Piraat 10.5%

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

330 ml bottle, possibly 2004 vintage (04GF date stamp?) in pint glass. Huge meringue-like head requires 3 separate pours, above a hazy golden beer. First whiff and the color almost remind me of a lager! Head is lasting with crusty lacing. Aroma is alcohol and bread, with toffee and caramel hints. Flavor is more caramel and pears flambeed with alcohol on top, with a carbonated hop tingle on the end. Toffee apple aftertaste keeps warming your insides. Medium-light palate is smooth. A little much on the alcohol taste at first, but nicely balanced between sweet and dry; keeps getting tastier the further I get into the glass.

Yeasty sweet caramel malt aroma. Hazy light ripe apricot color. The white head pretty much disappeared, but it still tries to lace. Starts stony fruit sweet, followed by malt, the malt pretty much overwhelms the hop, but there is hop. The flavor is stone fruit and caramel. The alcohol is present, but not overpowering. Could be a sour component resembling pineapple. This ale changes as time goes along. As temperature warms. In the end it is smooth, fruity, sweet and balanced with hop. Not sure about the bread dough, though.

very typical belgian hoppiness. definetly a strong ripe frutness to it, but whoa its boozy! nice HUGE head, solid beer, but the booze isnt hidden very well.

Spritzy apricot pour developing an impressively rocky head of froth. Moderate haze. A pleasing noseful of sour banana-pineapple-pickled onion fruitiness. Bizarre and appetising. Unmalted barley, overripe boozy fruit and punchy hop dryness. A sniff of mellow bready wheatiness in the afternose. Well-rounded Strong Ale.

Obviously I’m more easily taken in by a good Belgian Strong than many, especially when they present like a Tripel. Delish. Mucho grassy hoppiness to go in balance with the tarty fruit sweet elements. Finishes ultra-smooth with that very balanced character reintroducing itself on the very end. Citrusy without the commensurate acidity. So it comes off as something like banana-y, maybe.

Sweet (a bit over the top) and filled with fruit and earthy notes, this is a pleasure to sip. Yellow-golden pour below a frothy, long-lasting head. Aroma of pineapple, bananas, plum, alcohol, peat with notes of coriander and bubble gum. The flavor is very sweet, candy and sugar. Finish holds a slightly bitter bite and peppery alcohol warmth. Full body and velvet mouthfeel. Highly carbonated. Moderately dry.

Bottle. Golden hue, lots of cream colored foam and a steady stream of bullbes swimming to the top. Citrus and nut aroma, kinda musty. Bubbly yet creamy on the palete. A taste of lemon can be dicerned. Warm and sweet taste effectively cover the 10.5 alcohol content. It does warm you upon the finish like a brandy. Its different and excellent. Worth a try for all if you can find it!

One of my favorites, definitely a strong beer with a nice sweet taste. A kick to the kisser.