6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 7.5
Hazy bright amber with light quickly fading head. Aroma is citrusy and spicy. Lemon verbena makes for an interesting herbal addition: adds spiciness, fruitiness and some lemony tones (note, there is no lemon in this beer, just the herb). Flavor is mostly dry and what little malt flavor there is is rather clean, nothing Belgiany/Frenchy happening. Light spiciness. Dryness is puckering like a dry red wine. Med bitter finish is a bit much for style. Tingly mouthfeel with light-med body. Moderately complex and subtle but could use more malt up front. Nice but flawed. Some almost over-whelming alcohol presence- not balanced by sufficient malt. An addendum for the 2005 version, the aroma is full of brett, a big leathery horseblanket pile of cow manure brett! Good stuff. The flavor and palate are still a bit of a letdown though, lacking complexity and body.
Tried
on 11 Mar 2002
at 14:40
5.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Orange coloured. Light bodied, straight forward easy drinking ale. Well balanced.
Tried
on 25 Feb 2002
at 14:39
6.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Golden coloured. Light bodied. Well hopped American style. Interesting. ...
Tried
from Can
on 25 Feb 2002
at 10:09
7.9/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Golden coloured. Well hopped and relatively dry. Well balanced, complex and true to style.
Tried
on 25 Feb 2002
at 09:55
5.8/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 7
Very light head, red-tinted cloudy brown color, with no lacing. Surprisingly clean aroma with nice hints of raspberries. Med raspberry flavor - not overdone. Med malt presence but the brown ale character is muted (is it supposed to be a Belgian style brown ale in there?)
Tried
on 04 Feb 2002
at 13:41
7.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Nut brown. Dry, bitter fruity and estery. A nice and complex succesful attempt to make a Belgian style double dark
Tried
on 01 Feb 2002
at 03:08
5.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 4
Texture 6
Overall 4.5
Golden coloured. Big cardamom flavour. Too big for my liking. Not my favourite of the new Belgiums.
Tried
on 11 Jan 2002
at 03:52
7.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 9
Chewy, thick and sweet. A bit of a bubblegum aroma and flavor. Zingy, spicy yeastiness. Warm finish. Dark brown color with a light head.
Tried
on 15 Nov 2001
at 12:43
8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Slight haze, chestnut colour, fizzy carbo; deep nose - rich red malts, acid - very true to style. There is a good dose of acidity right off the bat, followed by a heavy tannic influence and light raisin; from there the reddish malt, acidity and wood all bounce around the palte. This is somewhere between the Rodenbach Red and Grand Cru, with a flavour so similar to the Red that you are forced to compare the two, but with a bigger body.
Tried
on 04 Nov 2001
at 23:14
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
The orange peel additions come across a bit lemony. Some spiciness is apparent. Otherwise clean malt flavors - soft. Light and refreshing. There's a slight bitterness in the finish. Lacking any yeast character - could use some more zestiness.
Tried
on 17 Sep 2001
at 08:53