Piraat 10.5%

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

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.

Dark Cherry with almost wine-like flavors Texture is smooth with gentle bubbles. .It’s a strong beer that does not taste too strong

Pours gold. Aroma has huge banana. Dough, a little yeast and pineapple hit the nose as well. Zero alcohol aroma. Fruity and caramel malts mesh with a hop bitterness. The hops cover the alcohol well. The 10.5%, if it were not for the warm throat, would be inconceivable. The head sits beautifully, almost as cream. Solid.

Light orange in color. Some malt, clove, phenols. A little haze due to the loose sediment. Some sweet tangy fruits as well.

Had this on tap at Ashleys in Ann Arbor, MI. It was a golden color served in a tulip with a thin head. Technically this is a belgian strong ale, but it is basically a trippel. Everything you would want in a trippel. I am not the biggest fan of this style, but they did a good job here. Nice biscuity and doughy characteristics balanced by sweet golden fruit and candi sugar. Alcohol was hid very well. I wonder how much different it would be from a bottle. Nice beer.

Bottle. Good, but standard BSA fare. Pours a pale orange with an appearance of lively carbonation. Spicy, mildly hoppy and a hint of fruit (orange rind) on the nose. Sweet at first on the tongue leading to a yeasty, fairly bitter finish. The alcohol asserts itself on the finish.

This has always been available to me but i never bought it due to the above average price. It is a good, if unremarkable, ordinary Belgian strong ale. Lots of malt with prominient Belgian yeast. Gold color and very well carbonated. Some earthy, dirt flavor with the lightly sweet malt.