Heavyweight Lunacy

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

This poured a golden color. A modest lemon aroma. Some bitterness in the flavor with a spicy citrus flavor. A creamy mouthfeel. My notes say "Hops dull with arse" God fest ratings are truly horrible.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Bottle: Poured a slightly hazy dirty yellow ale with a medium foamy head with average retention. Aroma of floral malt is quite powerful and very enjoyable. Taste is very refreshing with a nice dose of floral malt, Belgian yeast and a medium hoppy finish. Definitely not a great beer but a good golden Belgian ale that can be served as a refreshing drink during hot summer days.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

This one let me down, as have the handful of other Heavyweight beers I've had. Should I really have run them as they are now retiring? Maybe they were better off just retiring? In any event, this one poured a golden color with orange hues, a really whimpy head within style. The lacing was almost non-existent. The aroma was of lemons, pepper, and yeast. The flavor was hard to rate fairly, because of this astringent, poorly attenuated sour / lactic taste in the background for the WHOLE drink. Citrus at the forefront with some bready notes and lots of spiciness, black pepper and coriander most prominent. Some bananas sit behind it all as it warms (55F-ish), which was definitely welcomed. Mouthfeel was moderate to even creamy for the style.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

Beer poured with a tripelesque color, next to no head, but a slew of small yeasties floating around.. Very faint aroma cold, but aroma consistant with flavor emerged as it warmed. Flavor was sweet, a lot of honey. A rich spiceyness with something that I can't put my finger on (and didn't see mentioned in other reviews) present, along with a definite yeastiness. A tad or tartness and even sourness as it warmed. A lot going on in this one. A nice effort!

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Liked the soft corrainder. Big Beer. The brew master was there when I tried it. Very convincing beer. I have brewer with Corrainder and he pulled it off. Sweet, smooth, nice. Missing something. Not sure.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Poured two bottles of this and could not get more than a trace of a head in my cheesy La Trappe glass. The beer was a glowing gold/apple juice color with medium cloudiness and some floaties. Looked appetizing enough. Some lemon and grapefruit citrus on the nose. Taste is light, more crisp than I'd expect in a Belgian Ale type (I'm no expert) that I assume is from the pilsner malt. Mild hop finish reminds me of an English ale. No alcohol presence--that was a shame. There does seem to be some zinfindel like peppery spiciness that seems out of place in this beer. The finish was thin, lightly bitter and vegetal aftertaste. All in all a good beer, but not one that I'd spring for again.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 6

In keeping with my theme this evening of "Yanks doing Belgian-style Ales", I popped this one open this Friday `eve -- another beer hand-carried from the DC area back to SoCal in my carry-on. Is it wrong that I care more about the beer I'm carrying in my laptop bag than the work-provided laptop computer...? ;^)

~ First Impressions:
A bit on the heavy side of things, as far as Belgian Strong Pale Ales go. A bit thick n' sticky in the mouthfeel. Some left-over resinous notes in the mouthfeel, too.

~ The First Half:
Has some girth..., and it has some heat. Some heavy-ish fruit notes in the front end, and the malt kicks itself into gear in time for the middle and the back-end. But it does look good, with lots of lacing etc.

~ Half-time:
Odd that this beer is so much more work to power through than the 10%ABV Tripel I had prior to this. A decent enough sipping ale, but felt like I was hiking uphill with this one, to be honest....

~ Second Half:
Some more fruit-ish notes, but the alcohol warmness is in full effect with this bad boy.

~ Two Minute Warning:
Gotta say I grew a bit tired of this one, to be honest. And no, there's no palate overload going on here or anything. Just felt that this beer was quite a handful, and could perhaps be better served on it's own, vice being part of an evening's worth of drinking.

~ Final Score:
A beer that is techncially well-made. But..., seems to lack a soul..., and an inate sense of how this sort of beer should be dry and attenuated, and rather refreshing to pound down -- not a turgid syrupy sipping beer....

Music: Bolt Thrower's "Honour - Valour - Pride"
//TB

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

A beer with a hazy gold color with a thick, seeming never ending white head. The head does give in and leaves a steady lace till the end of the brew. Aroma: Sweet honey and fruit come to mind. Maybe a hint of yeast in the mix Taste: There is a sweet malt flavor and honey then a mix of spice. Maybe some fruit in the mix. Green apples and grapes. Alcohol is present but a bit faded by the honey/fruit and spices. None are overpowering but they all are noticeable. There is also a bit of a bitter hop flavor present, enough to be noticed. Smooth ,sweet and sticky mouthfeel and very enjoyable. A very nice brew worth searching for.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

A fantastic golden honey colored brew with a big yeasty nose. Hints of apricots. Medium bodied with a lot of sweetness. Spicy with clove being dominant. Some banana notes also. A nice example of American "Belgians", right up there with New Belgiums Tripel in my opinion.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Medium orange color. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is fruity and sweet with a touch of coriander and banana esters. A medium bodied Belgian ale. Malts are fruity and sweet, lots of banana and clove flavors. Coriander and clove. Lively carbonation. A touch yeasty. A nice not to complex Belgian. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is sweet.