Bush Prestige (Scaldis Prestige)

Brewed by Dubuisson
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Pipaix, Belgium

Sampled at the monthly meeting of the Champaign-Urbana Beer Club, courtesy of Andy. Thanks. Sampled side by side with Scaldis Noel, which I liked quite a bit more. Lots of grass, hay, and wheat notes on the nose meet up with more of the same on the palate. Combines with vanilla and toasty oak from the wood, and green apple and carmelized sugar. Complex, but not overwhelming. Maybe a few more years of age and this will all end up well.

I shared a bottle of this with a friend the other day after reading some good reviews of it to celebrate Xmas. At $40 a bottle it isn’t one to drink all the time. The beer had all the Belgian character that I expected. I was a little surprised that more of the oak didn’t come through in the flavor but still I imagine it was like stepping back into the past as this was made the way Belgian beers were made long ago before stainless steel tanks were around. That was my biggest knock on the beer since I wanted more oak barrel flavor. The beer was a medium brown color with some faint red hues. Aroma was characteristically Belgian. Taste was smooth. We let the bottle warm up but probably not enough because the last few sips we had that had warmed up even more really made the great flavor stand out. Bought a second bottle for New Years eve and am really looking forward to it..

Hazy orangey-amber with a huge off-white head. A lot of vanilla aroma with some nuttiness underneath. Vanilla and port flavours, warming alcohol, good bitterness, ending dry. Full-bodied. Expensive and exclusive- to be drunk with respect.

(super thanks to robertsreality for hooking this up.bottle shared with friends on christmas eve)i poped the cork on the bottle and dumped a bit into my new old rasputin tulip glass.the appearance was golden brown and had a nice thick white head that left huge webbing when it sat.the aroma was a wonderful mix of oak,vanilla,whiskey,and champagne.i took the first sip and recieved a rush oak.the oak was followe by vanilla,whiskey,belgian yeast,apple juice,and tiny bit of hops.the alcohol was well hidden,the mouthfeel was nice and full and the palate was exceptional.this is definatly a celebration beer so i picked the perfect night to open it.

Bottle at Kerstbierfestival 2005, Essen, Belgium
Murky body. Off-white fizzy head. Very subtle aroma of oranges, sweat, ... Moderately bitter initial flavour, lightly bitter (long-lasting) finish. Overfully bodied. Fizzy carbonation. Heavily alcoholic. There is a good balance within the flavour, but there’s just too much alcohol. If you could forget about the alcohol, it is a very refined beer.

Bottle. I enjoyed this on Christmas Eve 2005 with my family. I have never spent this much for a beer before ($39), but I figured this was the right occassion. Before this fine bottle I had a bit of Talasker Distillers Edition 1992 single malt scotch, and my palate was appropriately guaged for this beer. It had a leather, wood, oily, light fruit, lemon, orange and earthy peat and oak wood aroma and flavor. Surprisingly smooth and velvety.

I have to be careful about rating some of these strong belgian beers, I get to excited about their rich aromas and taste, that I rate them too high, with no where to go higher. This was one sxceptional ale. Almost in a class by itself. Alcohol was dominant thru out the nose and taste, but well balanced with rum aromas and woody bourbon tastes. Again its difficult for me to describe the complex flavors. However these tastes held true down to the last drop. I will not ever forget this beer.

Thanks to Tim (Diabel) for ordering this at the Kerstbierfestival in Essen, Belgium! Cloudy brown-orange coloured beer with a white soapy head. Cognac-like nose, pretty sweet and notes of wood. Very alcoholic taste, not only at the end, but from the start. otes of wood, vanilla, almond. Very, very fizzy, ruins the whole palate. I’m sure this is a nice after-dinner-drink, but it is not totally my thing. Actually, I was quite disappointed.