St. Sebastiaan Dark

Neat little 16oz swing top. Decent tan head, good smell of candi sugar, yeast and some bananna. Tastes of strong belgian yeast, candi sugar and some dark fruits. Somewhat watery palete but the taste is stronger than I expected for the abv. Wierd brew. Not quite right but not all bad either.

Best By Date February 2011; Sampled August 2008
Nutty, almost oxidized aromas greet my nose as I pour this into my 25cl tulip glass. The beer pours with an easily, three-finger thick, light tan colored head that sticks well to the sides of my glass. The beer is a dark, deep, concentrated red color (not black at all, but quite dark) that shows a brilliantly clear, ruby hue when held up to the light. Pronounced fruity notes of raisins and prunes add substantially to the aroma and are quite intertwined with the aforementioned nutty note. Those are the major aromatic notes, but if you really dig around there is also a musty, almost mold, malt note towards the finish.

Quite sweet tasting and with the pronounced fruity esters this actually gets a bit cloying towards the finish despite not being overly thick. Actually somewhat light bodied (especially given the sweetness), though it is a bit viscous and certainly has some heft to it that has it sticking to the palate. Fruit flavors of prune soda, concentrated raisins and a touch of fig combine with a light, toasted nut note (hazel nut perhaps?) and even a touch of Sherry. Speaking of soda, this definitely has a cola / Dr. Pepper sort of note to it, especially in the finish where the beer gets a bt cloying.

Much to sweet and cloying, which makes this brew one-dimensional in both flavor and aroma. This has a surprisingly long best by date and it makes me wonder if some heavy oxidation might dry this beer out and actually help the flavor. Unfortunately this beer is not worth that experiment, when I have way too much other beer in the stash, but someone should try it.

Pours dark brown with a reddish tint. Aroma is of caramel and lots of dark, ripe fruit. Flavor is very sweet, and somewhat cloying actually, with tons of brown sugar, raisin, and caramel. Palate is somewhat thin, but quite smooth. Tasty, but nothing special.

Decorative bottle. Poured with a thick head due to the smaller lip on the bottle. Good aroma. Malty taste with a hint of oak. No bitter aftertaste usually associated with darker ales. Goes great with a piece of Belgian chocolate.

Bottle 16oz swingtop. Pours a cloudy med. brown with a slightly off white head that remains for the entire drink. Nose is plum, but raisin dominates. Taste is sweet but quaffable. The palate is rather light and airy for a dark belgian. Not a bad beer.