Ottos HellKat

Formerly brewed at Ottos Pub & Brewery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
State College, Pennsylvania USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Hazy peach body with a lacy, buff-colored head. Aroma of banana and prominent clove-like phenols with an unexpected nutty cocoa note plus some light caramelization and apparent candi sugar. Flavor is medium sweet with full banana esters, cocoa, and a moderately phenolic and subtle bitter finish that has a wood stem character. Somewhat syrupy, medium-full texture. Another good one.

2006 Batch. First impression: looks perfect, nice head that thins out but stays. Mild aroma. Big flavor that sticks. Can Not taste the 9.2%, thats what makes an strong ale count. Very drinkable. Good belgian. Cheers!

Nice sweet aroma, like a barley wine. Candi sugar, oak, vanilla, Twizzlers. Malty and no hops. Brilliant orange-amber clear with little off-white head. Heavy watery body, very smooth and chewy. Starts a little acidic but predominantly very sweet - sugary. Malts, vanilla, oak, and really strong presence of the alcohol. Finish is vapory, with alcohol notes, oak - sweet. Hangs on the tongue, but not cloying like thicker beers. Nice balancing dryness - a bitterness in the finish and aftertaste. Nice. Nutty, just a bit sour throughout.

Reddish amber color with a non-existant off white head. Sweet malt, light fruits, strong alcohol aroma. Very sweet, candy sugar, light fruits, mild yeast, and and an alcohol finish. Just OK, but not one of the best I had tonight. This was a real ass kicker.

Pours brownish amber with medium head. Aroma of malt, fruit, cognac, toffee. Finishes with a nice malty sweetness, with some cognac and candi sugars. Nice complexity.

Strong fusel aroma...fermented too warm, perhaps? Funky phenols mix with the expected raisins and dough and figs and mild hops and caramel. Firm body and looks just right. Finishes with too much alcohol. Flawed but if they could fix the wierd fusel alcohol problem this would score much higher.