t Smisje Grande Reserva

Brewed by Brouwerij De Regenboog
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Assebroek-Brugge, Belgium

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Pours clear copper with a sustained white head. Smells of funk, boozy, whiskey, spicy, tarte. Tastes sweet and oaky with whiskey, spice, sweet malt, fruity. Unusual.

Pours out a hazy orange with lots of foamy head. Smell is fruity funky. Taste is sweet candy with lots of fruity flavors. Earth, wood, spice and funk flavors dominate. Lots of carbonation. Some alcohol warming. Very unique brew.

Bottle... Cloudy orange ale with a huge, frothy, off-white head. Nice retention. Earthy, woody, nut shell aroma with additional notes of praline and freshly baked bread. Medium to full-bodied with a fizzy mouthfeel. The flavor is more tangy than sweet, but there are caramel and toffee malt components that cannot be ignored – a touch boozy as well. Finishes tannic and quite warming.

Bottle from City Beer. Nose is dry bourbon, dry wood, Belgian hops and flour. Color is an appealing red brown with tan head. Flavor leaves some room to grow: hot bourbon notes with heavy spice and lightly sweet malt.

Bottle. Popping the top starts the bottle foaming up even though it’s been refrigerated for over a week. Pouring quickly into a glass to prevent spillage leaves with with 80% head and only a small amount of liquid. Soft tan color and a large, rocky head. As it settles, the aroma cuts loose with Belgian yeast, flowers, candy sugar, fruit notes, and sweet malt. taste is rather spicy, slightly herbal with Belgian yeast notes, flowers, dried fruit, light candyish notes, and wood. There’s some earthy notes as well. Body is light, slightly warm and very bubbly. Really this is over-carbonated. Ends with more bitter hops, herbal/medicinal notes, yeast, flowers, dried fruit, light sweet malt, wood, alcohol, and light vanilla. Not bad but I really couldn’t drink more than one of these in a sitting.

Pours a hazy dark amber color with a thin even layer of off-white head. Nice chalky floral Belgian yeasty aroma along with some alcohol. The taste has some edge due to the 11%, but has some dark fruits and Belgian twang to add to the slight burn. Pretty interesting, I see getting this again.

Bottle from Buffalohead. Clear orange/amber pour, medium off white head. Very smoky aroma, hints of oak and dark fruit. Medium body, slightly sticky palate, medium carbonation. There’s some harshness in the flavor from the oak, fruity sweetness up front and a little spicy bitterness at the finish.