t IJ Columbus

11.2 oz bottle, brewed 7/05 or 04. Foggy orange brown with a yin-yang froth and haze. Lacy spots and tendrils. Nose is apricot peach preserves, toffee and rhubarb. This has softened quite nicely and sips medium light with just enough tiny carb tingle. Taste is caramel with a touch of peel that seems thin at first but really expands as it washes over the palate. Finish is yeasty with hints of apple and plum and a sourdough smoothness. Alcohol well hidden. A Belgian barleywine?

On draft at brewery. Firm head on a hazy dark orange brown body. Nothing subtle about this beer! Big strong tones of bitter and sweet, but alcohol for a 9% very well hidden .

On tap at the brewery under the windmill, Amsterdam (3/2008). Firm foam head is large and dense with small bubbles that produce a tight lacing. Syrupy texture. Strong finish of pepper, corriander, and bitter hops, dry and lasting. Other than that, pretty lackluster and average. It’s an able vehicle for the alcohol, which doesn’t show much amid overripe peach, cantaloupe, and sugary malts that slide over the carbonation and never seem integrated. Light and buttery on the nose.

Big beer that doesn’t hide its character. On tap at brewery. Pours hazy orange-brown with thin, grayish-white head. Fruity nose, malty. Lightly sweet flavor rolls into moderately hoppy kick. A bit warming, with some booze showing through. Big, fun and tasty.

Bottle. Golden colour with a beige head. Aroma is fruit, yeast, apple, caramel. Flavour is hop, yeast, caramel, apple, berries, spices. Nice body and a nice beer.