Piraat 10.5%

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

Opaque pale orange pour with large white head. Good lacing. Aroma is sour, yeasty, and coriander. Flavor is spicy, sour, fruity, and surprisingly bitter (almost like chewing on a orange rind). Bitterness lingers unpleasantly.

12 oz bottle been in my fridge way too long. Pours a hazed orange with a tall white head. that laces down. Sweet fruity aroma or yeast banana, clove, coriander, and alcohol. Sweet flavors with all that alcohol. Bananas, dough, and caramel. Lemons leading into coriander and clove. So much alcohol here. Why do you need so much?

Dark blond beer with a small white head. Medium carbonation. Aroma of yeast and alcohol. More fruity flavor. Pears and notes of banana. At the end more malty and upcoming alcohol warmth.

Bottle from the LCBO. Golden pour with a frothy white head. Spicy aroma. Taste is grainy and dry, with a strong aftertaste of malts. Alcohol is well-hidden. Reminds me a lot of Christoffel blonde. I wouldn’t return to this one again.

Pours a hazy honey lemon yellow with a medium white head. Aroma of spices,fruit, primarily bananas and pears, with a strong yeasty presence. Taste is slightly sweet with hints of pears and bananas, spices, yeast and malt. Very good.

light/amber golden haze and small head. rich in spices in taste and aroma. hides the alcohol content well. bready yeast kind of flavor. not the best belgian i’ve had but i would drink it again.

The first for me of my Belgian Ale pack from the LCBO. Pours a somewhat murky pale golden colour, with a medium white head. The aromas are very yeasty, a lot of malty sweetness, fruity esters, and a bit of alcohol. The flavour is very strong of course, big on the bready malts and esters, not much hops, alcohol burn on the throat as it goes down, which I guess is pretty much impossible to avoid when your beer is 10+ ABV, so I won’t take off any points because of that. Fruits are a blend of peaches, a little banana, and maybe some pineapple, but it’s rounded off with strong yeastiness in the finish and a nice malty stickiness in the aftertaste. The mouth-feel is very full, as this is a pretty heavy beer. An enjoyable Belgian for sure, something to sip on and appreciate Belgian beer culture with.

like Duvel, Piraat can become a table beer as it is widely available. Not all beers have to have a bombardment of flavor, which is not often desirable anyway. Pirat is unpretentious, has a nice grainy character but remains dry and strong. A really approachable beer that often hits the spot.