This review was imported from my RateBeer ratings.

12 oz. can, 9.0% ABV, Canned On: 05/20/2022

AROMA: Slightly sweet with aromas of banana, clove, orange, and a hint of cocoa.

APPEARANCE: Pours a mostly-clear light amber with a short, off-white head that dissipates moderately quick with decent lacing.

TASTE: Everything (flavor, sweetness, bitterness) is a bit subdued, as nothing seems to be the "star". I'm first hit with some mild bitterness and flavors of clove, vanilla, and a hint of banana and lime on the backend.

MOUTHFEEL: I feel like the body is just short of what I would consider medium-bodied. Texture is a bit tacky on the palate. Carbonation is little below average.

OVERALL: I just want to state that this is not a bad beer, by any means. If this was on a menu at a restaurant, or a friend was serving it at a party, I would be very happy to partake of it. However, it's not a great Belgian ale, when compared to all the other Belgian ales out there. Everything is so subdued that it really doesn't have any character of its own. Hence, it has no real identity. While I enjoyed the beer (and will probably have another one shortly), I can honestly say that I won't remember this beer, nor will I actively seek it out. In a crowded, quality, craft beer market, you really need to find a way to stand out, and this beer just doesn't accomplish that goal.

So I've stayed away from belgian styles for a long time, maybe even longer than I've stayed away from the over-big impies. I don't know why, I just got tired of them, but also developed an aversion to highly phenolic beers. But seeing as how CC is venturing into this domain, maybe its worth taking a shot and seeing how they do. Nose is initially quite doughy and yeasty. Sourdough bread, a touch of candy/caramel. Pours copper color, not overly carbonated, not really carb'd like a belgian anyway. I don't know how much co2 volume cans can take though - maybe thats a limitation of canning belgian styles? Flavor is also quite doughy and bready, with vague phenolics, only slightly medicinal - and a refreshing break from all of the cleaner beers I've been drinking lately. This is a pretty mild take on belgian fermentation character though. Finish leads semi-sweet to full sweet, with alcohol presence very present in a fairly boozy/rummy finish - and at 9% that is not a surprise. Still its fairly drinkable, I'm halfway through the glass already, and its been maybe 2 minutes. Repeated sips reveal a vague fruitiness, but its quite vague and I can't place it. To me this beer is somewhat simplistic, its a big boozy malty sugar bomb with a mildly spicy/doughy fermentation profile, with indistinct esters and phenols showing up here and there. It's not bad by any means, but its far from a great beer, just another average american entry into the belgian style world that misses the intricacies of the originals - namely that big carbonation and resultant fluffy/billowy body, along with clearly controlled and managed fermentation.

Good Belgian-style ale, estery and spicy, with notes of clove, wheat, vanilla, and orange followed up by a yeast-centric finish and lingering grass and lemon zest in the fade. Very drinkable for 9%. Nice.