Bush Prestige (Scaldis Prestige)

Brewed by Dubuisson
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Pipaix, Belgium

Sweet fruity notes, malt, oak and some sugary elements in the aroma. Dark amber body with a slowly diminishing three finger thick, creamy white head. Fore tastes like a mash of assorted fruits that are just starting to be aged. Sour orange notes are big. Oak and apple are also present along with a hot woody spiciness. I can see why this fell from the top 50. It’s interesting, but not world class.

The beer upon its decorking from the 750ml brown bottle sets in the tulip glass a beclouded golden color with a pleasing creamy white head that is smallish in size, with the residual lace a thin satin sheet to conceal the glass. Nose has a nice bit of oak, sweet malt, over ripe apples, cotton candy, and a touch of alcohol, make for a fine sniffing, start is somewhat sweet, the grain profile pleasant and the top light to moderate in feel. Finish has tart twang, the acidity strong but not overpowering, the hops delectable, but overshadowed by the 13 person ABV, very dry and lingering aftertaste, a good drinking beer, but while I like this beer, I’m not sure if I like it $42 worth, and I bought two, and will age the second one for a year or two to see what happens.

"Thank you eagle for this one. Poured a hazy copper color with small head. Aroma was of light fruits, appleas pears yeast. Flavor was the same but the alcohol was a little sharp, maybe needed some aging. "

Tasted at the 2006 Pizza Port Belgian Fest. This Belgian Strong Ale poured a hazy amber color from a 750ml bottle. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is malty, fruity and sweet. There is some wood here as well. A full-bodied Belgian Strong Ale. Malts are fruity and sweet. Bright yeasts. Lively carbonation. Woody flavors. The malt flavors are thick and chewy, nearly tongue coasting, and yet are very smooth. Nice balance between the malts, fruit and wood. Hides the alcohol very well. Nice beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is sweet.

From Bottle, poured at the 2006 Pizza Port 12 Hour Belgian Beer Party. Tan, rusty orange colored pour with a thin, white ring of head. Plenty of yeast churns the drink into a cloudy sandstorm of organic aroma. Spiced falltime apple cider, orange-spiced tea, and a hint of floral rose petals. The flavors are as overpowering as the aroma is delicate and fragile. My tongue is beaten into an irreversible submission by a spicy, tingling bombardment of thyme, sage, rosemary bark, and smoky tobacco. Very unique and complex, but the oak tones are a bit too roasty and overpowering for my palate.

Hazy, rustic orange with a thick, foamy layer tiny, cream-colored bubbles. A wonderful, solipsistic aroma. Vanilla, coconut, white grapes, oak, caramel, mango, brown sugar, straw, warm alcohol, apples, oranges, pineapple, dry cereals and some light lemongrass. The body is quite full, as expected, and the carbonation is active but soft on the tongue. Once in the mouth, the beer is viscous, sweet and quite obviously barrel aged. The warm alcohol and intense sweetness is probably a little too much for my taste. There are many strengths to this beer: the complex malt layers, the deft, crafty yeast elements and the additional depths from the barrel-aging. However, the barrel may have too much impact, the alcohol is excessive or too warm, and the sweetness becomes cloying at times. I like it, but I’m slightly disappointed. If only they kept it around 7% and threw in some Brett... Nah, I suppose *some* beers should be fermented without Brett. Thanks Martin!

Sampled March 2006
Pours a lightly hazy, full amber (as in the substance) color. It is very well carbonated and initially forms a three-finger thick tan colored head that is fairly large bubbled. The aroma is rich and fruity with notes of concentrated pear, tart sweet apple, and green raisins as well as some straight malty caramel notes. After a couple sniffs of the aroma the oak begins to become quite noticeable; notes of buttery oak, tannic wood, and even a bit of something that reminds me of musty wood. As is my tendency, I prefer the up front fruit notes more than the oak, the oak is not too bad here (even adds to the complexity), but it comes to dominate a bit more than I would like.

The taste is sweet, yet not overly so, and has a fruitiness that reminds me of sweet, fragrant, slightly concentrated apples with a touch of tartness. The carbonation adds a bit of a bite, though it is quite tame considering the heft and full mouthfeel that this beers body has. The oak is here as well, it is most noticeable towards the end, but is noticeable as a buttery note, with perhaps a hint of vanillin, up front. The oak becomes woody, tannic and a bit astringent as one moves to the long finish. The tannic astringency is played up a bit by the alcohol that is found in the finish as well.

Well I have gotten this far (perhaps a quarter of a bottle) and I am already asking myself if I want to finish a bottle of this. It is certainly not the alcohol that has gotten to me, it is the oak, which isn’t even all that overbearing in this beer compared to many oaked beers. Oak is just such a dominating presence, I really prefer a light touch with it. Perhaps the beer will become a bit more balanced as it warms up.

As the beer warms up it becomes a bit more creamy, perhaps a touch sweeter as well, and in fact the oak does seem to be a touch muted. I think that it also helps if you drink this beer very slowly, or to be more exact a long time between sips; this seems to keep the oak notes down. It is almost as if my palate gets more and more sensitive to the oak notes (especially the harsh astringent notes) as I take subsequent sips of this beer. Warming this beer is definitely the way to go, it really subdues the oak character and makes this much more drinkable.

Alcohol has unquestionable alcohol flavor. Incredibly compleity. A very dry beer. But, in light of all the strength, everything ties in well together and makes for one hell of a beer. Sometimes i worry when i pay so much for beer, but this one works out. I actually recorked for tomorrow night, cause this beer will kick you in the ass.