet and alcohol sweet.
beerbill (1742), Laurel, New York, USA
Jun 17, 2009 Batch #3. 22 oz. bottle that I received as a birthday gift from my wife. Pours a hazy rust color with a moderate-large off-white head that lasted through the first third of the glass and left a very nice webbing of lace. Pleasant aroma of caramel, orange, spice and yeast. The flavor is orange, bananas, caramel, honey, spice and yeast. Moderate bitterness at the finish that really doesn’t materialize until just about at the swallow and continues to build for several seconds afterwards. Enjoyable.
maltdog (493), Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
Jun 16, 2009 Batch three. The hazy copper-amber broth breeds a tenacious cream spume. Cornucopian fruit fragrances enchant with shy charm: plum, citus, overripe pear, grape, sultana… and veiled promises of kirsch and chocolate. Alas, the ale lays clumsier on the tongue; sticky oversweet flavor fumbles bitter butterscotch, plum and burnt sugar, and candied lemon. A curious sense of strawberry Kwik also flits in my impressions. The plump palate is nevertheless leaner than the flavor alludes. An amateurish ale trying too hard to be "Belgian"
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