t Smisje Guido

Sampled on 10/2/2009. This Belgian Strong Ale pours a medium brown amber color from a 33cl bottle. Large sized white foamy head, with nice lacing. The aroma is malt, raisins, honey, fruity and sweet. A medium bodied Belgian Strong Ale. The malts are fruity, sweet, honey, raisins, estery and yeasty. The hops are earthy. The honey and raisins are very evident. Alcohol bite is also fairly upfront. Lively carbonation. Nice beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

THOUGHTS: If I didn’t know better I would think this was made by Alvinne. It had their certain sour taste to it. It hid the alcohol very well. Nice, but not what I was expecting. It was super sour. I thought it would have been sweet. TECHNICAL: Bottle. Poured a muddy, medium to dark brown with a small to average, off-white head that mostly diminished to a thin sheet. There were also large to huge particles in the body of a thin density. It was bottle conditioned. The aroma was mostly sour fruit accompanied by moderate yeast, raisin, sour cherry and some honey. The initial flavor was acidic, sour and slightly sweet; while the finish was very sour and slightly bitter with a long duration. There was sour fruit, honey, raison, salt, yeast and more sour and bitter fruit. The medium to full body was a little syrupy and then very dry with fizzy carbonation and a heavily astringent finish.

Bottle - Pours like real apple cider -- hazy and no head. Smells of apple, raisins, honey, and a little burn. Tastes of apple and honey -- sweet, but not overpowering. It’s got effervescent carbonation, kind of like sparkling cider. What a weird beer, and not at all what I was expecting. Put it all together, and I really liked it. Give me another.

Bottle from Greens in Atlanta. Hmmm, not my thing here. Aroma is weird. Funky, stank, overly honeyed and too spicy. Flavor is very odd and again just too much honey. Overly spiced. Unique indeed, but I didn’t like it.

11.2 ounce stubby bottle from Once Upon a Vine, South location, Richmond, VA. Pours a ruddy brown tinted red color with a thin fizzy head. Hazy with small particles absolutely suspended in the beer. Aroma is earthy, musty and slightly tart with notes of caramel, dark fruits and honey. Taste is also fairly tart with notes of cherry, green apple, raisin. Very slight sweetish honey notes. Medium bodied. Tart throughout and twice now I’ve finished a sip with gritty bits on my teeth. Odd one and I’m not sure I’m liking it. I can somewhat see the appeal, but it’s weird and not for me, so I can also understand the disparate ratings.

Bottle. Dark amber pour, tons of carbonation and a very sweet prune/raisin aroma. Flavor was a little thin, plenty of sweet honey and then finished a little sour.

Holy head Batman! During a gentle pour my Duvel tulip was completely filled with foam and half of the bottle was still left to go. It took nearly 5 minutes to get the entire bottle into my glass and another 10 before the head was small enough to allow drinking. Lightly hazed dark amber with the aforementioned gianormous head. Smells of bubblegum, spice, honey, clove, and dark fruit. Taste is sweet and slightly spicy, honey is immediately apparent. Tasting notes of cassis, brown sugar, honey, cinnamon, red grape, copper, and slightly musty. The lacing was kind of ugly, large sporadic clumps. Very interesting and much better than the 3.3 average indicates.

A dark, translucent, cherrywood tinted body pours from the bottle, with a dense layer of khaki colored foam that lasts for ages at the head. Sticky splotches of lacing mark the glass. It’s really quite a handsome brew. The aroma shows dark raisins, cherries, and figs, though it is less sweet than anticipated as hints of tart yeast and peppery, earthy hops assert themselves. There’s a spicy, woody component, almost like cedar but not quite. Flavors follow suit, sweet and malty up front, with heaps of stewed dark fruit, followed by tart, spicy yeast and grassy hops. Pepper really comes through on the finish, intensified by the lively carbonation that propels the substantial, semi-dry body. This seems to be a love it or hate it type of beer. While the tartness might not be true to style, it all came together well for me.