Mill Street Betelgeuse

Brewed by Mill St. Brewery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Toronto, Canada

[1958-20090120] Tap. Fruity yeasty banana aroma. Clear, medium orange body with a long-lasting creamy white head. Boozy banana fruit yeast flavour. Medium grainy body. Nice in it’s rough and unfinished way.
Overheard: "Speaking of fetal pigs, Tracy’s pregnant." -- segue from high school biology to his wife...
(@ Volo; Toronto, ON)

On tap at Bar Volo. Clear ochre colour, slight head and a little bit of lacing. Slight aroma. Nice hop, yeasty fruity aroma. Balanced aftertaste.

Draught. At BeerBistro. Clear light gold with an average creamy white head. Sweet, simple candyish aroma, yeasty, slightly spicy, even a bit of perfume bitterness - smells more or less like a trippel. The taste ... well, not bad, but all I can say is it tastes like a middlin’ first homebrew attempt at a tripel - too sweet, slightly syrupy, a hint of that extract-y harshness, and not enough spice, carbonation or yeast to be very near the style mark. The body is both thin and syrupy, it’s undercarbonated, and lacking in depth or spiciness - although there’s a decent grassy-bitter finish to it .... call this a golden ale and you have a decent beer - as it is, it’s not a chore to drink, but it won’t make you forget Westmalle any time soon, no matter how drunk you are.

On tap at Volo. Appearance: Cloudy orange with a small white head. Aroma: Caramel, honey, apple, alcohol and a tiny grass aroma. Flavour: Big caramel flavour, alcohol, coriander and some apple. Long lingering alcohol & toffee finish.

Draught at Volo. Pours a clear golden-orange with a small semi-lasting creamy white head. Aroma’s quite sweet, sugary even, and herbal along with apples, other fruit, some alcohol and yeast. Flavour’s semi-sweet and yeasty along with some spices and alcohol. Light bitter finish. Average to medium bodied. I found this just alright.

Growler from the brewpub - pours perfectly clear golden with a sticky thick white head. Aggressively carbonated, but it works well with the style. Yeasty, green raisin aroma, almost verging on white wine, but earthier. Flavour is not as full as the aroma, and a bit hot at the back of the throat, but as it warms and is allowed to open up, it becomes quite nice. Finishing hop bitterness also becomes more apparent as the beer warms. This beer manages a good balance between fruity and dry. Perhaps not on par with the best Belgians in the world, but still a very good strong ale, and and quite drinkable for the strength. An excellent attempt by a local brewer who should be applauded for the effort.

2009-01-20. Crisp dark yellow body with a small white head, nice lacing. (3+) Mild aroma, pale malt, light sugars and dry stereotypical triple profile. Light alcohol. Flavour is sweet with dry pale malt finish, light sugars and florals, finish again has the typical Belgian tripel blend of malt, bitterness and mild alcohol. Average plus palate. Serviceable and pleasant but lacks the depth and complexity of some of the best tripels. On tap at Volo, Toronto

I like this - on tap it has some spooky funkiness at first, and later it opens up and reveals more and more spicy phenols. Nice golden appearance with dense light head, ripe fruit aromas and tastes, Belgian style sort of aged/dusty hop bitterness. This beer has hit stride.