La Bière du Boucanier Dark Ale

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Ertvelde, Belgium

small bottle. Hazy deep amber in color with a huge head, dissipates but the small head that’s left retains well. Aroma is full of brett, light sour cherry, caramel and spice. Initially the aroma is metallic but that subsides a bit. Taste is bretty, with light sour cherry in spots, caramel, light soap here and there, and light spice. Light to medium body, with only a faint hint of the alcohol in the finish. Not bad, but a bit oxidized....

Tap @ Ebenezer’s Pub in Lovell Maine. I’ve seen this bottle a lot but didn’t really know what it would be when I ordered the glass and it was tasty. Pours dark amber with a tan ring. Nose is sweet. Taste is sweet and fruity with a touch of barleywine feel.

That commercial description is f’d up. White painted 33cl bottle opens with a steam locomotive chuff. The beer is blood red and supports an enormous, lumpy and stable mocha froth. Fantastic brettanomyces nose- horseblanket and white pepper/galangal with cherry pie notes- plus citrus zest, maple syrup and licorice. Tastes tart and fruity, juicy, with gummi-candy flavor and sharp peppery spice. Finishes with stunning lime, tar, and almost-bourbon, followed by a quinine aftertaste and long, slow ethanol burn. Light but not watery palate, superbly dry, and practically crackling with beesting carbonation. Excellent beer… complex, balanced, and amazingly drinkable.

33cl, from Geers Oostakker, complex, hazy, rocky head, good brew, but not a topper

Non saprei, speravo che fosse più complessa (vedi Gulden Draak), invece si dimostra l’ennesima birra rozza e scracagnata degna giusto del bucaniere mezzo orbo che si trova in etichetta. Alcool sovrabbondante, poco altro; una noia mortale.

On tap at Malt & Vine. Pours clear dark brown with a massive tan head. Sweet aroma of figs, raisins, brown sugar and roasted nuts. Sweet full body and minimal carbonation. This beer is a malt bomb, with figs nuts, caramel, raisins all showing up in the taste, with the figs at the lead. Semi-sweet finish. Add one to the "dessert beer" column.

11.2oz bottle from Whole Foods Hill Crest. Pours ruby with a big and very faint tan head. Nose of cocoa, raspberry and light malt vinegar. Sweet with some Flemish brown sour notes. Spicey (cinnamon?) with chocolate, and plums with a little brown sugar.

Looks fine with a huge fluffy brown head and a dark brown body. Aroma is very disappointing, faint notes of port wine and suger with alchohol being the strongest scent comming out. In the flavor it feels like alchohol and co2 is the only content, had to dig deep to detect anything else.