North Coast PranQster Belgian

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

350 mL bottle. Hazy golden yellow with fizzy white head. Aroma of passion fruit and Belgian yeast. Taste a bit more interesting than aroma: initial honey taste followed by passion fruit and an over-ripe fruit taste and ending with a malty and slightly bready dry finish. The fruit notes become more apparent as the beer warms.

Appearance: Pours a murky golden body with a fizzy white head. Smell: A sour fruit funkiness with notes of candy and wheat. Taste: Light, pale malt sweetness with strong, yeasty herb-stuffed dough notes and hints of honey, bubblegum, and pears. Finishes with a prolonged spicy, yeastiness and just a bit of hop bitterness. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Slightly sticky palate. Drinkability: Far too sour and yeasty for my tastes, I think I’ll keep to their Old Rasputin and Old Stock Ale.

Cloudy with some shiney highlights. White head. Smells fruity, apples and cherries. Tastes like it smells with a medium bodied clean finish. Another good one from NC.

Moldy mine, apple. Seet aroma. Good beer. I was a bit squirelly at this point, so can’t remember much apart from my illegible notes.

Pours a nice cloudy golden orange with a small white head. Has a nice fruity citrus aroma. Medium bodied with a citrus orange and lemon taste to it. Very smooth.

Pours a deep hazy orange color with a small head and a fair amount of lacing on the side of the tulip. Smells very flowery with notes of hops, citrus and some yeastiness. The mouthfeel is very prickly with some notes of bitterness and orange zest. Overall a pleasant beer that falls short of the real Belgain Strongs.

12-oz. Pours deep murky amber with orange highlights and a towering, counter-seeking fluffy platinum blonde head. Spotty lace clings to the sides on its way down. Big forward hoppy botanical aromatics nose, almost cheeba-like; definitely smells fresh and funky. There’s horse blankety yeast at work there for sure but it’s like they bring up the hops so much that they hide themselves behind the amplified hop volatiles. Medium body, not as much carb as you’d expect (fairly soft), and subdued flavors. Orange and cream and some funk there too; very light finish. This is a *great* training wheels beer for the new Belgian drinker but doesn’t hold many pleasures after you’ve had the real thing. Still, well-made, and you have to give them credit for shipping without any deal-breaking flaws.

Slightly weird bitter orange peel, vague floral notes, acrid milkiness. Yellowish gold, lightly hazed, difficult to rouse a head. Initial yeastiness, but then a strong herbal bitterness. Medium carbonation. Lacks sophistication and complexity and doesn’t quite seem authentically Belgian.