Piraat 10.5%

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

Bottle, 33 cl. Dark golden (nearly amber) beer with a white head, not lacing very well. The nose is grainy, hoppy, malty and a bit yeasty. Maybe a bit spicy also, but I’m not sure about it because I forgot. Red wine also, but I was drinking half a bottle red wine before. The taste is... a bit of everything. It starts grainy, hoppy and malt with medium yeast on the background. Then comes a lovely sweet taste, with some caramel notes, and also a spicy aftertaste. But disaster, disaster: the beer can’t hide its high alcohol percentage because you have at the end an alcohol taste that comes more and more to the foreground, pushing away the other tastes. Waste of the pallet, otherwise the beer would have received a 4 for it. I wouldn’t say it gave me a warm feeling, but it burned a bit. But that can also be the effect of drinking (other) alcohol the whole evening before. A typical Van Steenberghe: no top beer but very decent.

Poured a dark golden color with little head that didn’t leave much lacing. Spicy aroma and quite a bit of spiciness in the flavor along with some alcohol. I can’t say that I was impressed with this one.

"When poured only a thin bubble island floats on top of a hazy brass body. Aroma is sharp and yeasty but not all that strong red wine is also coming through. Flavour is nice and sweet. Woody alcohol, grape, sour yeast and wheat malts are making their way through in the flavour. Beer seems sweeter than most other Belgians but it never gets sickening. Caramel has shown up when warm and the beer has a nice alcohol bite in the finish. This Belgian is average at best."

Hazy gold with thick white head and nice lacing. Very sweet aroma of candy sugar, bannanas, Fluffy mouthfeel, lively carbonation. Quick spicy bite on the tip of the tongue, very peppery alcohol, cloves, spicy hops - more bitter than flavor. The sweetness in the aroma is hard to find, but it’s hidden there under all the spiciness. Finishes with bitter hops and alcohol. Nice and complex, very interesting.

Colore arancio, opaco e denso con una buona carbonatazione.Molto cremosa e ingombranti la schiuma e ottima la persistenza. Dolce e fortemente alcoolico l’aroma con notedi lievito.Gusto corposo e pieno, caldo, di malto dolce, cantina e chiare note di frutta. Molto alcolico e dolce il lungo finale

100ml sampled from a bottle at CBF 09. A few floaters on the top of a cloudy, golden body. Sweet rounded aroma of peaches and late banana. Sweet caramel in flavour mingled with citric hints and candy sugar. Little in the aftertaste to counter all the sweetness. Tingling alcohol. Soft carbonated.Quite possible to drink, but, in fact, too ultrasweet for my palate (17.05.2009).

***re-review May 06/08***
Old bottle from ’06 BBD 16/01/08 - Major mellowing, of course, initially the aroma was off but it has fully recovered. The aroma is a bit plain this time around which is disappointing - wait, I guess I only gave it a 7 before - sounds about right. A bit more fruity than I remember. Taste is a bit sour (huh?) - I think I’m wrong on that... I am getting a bit wobbly. Surprisingly, the alcohol make a notable appearance. Dry hearty bread shows up as well but more in the aftertaste. Just found some Christmas hard candy on the back end of the taste. The alcohol is quite apparent. Pretty smooth beer for 10.5%. I think I’m drunk. Yeast is dominant. Rating has been updated from a score of 7 9 9 9 8 and could be lower.

Got this in some sampler pack for the brewery while going out of my way to a Bevmo ( I think) just off the freeway in Escondino?? Felt pretty cool with my rental Sebring (granny car) with the roof down at 75F travelling around 95mpr down the freeway - almost froze to death and actually pulled over under some giant archway over the road - I couldn’t feel my skull! Stupid Canadians! Oh! The beer....Magically appeared in my glass a murky opaque light brown/orange with a colossally huge thick shiny slighy brown head. Tons of bubbles in this one. Aroma was warm wheats (?), yeast, malts, spice and sweat (what causes that?) - very heavy duty - so strong. I was finding that it smelt a bit different every time. Taste was incredibally soft (10.5% alc!!). Slightly sour, carmelish, a good ammount of hops and great spice....where the hell is the 10.5%?? Good thing this is a 330ml bottle. Considering this high alc. content, I feel no burn. Made me salivate. Really bubbly on the mouth swish. Finishes off with a great late late arriving hop bitterness. Nice gay Pirate hand drawn label by some grade 8 art student. My wife Leah smelt this beer and reviewed it only as the following: chicken poo. Bless her soul.

Draught at De Klomp, Linköping, on June 1, 2009
Shady golden color, creamy off-white head. Smoke, clove, phemolic scent, also a bit sweet. Sweet, apple, spicy, alcohool taste. Long lingering spicy aftertaste. Medium mouthfeel, low bitterness. Warming alcohol.