An unclear red beer with a small disappearing orange head. The aroma is of smoke, wood, peat, and rope - a great aroma. The flavor is very dry and yet sweet with notes of smoke, rope, peat, and hints of lemon. The alcohol runs over the tongue.

This is a remarkably odd beer. One of the things I loved about Heavyweight brewing was their willingness to try different and unusual things. +++ Sampled from a 12 oz brown bottle this beer pours a copper color with almost no head. The brew is opaque, heavily carbonated and contains some sediment. The scent is fruity with some vinegar. The flavor is tart and almost fruity. This tastes very much like mead. Definitely a different brew, but not really that appealing. I was very glad to have tried it though.

2003 bottle (I assume). Very little head, some off-white rapidly disippating foam. Very bubbly, bottle conditioned with a huge muddy, orange-copper-red-yellow mixture. Earthy appeal. Aroma is all herbs. Some rosemary detectable, a hint of yeast, quite fresh and spicey. Begins very muddled and lightly sour. Your palate has to really get used to this for a couple minutes. Rosemary I know, so I definitely taste it. Dont know the other herbs, but it is crisp, light spruciness, touch of medicine. My biggest complaint was a mildy sour, almost rotten flavor that snuck in, perhaps the yeast and herbs mixing. As it breathed and warmed, it was much better, the flavors melded more with the malt, and it was very drinkable. Light chewiness, medium body. Good, but nowhere near Kuhnhenn’s Gruit, the spices dominated a bit too much and there wasnt enough homogenized beer flavor, more of a, here’s the spice, now here’s the malt. Finish was not terribly interesting either.

2003 bottle sampled 03/16/04. Dark blackish-brown with some dark burnt tans and a hint of ruby peeking through. Not heavily filtered, but not bottle conditioned either. Large roasted-mocha head that perches atop the beer and dosent move. Aroma is strong, salty, dry barley, bitter baker’s chocolate, dark licorice and almost a wiff of rich buttermilk. Flavor is immensely dry, to start, bitter, burnt and salty, with plenty of hops and roast. Late in the beer, after it had plenty of time to warm, the chocolate malt really came out and sweetened the beer nicely. Up until this point, I thought it was too dry and bitter. But now it has a nice cocoa powder flavor with milk and sugar. Good body that does not thin out; medium to medium full with a slightly gritty texture. I’m glad I have another bottle aging. Alcohol is not apparent at all. Many thanks to Jeff for these bottles (Jeffin7).

2005 draught pint at Sunset Grille on 12/20/05. Haven’t had this one in a long time and figured it was about time. Pours well enough, opaque/transluscent deep burgundy tinged brown, with a smattering of moderately retained off-white to dark beige head, no lacing. Aroma is lightly salty, somewhat sourish, perhaps just heavy munich malt breadiness, it seems. Dark, bitter black chocolate and tangily drying (mix of salty and bitter) yeastiness. The flavor shows, probably, a strong lactic drying note that is prominent on the finish at first, and then steadily grows to consume the beer. The bitter, roasted, dark chocolate notes and tanginess on the end only add to the intensely dry flavor. Dry soy and ashy, yet aggressive graininess from the malts. Needs some creaminess and good god, a reprieve from this lacto/roasty dryness. 6/3/6/2/10

Poured a ruddy-yellow orange with a clumping, creamy light tan head. Very bready/musty/earthy yeast aroma. Tangy and somewhat vinous flavor, most notably apple peel, with an almost soy-like tangy quality to the body. Yeast and alcohol provide some contrast to the very sweet malt body.

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.

2003 On draught. Extremely dark, red, orange and a dull yellow. Big dark banana colored head. Smell is a mix of alcohol, overripe peaches, bananas and plums. Very strong apricots. Huge. Flat, creamy and thick this was a monster of sweet, sweet overipe fruits. The pilsener malts added an element of sourness/tartness that didnt work all that well. I dont know. Reminded me alot of rotten fruit. Just too sweet for me.

Slightly hazy copper colour with absolutely no head-very still looking. Aroma of potent rosemary, thyme, pepper, grass and malt. Sour lemon flavour with limes and wheat present then fading to a herbey flavour with rosemary and grass overpowering everything else. Fades into just a light malt presence with lime zest noticeable. Overall, this is a lot better than the first gruit I had (Wynkoop), but still very interesting to try. If you don't think you'd like an herbed beer too much, try this one...it will be a nice start into herbes. I bought this twelve ounce bottle at Chevy Chase Wine & Liquor in Washington, D.C. and sampled it on 22-December-2003.

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.