Piraat 10.5%

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

Grain and apple aroma, with some yeast noticeable. Amber pour, thick lacing head. Caramel malt and apple flavor. A little blackberry in the finish. Good body and balance.

Pours the color of unhealthy urine. All alcohol up front, but slowly rescinds into malty goodness. I’d probably like it better if the alcohol wasn’t so prevalent.

Smells so good and fermented, wine like smells. perfect golden appearance with a white head. carbonation is high. sweet hints sour hints, and also finishes dry. really good, but for the price duvel wins.

Bottle acquired from Brussels distributor via direct-to-home delivery. Poured a moderate head which dissipated almost immediately. Hazy gold with obvious yeast veins suspended in the glass. Nose of apricot, fennel, coriander, freshly mowed grass, alcohol, and sea spray. Flavor less complex than the aroma. Fruity, slightly peppery, but the most intriguing effect is a lingering saltiness on the tongue and lips, reminiscent of that found in speyside single malt scotches. Not sure of the origin of the sea brine notes, but definitely in play on the finish. This quirk alone is enough to elevate Piraat from the mundane to a curious appeal.

Pours clear honey-yellow with a foamy white head. In fact, there is probably more head than beer here, and it takes forever to go away. Smell is of sourdough bread with apricot jam. The flavor is unusual. Eucalyptus and pine, with more sourdough and apricot. On the one hand, I like that the flavor is so unusual. On the other hand, the flavors seem to clash, and I have a hard time enjoying it. Goes down smooth as satin, and leaves a pine and honey taste on the palate.

bottled. A glass of stale alcoholic bread. The alcohol is way too obvious, but then again this whole beer is off balance. Maybe its just an old bottle??

Bottle from LCBO. Poured brown with a white head. Lacing was fairly evident and the release of aroma included cumin, dates and honey. The flavour consisted of brown sugar, cumin, dates and heavily of yeast. Poured well and was very affectionate to the tongue. Not a bad brew at all.

The pour was absolutely ridiculous...it took me about 10 minutes to get it into my Duvel glass because the foaming head was out of control and did not want to go away. After that was done, a honey yellow beer emerged, cloudy with the aforementioned out of control head and some pretty good lacing. Warm aroma of fruits and yeast. The flavor was very rich and sweet with fruity melon flavors, some biscuity notes, a healthy spicing and a warming alcohol bite at the end. Very rich, but well balanced. A pleasant surprise.