t Smisje Grande Reserva

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

Bottle shared with Maniac and Butters. Another belgian that literally could fill pages to fully describe. Pear and peachy fruityness with bread aromas along with hints of alchohol and cheese. Cloudy amber golden with small white head. Winey woody smoky with peach pair fruityness and alchohol included in flavor. Dry finish with a touch of sourness. Medium body with high carbonation. Thrilling

Shared with maniac and maltdawg. Translucent orange amber pour with fair off-white head. Notes of cheese, yeast, caramel, and oak. Good medium body. But The price of this beer, outweighs it’s excellent characteristics.

Bottle from Capital Ale House - Downtown on 07/15/2008. Very hazy deep amber body with a medium creamy off-white head. Sweet caramel and spice aroma with rum soaked fruit and raisin hints. Big caramel and wood flavor, light raisin and spice. Medium full body with moderate carbonation.

Pours dark copper with a one inch head of off-white. A chill haze in the body, and a moderate amount of torn lacework for the duration. A skimcoat on the surface testifies to a somewhat low level of carbonation. Aromatics start off with sweet malt, ripe fruit, and boozy whiskey notes. Tangerine, melon, bubblegum, grape jam, cherries, and toffee ride atop the earthy and booze-laden essense of the barrel. On the thick side of medium bodied, a bit syrupy and quite sticky. Juicy malt and fruit mixes with warming whiskey notes. Grape jam, raisins, hard candy, and orange peel follow through. Dusty boards follow along unexpectedly, as well as an oxidized earthy nod. Sherry plays with the whiskey, and the beer warms on the throat. Finishes with light spice, wet and dusty boards, a blend of whiskey/sherry, and sweetish malt. There’s a decent amount of oxidation, apparently from the barrel-aging, but the dusty, almost sawdust-like character is detracting. Otherwise a great beer.

11.2ozDiscount liquor, $5.95. Looks like your average Belgium, Nice dark blond color with minimal white head. Aromas of bubble gum, light brown sugar and pie spices are mingled with vanilla from the whiskey barrels. The “whisky effect” comes through well and almost dominates the beer. Good balance. Almost creamy, but still fresh. Surprisingly good carbonation fir a beer that has been aged. A bit heavier than say, Gulden Draak. This one would be killer on a cold February evening. Unfortunately it is July 7th and 80 degrees out side. I would recommend this one.

Huge, very dense & fine head with a cream- to mango-like colour over amber, hazy beer with a mossy shine. Sweet, cakey nose with an aroma of lytchee hops; smouldering tobacco and caramel. Very nice indeed. Very smokey taste, (pipe)tobacco, cake, dry, smoked straw, black cardemoms, Islay malt. Every sip ends on a dry, bitterish but perfumed note. Excellent! Rich MF, well-bodied but not viscous. Warming up, the above flavours lasting ever longer, spiked more and more by the (whisky) alcohol. One of Johan’s best! And it contains coriander, at that!

Hazy to cloudy copper colored liquid. Moderate fairly stable ecru colored head. Really nice looking bubbled slowly gliding up continually regenerating the head to a rich thick dense pillow. Sweet fruity aromas. Berries and apricots start, but when one inhales a bit deeper the oak, whiskey and spice really start to show. Earth and peat also join in the scent. Can be harsh is inhaled to strongly, but a mild whiff here and there are quite pleasant. Sweet whiskey start with oak, peat and iodine. Seems like someone tossed a shot of Lagavulin in my glass of beer. LIght apricot and apple in the background. HInts of spice along with alcohol in the finish. Linger is dry and woody, with a bit more peat and ash. If you like whisky you should like this one. This is a real sipper in that way. Lightly warming.

33cl Bel-style bottle. Whiskey with corriander, and grains of paradise. Hazy, yeasty cloudiness appearence. Aroma is a stale musty yeastiness. Flavor is sweet, spicy. Medium bodied.