St. Sebastiaan Golden

Brewed by Brouwerij Moortgat
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Breendonk-Puurs, Belgium

I had problems with the ’Dark’ being a little harsh whilst young and this had similar flaws. Still it wasn’t too bad overall. Tasted from the ceramic-crowned (why?) swing-stopper and poured into a chalice, quite cool. Fluffy white head formed and held out for barely a minute before receding back to a soapy thin lather that managed some good lacing. Bright, honey gold in body with very fine carbonation. Subtle, spicy, rose petal nose with some toasted, sweet malts and an underlying blanket of citrus that made it fresh. Whoa, too fizzy on the front of the tongue, a few stern swirls of the glass fixed that. Nice mix of sweet malts, fruity esters and a pronounced kick of alcohol. Body fills out well and moves between toffee and palest malts, watery orange and apricot juice, and a mix of bitter fruits and alcohol in the back before a little sweetness and warmth in the swallow. Have to put a few away to see if the carbonation and ’hot’ alcohol can soften. Easy to drink, but needs some drastic refinement. (50cL, BBE 2008, Int’l Beer Shop, W. Leederville)

Light fruity aroma. A cloudy golden color. A very light fruity Belgian flavor. Not real crips, but smooth easy drinking.

16 fl oz ceramic flip-top bottles. Heres- the deal two diff. locations... one served flip-top sealed, while the other had the flip-top yet was sealed w/ a cap, nice! Both had decent carbonation but the cap sealed was more like what I expected. Bubbly light, golden ale. Nose of pepper and spice. Taste is also spicy w/ a very slight alcohol burn. Yeasty towards the end. I really enjoyed this both time, the first was at Gene Haufbrews? in Chalreston at $9 and the other (cap sealed) Winter Solsice Saucer ceramic bottle design was bought at the Flying Saucer here in Columbia for a bullshit $15. Interesting variations in bottles though.

(16oz ceramic bottle) Completely flat from the bottle, once again the seal of bottle cap to ceramic was inadequate from St. Sebastiaan. Particulate-hazy amber body. Aroma is very sweet, honey, flowery, peach. Taste is moderately sweet, maple, some herb, cookie dough, flowery, alcohol, light cantalope, grape. Watery, flat, medium-full body. I would be willing to re-rate with an intact bottle, but this rating will be factored in -- a bottling defect like this is on the head of the brewer.

Clay bottle. Pours a honey golden color with no real head. Smells of fruity aroma, red grape and maybe a bit of citrus and sweet malt. Taste mirrors the aroma but the beer has a weak finish. It’s creamy but almost watery and a bit thin. Very lightly carbonated. Nice bottle but the beer is weak. Might be an outdated bottle.

hazy gold color with a small head. At first it gives a yeasty aroma with a hint of citrus; however, after a few seconds sour apple would be an accurate description in my mind. sweet taste. Alcohol was there but not overpowering.

Bottle poured a mixed orange red color with big fizzy head. Nose was yeast. The bottle was nicer then the brew.

Deep, dull yellow with a frothy white head. Yeasty, floral, lightly sweet aroma with some toasted cookie. The flavor pretty well mirrors the aroma, but it also has a buttery British ale quality. Clean and mildly tart. Nice beer but I don’t really need to pay the price for the pretty bottle.