Stillwater As Follows

Stillwater Artisanal
Brewed at Dog Brewing Co.
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Baltimore, Maryland USA

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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750ml bottle. Poured pale gold, lightly hazy, with a huge white billowing head that dissipates slowly and leaves a lot of lacing. Aroma was spicy, peppery hops, citrus, some tropical fruit, a musty, almost bretty yeastiness. Flavor was musty, yeasty, mildly bretty and funky, with tropical fruit, citrus, moderately malty, bready, moderately bitter. Highly carbonated, medium mouthfeel.

750ml from Sam’s, Durham. I typically enjoy Stillwater’s brews, and thought this strong was one of their better offerings of late. While a lot of breweries seem content with a Duvel clone, these folks were able to realize the potency of the style but do so by incorporating a lot of the stuff you typically get in their saisons: grass, peppers, flowers, and so on. It managed to remain light and elegant, even considering the ABV. Nice stuff.

Pours golden with a huge white head. Aroma is heavy with apples. Has a nice dry bite. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

750 ml to oversized snifter. Looks good; a semi-transparent yellowish-orange with LOTS of white head that dissipates slowly. Smells and tastes yeasty and florally hoppy with a good mouthfeel. Easy to drink for 9% too. Nice.

750 ml bottle. Served in a tulip, the beer pours a gold color with a couple inch white fluffy head that stays around a long time. There’s also a good amount of lacing. Aroma is nice and fruity, the brew smells like pears, lemon peel, bready malt/wheat, peppery spice, cloves, and a bit of tropical fruit. I think the taste is similar to the aroma, but I think the spicy and bready flavors are stronger than the fruity ones. There’s also the addition of some green grapes and an herbal flavor to the taste. Mouthfeel/body is medium, with high but soft carbonation. I think it’s a good overall brew, even though it has a bit too much carbonation for me. With that being said, I’d like to try it again in the future. $9.99 a bottle.

Bottle from Bottleworks

Hazy color of unfiltered pear cider. Abundantly carbonated in a way that balances out the mouthfeel nicely. Plenty of lemon flavor with white grapefruit atop a hefty golden belgian ale. Yeast-driven spiciness. Long grassy-hop-oily close. Splendid.

750 mL bottle. Pours a hazy, pale gold with a huge, fluffy white head. The aroma is orange peels, butterscotch, rye, and coriander. The aroma is citrus sweetness up front, with a significant hoppy bitterness in the finish. The palate is medium, sticky, grainy, and fairly bubbly. Overall, this is a strong, well hopped, very citrusy beer. This is not as complex or subtle as I would like but still a good beer.

Beautiful golden color, fruity and hoppy smell and flavor to match. However left me wanting a little more at the end. Still something I’d definitely come back too.

Bottle:   Bright straw, light haze, lively carbonation, big foamy white head, nice lacing.   Huge musty floral aroma, a little barnish too.   Smells like a big Belgian Golden Ale.   Picking up some minor tropical fruit notes as well.   Mealy and spritzy on the tongue, warming.   Not much fruitiness or floral that I got on the nose.   Yeasty and musty, with a lively body and mouthfeel.   Comes across lightly sweet, a little dry, spritzy, bright mustiness with a hefty yeasty background.   Pretty good, but wished it were a bit more fruity.

If every strong ale were this fucking decent, I still wouldn’t stop bitching about the over-proliferation of strong ales on the American beer scene. But I would seriously consider it. Golden color, floral-grassy hop nose, with notes of herbs and honey. Lightly sweet, herbal-floral hop taste, moderately bitter. More warming in the face and belly than on the tongue. Maybe a bit spicy but the hops keep it in check. Lovely stuff.