Can shared by Yasunori. A dark ruby brown, with a thin filmy beige head. A great rich malty aroma of figs, oak & caramel. Medium fullness, spritzy mouthfeel the taste is sweet & malty with vanilla, cinnamon & malty goodness. A bit boozy. Pretty damn good.

This is a live review.
The date stamped on the bottom of the can says \"canned on 03/03/14.\"
Tonight, I poured this into a chalice, but there has been various times I’ve had this before and had poured it into a snifter and a tulip.
The appearance is a nice dark brown close to black color with some nice purple tinges along the sides of the glass. There is a decent half finger white to off white foamy head that dissipates within about a minute. Once the head dies, the lacing clings fondly and coats the sides of the chalice superbly as there’s barely any glass seen around the coating of the lacing for a half finger’s worth high. I say - what a nice show!
The smell had some dark chocolate, some milk chocolate with a nice light cinnamon and vanilla and ends up all combining and leads into a decent oakiness running about and up into my nose.
The taste had a nice sweet, somewhat spicy and yet still somewhat oaky sweetness entering into my taste buds. There is no aftertaste but it still has a somewhat dry sweet finish running about it.
On the palate, it sat about a medium in body with not much of a sessionable quality about it. The carbonation shows a decent amount of harshness.
Overall, in my opinion, I say this was a pretty good Belgian Strong Ale that I would have again.

In draft at Trio in Kill Devil Hills NC. Pours a clear cola brown with a thick ecru head. Sweet malty nose. Flavors of butterscotch and caramel.

Batch 1 cans and onwards, as recent as 2013
Typical pour from Cold Springs brewery, that is, clear (though translucent) body with a dark tan head that is initially full but quickly recedes to cover, with little lacing. Body is a garnet/dark mahogany.
Sweet prunes, raisins, cherries and a very soft caramel sweetness are very full. The relatively lower abv helps keep the nose mostly free of alcohol fumes, though some fusels are noted with warming. Vanilla, more chocolate/caramel sugars and some phenols add a light coffeeish note.
Sweetness is certainly the first thing noted. Very smooth, creamy, even slick mouthfeel from the sugars, yet I’m surprisingly not cloyed to death. It’s odd because there’s nothing there to really balance. No drying phenols, alcohol or particularly interesting house yeast character, as the best of the style exhibit, but yet the flavor lacks any real vinousness, roastiness or astringent breadiness that you often see in the style. How does that play out for the beer? Well, it’s sweetly malted and easy to drink up to a point, but yet the complexity is certainly lacking. Still, for a canned, industrial-brewed, American trappist-style, you could do ALOT worse.

Can: Poured a dark burgundy color ale with a large light brown foamy head with good retention and some light lacing. Aroma consists of dry figs with quite a bit of residual sugar and some caramelized malt. Taste is also dominated by caramelized malt with too much residual sugar and some dry figs. Body is about average with good carbonation and light apparent alcohol. I thought this one was lacking balance with too much residuals sugar. It could be my mind playing tricks but I prefer my Belgian ale bottle conditioned not in cans.

12 oz. can courtesy of Phatdog1. Can date stamped 03/26/12. Pours a deep brown with thin head. The aroma is a mix of dark fruits. (Figs, dates, raisins) Flavor is again dark fruit with Belgian yeast and spices and a bit of oak which is strange since it wasn’t aged in a barrel. Interesting… Medium-full bodied with moderate carbonation. Finish is sweet with a warming finish. Overall very drinkable and pleasant, I would buy more of this.

Can @ Home. Pours hazy dark brown with a offwhite head. Aroma of malt, candy sugar, swet dark fruit. Flavor is malt, plum, sugar, marcipan, booze. Medium body, lightly warming alcoholic finish. 230313

Can. Medium head with medium duration. Color is amber. Aroma and taste are caramel, fruits, syrup, vanilla, wood, malt and hops.