t Smisje Calva Reserva

Brewed by Brouwerij De Regenboog
Style: Barley Wine
Assebroek-Brugge, Belgium

330ml bottle. Deep orange gold color, slightly murky. Small sized white foamy head. Aroma is dark fruit, banana esters, wood and a touch sour. A medium bodied Strong Ale. Malts are fruity and sweet, lots of fruit flavors, apples, pears, brown sugar and molasses. The usual balance of spices and yeast esters. Hides the 12% alcohol very well. This beer is kind of murky and confusing, there are a lots of flavors going on here and they really don’t mix very well at times. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is sweet.

Couleur cuivrée, apparence semi translucide, pleins de dépôts de calibre fin à mi-imposants circulent librement dans le liquide. Moyenne quantité de mousse beige pale nous quittant rapidement. Arômes alcoolique présentant en avant-plan pommes meurtries, caramel, trèfle et avant signe de madérisation. Pleinement maltée en bouche, à en boire et à en manger, malt épais et collant insistant à nous souder les lèvres ensemble. Caractère sucré, biscuits, toffee guidé par l’alcool à la réminiscence de whisky et de calvados. Le houblon surgit en finale, introduisant une amertume propre à l’écorce d’orange amère. Délirium Café, Voyage Europe Avril 2005.

(Bottle) Pours a cloudy brown body with a small cream beige head. Aroma of toasted malt, toffee, fruitiness, and spices. Flavor of fruit, corriander, and malt. Alcohol is nicely hidden in this beer.

Pours medium to deep amber with a very thin head and low carbonation. Aroma of cider, calvados, apples, thick sweet caramel malt, spices, yeast and some oak. Flavor has some vanilla in it but has some alcohol burn. Slight apple flavor with lots of malt and a slightly acidic finish. Also a decent amount of citrusy notes from the coriander and paradise seeds. Pretty good but I dont know if it is worth the $5 for a small bottle.

Habersham Beverage Warehouse, Savannah, Ga, - 11.2 oz bottle. Pours a cloudy, dark orange with a thin, sticky off-white head that sticks around a bit. Rasiny, alcoholy aroma fills the nose with some trailing prunes. Excellent malty flavor, hints of mint, licorice, prunes and raisins. A background of baked brown bread brings it altogether nicely. Very thick sticky, creamy mouthfeel. Excellent bellywarmer. 12% ABV hidden well.

11.2oz. bottle. Murky iced tea color with no head. Sweet aroma of molasses, caramel and a touch of raisins. Very sweet flavor with no carbonation at all. Thick, cloying mouthfeel. Dark dried fruits, caramel and a hint of sweet sherry are the flavors that stand out the most. Sharp alcohol finish. Not very enjoyable.

07.03.05 250ml bottle (these little things really bug me). Hazy bourbon brown pour with only a trace of head. Sticky stuff leaves a tacky film on everything it touches. Lots of brown sugar in the nose, some butterscotch, nutty, milk chocolate. Cripes, it smells like a Milky Way, not that that’s a bad thing. Body is completely flat, sticky, and sugary sweet. Tastes like a Werthers hard candy with miniscule hints of drowned fruits, raisin, apple, fig...mostly fig. Way way way way way too sweet. I don’t taste or smell any of the spice mentioned, and the cask aging is mostly showing up as a vanilla and must background.

Bottle: Aroma is vinuous, caramel, and apples. Pours a dark reddish-brown with lots of sediment. No head to speak of. Mostly apple in the flavor with maltiness mostly from caramel and some definite sugar. Alcohol comes on in the finish and is slightly noticeable in taste but more so in warmth. Flat as can be. Mouthfeel of water.