Belzebuth

Brewed by Brasserie Grain d’Orge
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Ronchin, France

Pours clear golden to light orange with a tight white head. Sweet / banana aroma with very apparent alcohol. Also very sweet and banana-like in the flavor. Moderately carbonated and effervesces to foam-like in your mouth when you move it around. Kind of a strange aftertaste. Interesting, but not real crazy about it.

A strong beer 13% but not the bad alcohol taste. It is a rather good strong beer.

In the 250 mL bottle. Aroma of Mead. Honey and alcohol. Don’t take a deep breath of this from a trappist glass or it will burn your nostrils. This was the 13% abv version. Rich cloudy golden orange color. Aroma of tootsie rolls and cotton candy. Confectioner’s sugar. The ale reminds you of Halloween candy. Fixes the tongue much in the manner that glutaraldehyde would. So much ethanol that it actually dehydrates the oral tissues. This ale sterilizes the glass. Quite bacteriocidal. Now I know what it means when people say that a beer is "chewey." This is rawhide in a glass. Not balanced by design and this is an important distinction for those in the know. A great example of French extremism.

Bottle: Real sweet aroma with citrus and banana bread. Pours a transparent brownish-orange with a small white head that never gets going. Real sweet up front but kind of has this sourness that comes on the finish that covers the alcohol flavor but not the alcohol warming effect. Extremely dry finish. A little cloying. As it warms the sourness decreases and the alcohol slowly becomes more noticeable, but never becomes overbearing.

Not a very good example of this style. Taste is dominated by the alcohol with some yeast as well. Overall, not impressed and would not buy again.

This is really weird, but I think I have the only good bottle of this in recent history according to the other recent ratings. Bottle pours a crystal copper with a decent head and some spotty lace. The aroma is of malt, yeast, and alcohol. The flavor is yeasty, malty, quite Belgian tasting, and warming. The palate is actually cleansing (mine is actually carbonated) LOL! Overall, underrated.

Original Rating November 26, 2004: Dark amber color with no head. Moderate barley aroma. The taste... well, my notes say that one of the nastier Malt Liquors I’ve had tasted better so I think I’ve represed the actual taste of this. I recall a very sour alcoholic twang. Not a good choice. 6/3/2/2/6 Re-rate May 29, 2008: Gold color with no head. Massive alcohol aroma and taste. Powerfully sweet and candied malt. Very sugary. It’s like an alcopop cocktail with a kick.

Much fort, determined impact. The rich and full taste comes damaged from one imbalance with decidedly excessive the alcoholic rate.