DNR Belgian Strong Ale

Deep dark amber coloured body with a nice sized, one centimetre tall tan head. Aroma of pit fruits, alcohol, caramel and a potent malt backbone. Full-bodied; Strong alcohol dominates the flavour up front with a pit fruit taste soon after and a very mild banana and clove taste soon afterwards. Aftertaste show some nice complexity to round out the taste, although a lot of pit fruits and caramel are still noticeable - along with the alcohol. The most prominent thing on the end is a fixation of pepper and vanilla, but those aren’t the most noticeable flavours. Overall, a nice attempt and a good beer to sample locally, but a bit too strong for a final beer - still good for others to sample though. I sampled this beer on draught at TapWerks in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on 02-September-2009. From Can: Deep, super hazy copper and bronzed coloured body with a thinnish, almost non-existant off-white head. Aroma of rich malts, a lot of caramelised sugars, pitted fruits, raisins and stone fruits with a dash of alcohol and yeast with some pungency towards the end that ends in astringency. Full-bodied; Strong rich pitted fruit and raisin flavour dominates here with a lot of malts which give this a nice rich body along with a strong medicinal and astringent flavour from the sugars, fruit and especially the alcohol with a nice yeastie bite at the end. Aftertaste shows a smooth chocolate and deep sweetness from syrup, but the raisins and especially pitted fruit notes show through at the end with a lot of yeast notes and earthy complexities with some sweetness, figs and caramelised sugars at the end, but fairly rustic and malty with some nice pungency at the end with the alcohol noticeable of course. Overall, a nice enough quad or American Strong - this sort of blends the lines, but shows a lot of earth, malts, yeast and pitted fruits with a good balance throughout, but on the earthier and rustic side of things with a lot of 'muddied' notes. I sampled this twelve ounce can, purchased from BeerTopia in Omaha, Nebraska on 01-October-2017 for US$3,19 sampled just over three years later at my house during the first possible cold day here in Washington on 17-February-2021.