Secret Santa beer #8, sent by Jason (Dorwart). Murky orange pour, medium-thick off-white head. Aroma of clove and a touch of banana with plenty of bready malts and yeast, somewhat vinous. Rather dry, biscuity flavor, bready with tons of bitter coriander hammering the palate. Perfumey with a hint of apple juice. Pretty complex and the high level of spicing, which I found over-the-top at first, grew on me as I finished the bottle.

Cloudy deep gold color with a small white head that laces fairly well. An earthy, moldy citrus and spice aroma. Sweet and spicy flavor with an overlay that starts tart and a finishes sour. The tart and sour diminish as I drink it. Interesting beer, not bad, but some will not like this.

The aroma is powerful of coriander and black pepper. The color is an unclear orange and it has a fine disappearing head. The flavor is rather sweet with notes of alcohol, coriander, lemon, and acidity that runs over the tongue.

Smells of a light belgian yeast aroma, with some peachy fruit esters (faint), and a stronger hops aroma. Interesting. Bottle conditioned, very clouded deep orange, with some dark yellows and rusty golds. Small creamy beige head. First taste is quite typical of a belgian blonde, but then on the finish here come the hops. Hmmm, this is an interesting take. More hops apparency than any belgian style golden I've tried. At first I didnt like it, but as the beer sat out warmed and flattened, it added a nice layer of complexity. Meaty yeast flavor, mild peaches, honey and that pepperiness on the finish. Didnt find any coriander but whatever, it was quite good and after warming preserved a good, clean flavor unlike North Coast's pranqster. Still, in all, the flavor is fairly dull. Thanks for the trade Jeffin.

Very hazy golden coloured body with strong orange tints. Absolutely no head...died down VERY quickly. Aroma of peaches, wheat, yeast and coriander seed. Full-bodied; Initial lemony twang then unfolds into a yeastie presence. Very dry finish, almost nothing but coriander seed freshness. Overall, this one is definately different than the standard Tripel, and if you are in the mood for a different styled belgie...try this! I bought this twelve ounce bottle at Chevy Chase Wine & Liquor in Washington, D.C. and sampled it on 22-December-2003.

Hazy orange. Good head whilst pouring - but gone in seconds. Overpowering coriander smell, nearly souplike. If Westcoast Imperial Pale Ale has an absolute overdose of American hops, this has a similar overdose of coriander - on the point of making it undrinkable. There is some carbonation but the whole beer gives a flat, unattenuated impression all the same. OK, I understand. Belgian brewers do use a lot of coriander - many times way too much. And in the best American style of "more is better", they dosed it accordingly. Ohmygod.

This is a very good American-made belgian ale. Good carbonation, color and lacing. The aroma is of citrus and yeast. The flavor is sweet and slightly malty up front, and citrusy and tart in the middle, with a finish of caramel and melons. Another quality offering from heavyweight.

Thanks to dberger624 for this one. Pours a hazy orange color with a thin off-white head. Very little lacing. Aroma is a nice blend of citrus (orange), malt and spice. The flavor is a nice crisp and sweet mingling of caramel malt, fruit, yeast, and spice. There is a tiny bit of hops in the finish too. This was not bad at all.

Dark muddy tan (I broke out the Duvel glass for this?); aroma of peach yoghurt, glue & plastic (yum!), figs, candy bananas (damn, I've learned the eczematic art of making an appetizing aroma sound awful). Malty-yeasty palate leans toward peachy esters. Texture is almost creamy. Malts are dominant, but yet neutral-tasting. Dry finish courtesy of alcohol and some herbal (styrian) hops. I'm amazed at how obvious styrians are to me these days. It's scary. Overall, decent but not worthy of a Duvel glass. Underattenuated, too.