Piraat 10.5%

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Ertvelde, Belgium

Well past 2006 ’expiry’ This is now a fantastic rich, rounded ale packed full of fruity esters, spicy tones and zero sign of madeirization. 33cl Bottle pours a thick creamy dark blonde with ripe tropical fruit and lemon aromas. Head is fine, very active and noisy in my Westmalle chalice. Fruits of overripe pear, maracuja, papaya and the like, The alcohol is simply a warm influence. Not too rough! Aging can be a good thing.

11.2 oz bottle. A little less on the aroma than I would maybe like or expect from a beer this strong, but still quite pleasant and rather unique. A decent variety of light spices, fresh cut grass, an interesting smoky quality, apples, pears, and some light citrus and Belgian toast. Good fluffy, still, white bubbled head, decent lacing and retention, a rather light body for such a strong beer, and golden tangerine in color. Great smoothness, medium body, though still a nice sharp flavor presentation. Very impressed on this aspect of the beer. The flavors overall may not be too out there, but still quite solid. Some lighter spicy, peppery notes, also minor citrus, smoky grain toast (not sure where this smokiness is coming from for me, but its fitting in nicely), some grassy straw and lemon bitter, mild fruits, and some herbal yeasty Belgian qualities in the finish. Overall, I was quite pleasantly surprised by this offering. Good stuff.

Bottle from Kegs & Barrels in Plano, TX. Pours a hazy light amber with nice off-white head. Aroma of some farm house, malt, caramel, faint butterscotch, faint fruit. Flavor is sweet, some farm house, malty, fruit, caramel, pepper, earth, nice small bitter on the back. Mouth feel is heavy body with high carbonation. Overall, a nice, tasty, relaxing beer....kinda warming as well.

Pours milky honey gold with a 1 finger creamy white head that has decent retention. Aroma is sourdough bread dough, grassy and herbal hops, maple sap, green grapes, and dusty straw. Flavor is fruity up front, passionfruit, cantaloup, lime, and apple, followed by bread dough, raw yeast, a little grapefruit, light caramel, artificial sweetener, grass and limestone. Finish is peppery yeast, orange peel, alcohol and dusty red apple. Palate is medium thickness, slick all around and has a sharp carbonation. All around a decent beer but it’s alcohol content overpowers its flavor profile a little too much.

bottle, clear colden colour, white head, sharp taste, smells like alcohol, hoppy taste. Mild bitter aftertaste with a bit corn within. The beer gives you a warm feeling and isn’t that bad. More a typical Van Steenberge beer!

Bottle 33cl. The beer betrays a slight odor of metal, but it isn’t overwhelming. Taste is nice: a bit of caramel and a bitter aftertaste. Unfortunateley you can taste the metal and the Piraat isn’t able to hide its alcoholic aftertaste (it rather gives a warm feeling). But overall a pleasant beer to drink.

Bottle. Poured a huge, rocky-frothy, white head. Hazy, golden orange pour with abundant yeast clouds. Bready malt aroma with some sweet grain, hay and straw. A little caramel sweetness. Doughy yeast component with a light, spicy hops presence. Some clove and coriander also comes through. The alcohol is surprisingly tough to find until the first sip, when my sinuses were cleared. The flavor is of sweet malts and herbal hops, all of which is quickly extinguished by the alcohol. Note that it’s not a completely unpleasant alcoholic taste - more warming than burning. The alcohol does detract from the body, however, which is fairly sticky and alcoholic with lively carbonation. Overall a fun beer to drink, but it could be better if the alcohol were tamed a bit.

Bottle. Pours an amber body with a thick white head. Pineapple and orange etoh latent fruit. Spicy with a fruit punch character sharp carbonation and pepper spice. Doughy with some malty caramel and honey.