5 Seasons Westside 1972

Brewed by 5 Seasons Westside
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Brown orange, beige head. Dark fruit aroma, candi sugar. Taste is sugary, dark fruits, raisins, with an alcohol bite.

Thanks ChainGangGuy for recomending this. Poured a cloudy brown with an off-white head. Aroma is really fruity - dark fruits, with some spice notes, and other vinous notes. Taste is malty, spiced, and fruity. I thought the fruit notes most resembeled dark grapes and red wine. The spice with hard to pinpoint, but gave a slightly belgian character. There were also some light hops notes, that may have manifested themselves in some of the unique fruit flavors. Overall, a very enjoyable and different ale. Mouth was full and carbonation was average. A beer I’d like to have again when I didn’t have to drive so far after!

It’s time again to welcome in a new member to the exclusive Serenade Series, which includes such illustrious brews as Black Beauty, Coltrane Belgian Ale, Dark Star Stout, and the Shakti Saison. At first, I thought this beer had been "serenaded" by the popular track from the Smashing Pumpkin’s album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, but, no, that’s 1979, and we’re talking 1972, in reference to the Grateful Dead tour. My bad! Appearance: Arrived a turbid, medium brown body capped with a 1½ inch high layer of light beige foam. Smell: Malts smelling of bread, toffee candy, and all-natural unsweetened chocolate powder. The nose is positively jam-packed with strong fruity esters that, along with the lightly spritzed alcohol wafts, impart a smell of fine fruit cordials. Also notes of spice and of a distant background smokiness, but those strong whiffs of fruit are really what draws your attention. Taste: Rich initial maltiness of bread crusts, sweet toffee, and a light dusting of cocoa powder. Touch of spelt bread dough. All the while, the taste is interspersed with strong, distinctly fruity overtones of everything from grapes to figs to white peaches. The spicy character gives impressions of nutmeg and cardamon. Earthy, lightly citrusy hops with a restrained bitterness. The hops used have been smoked, a brewing method I honestly don’t recall encountering before. It does indeed impart a slight smokiness, but not so bold as smoked versus non-smoked malts, but more like the subtle, pleasant nuances between paprika and smoked paprika. Touches of warming, peppery alcohol make their way onto the palate, alerting the drinker that this indeed hearty stuff and maybe perhaps you should "slow your roll" as the kids say these days. Finishes spicy and still so fruity. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Medium carbonation. Drinkability: Tasty! A beer that’s certainly not shy about delivering plenty of flavor (and fruitiness). A pleasure to have had on cask and one I’ll look forward to trying once it arrives as part of the regular lineup.

on tap. Pours muddy brown. Seriously, this looks like murky mud-water in a glass. This is an aromatic brew with notes of clove, pineapple, spicy bitterness, and pumpernickle. The flavor is weird, but I like it. Up front is some obligatory Belgian yeast which provies a spiced backdrop for some serious herbal bitterness to do its thing. Notes of pineapple, cloves, banana, and bark make up the flavor with a distinct acidity in the finish. This is odd and tasty.