North By Northwest Guldenbiere (2005, 2007 and later)

Brewed by North By Northwest Restaurant and Brewery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Austin, Texas USA

Hazy light orange body. Medium lace imparted by a tall off-white head with orange hints, looks like a frothy meting creamsicle. The aroma is layered with cloves, lemon, mild funk, wheat, sourness, raw grains, powdered coriander, floral hops, vanilla, earth, honey and light phenolic notes. Ginger and cake icing round out a pleasant aroma. The flavor is lightly sour and lightly to mildly sweet. Orange notes fade in and away just as quickly as they arrived. Lemony acidity, along with citrus notes cut through what little sweetness exists and leads into an array of floral tones and mild hop bitterness bite on the back side. The finish is somewhat crisp, spicy, lightly funky, with only a nod to familiar farmhouse stylings. Good length of bitterness lingers. The mouthfeel is light to medium, well carbonated and interesting. Pretty good but not groundbreaking or particularly memorable, wether for execution of subtleties or wildness.

Sampled at the RBSG ’07 Grand Tasting room. From a 750ml bottle (2005 vintage) pours a clear golden blonde brew with a thin white head. Aroma of Begian yeast, citrus peel/zest, honey and a touch of coconut. Taste is slightly sweet, medium bodied, loightly carbonated and some wheat character. Finish is slightly tart and crisp with a lemon aftertaste.

RBSG 2007. 2005 vintage. A simple but good Belgian ale. The Belgian yeast is prominent in the aroma. Flavor has sweet malt and more yeast, not much complexity, but more hops than average and the coriander is in the flavor. Cloudy, gold appearance.

(RBSG07, Vintage 2005 750ml bottle) Off-white head atop cloudy lemon body. Aroma is medium sweet, lemon, some cream, funk. Taste is medium sweet, lemon/orange, some wheat, sourness. Alcohol evident. Light-medium body, light crispness, some acidity.

RBSG 2007: Poured a hazy gold with a white head. Aroma, funky, some light fruits. Flavor, some fruity notes, bready, some soft malty notes. Pretty solid.

RBSG07. From 75 cL bottle. Pours hazy yellow with a crispy and quickly disappearing head. Aroma is slight sour. Flavour is slight sour and fruity. Finish mild sour and fruity. Nice but not the best

Sampled at the RBSG 07 Grand Tasting. 2005 bottle. Golden color with a sweet spicy nose with lots of wheat. Solid wheat body with subtle spices.

RBSG 2007 Grand Tasting. 2005 Bottle. Clear golden yellow body with a small white head. Heavy spice and lemon zest aroma. Sweet spice flavor with a bit of zest in the background.