t Smisje Cuvee 2005

Formerly brewed at Brouwerij De Regenboog
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Assebroek-Brugge, Belgium

Pours with moderate carbonation. Sunset orange in color. Aroma is malty, with grassy hops. A sourness lurks. Taste is fresh and aggressive. The slight sourness is balanced by the malt and the yeast. Tastes like it could have been oak aged for a short time. Mouthfeel is good, and viscous for the style. I’d have another if I wasn’t so tired. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 11-27-2005 04:04:48

Bottle conditioned 70 CL. I do not quite understand how this beer is so much under rated. Orange towards pale colored beer with a big foamy head, perfect lacing and lively carbonation. Aromas of malts with and dried fruits like pears, pinneaple and hints of goosberries, extremely fresh, and quite complex. Taste is all malty again with a hint of pepper, slight coriander and again some dried fruits. Aftertaste is totally malty. In perfect balance, alcohol is totally hidden. After a year of riping, this is an amazing brew.

Criminally underrated. Smooth, sweet and creamy with reinvigorating carbonation throughout, this is a nearly perfect fruity aroma, extremely fresh and tropical, and reminds me of the Season Mortal in it’s fresh complexity. I asked all four of us around the table to name the number one fruit that came to mind in the aroma, if you could only use one label, and there were four different answers: Starfruit (carambola), pear, gooseberries and pineapple. Not tart enough for gooseberries to my mind, but all the rest in ultra-abundance. Not very spicy, with just a hint of pepper. I did not receive coriander as others say. At the end this is quite yeasty. This should age with the best of them. Delicious, better than expected even given my admitted "fan" status toward this brewer. Thanks to Andre!

Off-white head tops a red/copper body. Rather sweet nose, with yeast and some spicy notes. Very sweet, orangey flavor, with caramel, a bit of bready yeast, fairly bitter finish. Wonderfully creamy mouthfeel despite some marked effervescence.

The beer after it’s decapping and cork removal from the 750ml green bottle sets a winsome somewhat hazy orange, the head creamy white and the size tremendous, as it slowly evaporates, the residual lace forms a thick blanket to conceal the glass. Nose has hints of sour dough bread, sweet malt, citrus like in its crispness some what flowery from the hops, start is sweetly tart, nice grain presence, top is moderate in feel. Finish is personable in its acidity, the hops delightfully spicy, dry and lingering after taste, and a fine drinking beer worth a sample.

A great unique beer, 2 years old that had funkiness and a good sourness. Malt and yeast in the nose. Medium cloudy, pale appearance. Lacey. Initially sweet yeast that gives way to controlled sourness. A rare one.

Pours a slightly hazy copper orange with a well-lacing frothy off-white head. Aroma of sweet lightly bready Belgian malts with some toasty, yeasty complexity and light fruity esters. Body starts with fairly full, sweet caramel sweetness, with a nice balance of complex oaky flavor and light fruits. Has very nice complexity and is very smooth. An enjoyable Belgian strong ale.

Bottle: Golden color, nice head and beautiful lacing. Nice bright wood shavings and malts, complex yeast and bready notes. The flavor is nice and tangy with a creamy balance to the finish. Very sweet belgian with a balanced character and an awesome mouthfeel. So light and airy.