North Coast PranQster Belgian

Brewed by North Coast Brewing Company
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Fort Bragg, California USA

Great looking golden yellow with a full bright white head that faded to a strong film that stayed solid but left only a little lacing. Strong aromas of orange, toasted sugar, spices and yeast. Citrus fruits dominated the taste up front, followed by toasted sweet malts, spices, and a slight banana flavor. Well carbonated, pleasant soft mouthfeel and a warming alcohol sense made this a wonderful drink.

Pours golden with a slight head but good lacing, way too carbonated at opening and first taste, fizzy mouthfeel at first, best to let it sit awhile, yeast flavor comes through as well as a citrus and malty finish, Hopping is correct and stays in the background, letting the Belgian style flavor come through. One of the best American Belgians I have tried.

sampled @ State Line. pours deep gold with a thick blond head. aroma is peach, apricot, pineapple and cinnamon. taste is honey and spice. yeasty. finish is a little thin and wheaty with fruit and spice lingering.

smells of yeast and spices. Slightly cloudy and bubbly. Highly carbonated and light texture in the mouth. Taste is a little yeast and spice. Finish is clean and alcoholic. Not too bad.

My first North Coast beer was up in St. Augustine, FL at a little whole-in-the-wall restaurant that had probably some of the best fresh guacamole and salsa I have ever experienced in my life so far. On draft they had a beer called Red Seal Ale which is another fine beer brewed by North Coast. I ordered a pint, sat back, and enjoyed my food, my beer, and my company. Since then, I have partaken of other fine North Coast beers and today am no exception. I may have been a bit of troublemaker and prankster myself during my youth, but this beer is certainly no joke.
PranQster pours a deep, cloudy orange-gold into my goblet. A small head forms, but quickly fades into a thing ring around my glass with little tufts of foam drifting on the surface of my brew. In the nose I detect ripe tangerines, soured yeast, and a hint of cloves. A slight tinge of apricot in the background also tickles my olfactory senses. The body itself is very full and creamy, yet very light and frothy so that while it fills it doesn’t weigh my tastebuds down. I detect hints of graham crackers in the finish while up front is sweet dough reminiscent of Hawaiian rolls with lingering sweet fruits: peaches and pears, and a touch of over-ripe bananas. Some hops nip at the back while cinnamon spices warm the palate. A chewy beer, I am still amazed at its overall lightness of both body and palate. From start to finish, PranQster lulls me into a pleasant zone of Zen with her soft body, delicate flavors, and pleasant nature.

Four 12oz bottles purchased for something like $9.75 from "Choice Mart" or whatever that’s called on Mass Ave in Boston. Not my usual haunt, but thought I’d stop in. No freshness date - which can be a concern here - but I thought this style would be safe enough. Pours a cloudy light gold with tons of bubbles and a bit of head. Nice yeasty aroma. First taste follows the aroma - all yeast with a slight spiciness as it goes down. Tripel-like. Not overly complex or exciting - or perhaps I burned out after a rash of similar-tasting tripels.

This one is readily available back east, but I didn’t get around to trying it until I had it on tap somewhere in Fisherman’s Wharf in SF. And it tasted very good, probably because I was half in the bag already.

12oz bottle from Peace St. Market, Raleigh. Time was, this was one of the only decent brews that somehow snuck into the 6%abv state of NC, and it was easy to overestimate it then (a function of the abv, no doubt). But honestly, this is one of North Coast’s few missteps to me. It has nice candied malts in the nose, with a trace of yeast. But the relatively thin body brings to mind the adjective syrupy, which is how this beer leans too much of the time - sweet and slick, without enough other flavors to balance.