East End Session #27 - Belgian Black Ale

Brewed by East End Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Ale
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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From growler, courtesy of my brother. Molasses in the nose, rich malt and a bit of smoke. Roasted grain, barley. Dark brown, clear, with light haze. Thin off-white foamy lacing head. Medium watery body with medium carbonation. Starts fairly dry with roasted malt, brown sugar and molasses. A bit of hop bitterness that wasn’t present in the aroma. Nice session beer, good taste and easy drinking with roasty character and a light bitter finish.

On tap at Zeno’s Pub - State College, PA. Sharp, estery aroma. A nip rubbery, but back with some malt complexity. Pours a really dark black-brown with a solid half-finger of sand. Flavor continues similarly to the aroma. A near-rubbery strong belgian yeast ester, creeping on medicinal and band-aid like. This comes paired with a strong and sharp dark malt bitterness. Tangy and pungent. Not very balanced.

From a growler 08.30.09 thanks to aliendan! Black brown, tan head. Aroma is smoky, malty, and chewy. Flavor is smoky, meaty, caramel, molasses, some yeast. This a nice blend with a thinner body. Pretty drinkable!

Several samples at the brewery.
Sepia with a light beige head. Grainy, caramel malt rules the nose, which is a little off. Cramy palate with a lot of roasty bitterness, the light hop and sugar overpowered. Too much salt in the finish. Decent, but not very Belgian and not very distinct. In fact, rather odd mix.

Bought a 1/4 for my wedding reception! This was a great session ale, poured a lovely dark brown with a smaller off-white head. The aroma and body did not carry with it what you would expect with the dark pour. I was amazed to miss the roasted coffee flavors that I expected, it was much more of a spicy fruity pour that you would expect from a lighter-colored sibling. Be surprised by the color but not disappointed! A great brew.

This poured a nice opaque black color with a beige head. Aroma was yeasty spicey belgian character with some roastedness as well. Flavor was spicey a tiny bit of that east end acidic flavor and then finish with a pleasing nutty roasted flavor. Pretty complex stuff.