Heartland Belgian Chocolate L’Orange

Brewed by Greenpoint Beer Works
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Brooklyn, New York USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Got to try this last December at the Union Square location. Served in a goblet. Aroma of chocolate, coffee and citrus. Black and very opaque (though the room itself was dark) with minimal head. The goblet helped appearance-wise. Medium sweetness, lightly bitter. I expected more orange. Full bodied and creamy with soft carbonation. Not bad but not a beer that I could drink all night.

On cask at General Sutter Inn tasting. Dark ruby brown pour with small disappearing head. Caramel, coca and light hops with slight citrus notes on the nose. Dark chocolate with orange zest, spices with some ABV bitterness.

The aroma is dark, bitter chocolate, orange peel, spicy yeast. The color is a deep brown, red tinge, tan head. The flavor is bitter chocolate, orange peel, spicy, yeasty. The flavor is stronger and more enjoyable than the aroma. The finish is a long, burning bittering from spices. Mdium/thick body, creamy mouthfeel. Decent overall.

Amber brown pour with a thin tan head. The nose is quite chocolatey with a kiss of orange peel as well. A prominent toastiness and some lingering light sweetness. Earthy hoppiness. The chocolate doesn’t really hit up front, but it is quite pronounced on the back of the palate and retronasally, with a distinct herbal component. There is an odd dirty sort of fusely quality that I could probably do without. It could have been quite good with some better fermentation quality.

On tap at empire State Building location. Mahogoney with thick lace. Yeasty in aroma, taste. Only a drop of orange taste.

A Sim rate (at the brewery tap, Union Square, NYC): Not sure what’s very chocolate or orange about it. Really not much in the aroma. Maybe my nose isn’t working today! Ruby dark brown/amber colour that the light just sneaks through. Tiny bit of head. Nutty, spicy flavour that hides none of the alcohol. It tastes more like a 10%er. Bittersweetness in the finish that drags out into plum. It’s like rum & raisin without the ice cream. Hit of citric sourness but only in the aftertaste. I like it, but it’s not great.

Draft. Pours red brown with a beige head. Chocolatey aroma, with some light orange peel notes and a light sweetness. Spicy Belgian yeast flavor, with some lighter chocolate notes than I expected. The orange peel adds a zesty, almost sweet/tart dimension. Interesting, and actually not bad.