Sterkens St. Sebastiaan Golden

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

If beer must come in a bottle, let it be an opaque bottle with a resealing cap! A clear, honey-colored brew with a rocky white head that leaves crazy lace on the glass. Terrific sweet lemon, hay, and spice (esp. coriander) aroma with a bit of mustiness. Prickly and balanced bittersweet first sip is rich with some wild grape, clove and ginger and coriander, a touch of bitter yeast and the faintest trace of banana. Body is a little light, but good; carbonation a little too big. I hate to say it, since it's really a different style and therefore totally unfair, but this is kinda what I wish popular lagers tasted like.

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

bottle, ceramic, had as Golden a couple of years back and reminded as Yeast Hoist .. . Pours a light hazed gold, really nice foam attributes .. . yeast, sugar, and light sweet booze .. . light mouth .. decent but one is enough .. . . Yaaay! Imagination Christmas!

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

Golden clear body…..why is this clear? Complete with a large white fluffy cap. Aroma has mild funk, wheat, sweet lemon, sort of ginger ale but not really, finishes with some apple. Taste is nice and full, good yeast. More funk starting to appear in the nose now. Brew has a touch of soap in the finish. The ginger ale I thought I smelt is really starting show up in the taste and I love it when these Belgium beers have that taste. Kind of sourish. Beer just keeps getting better the more it warms the malts really shows up now with a vanilla and lemon taste. I gave the bottle a good swirl before my second pour and this only made the beer mildly hazy looking. Good beer glad I had it……but is it worth the price?

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

16oz ceramic flip-top bottle -

Pretty decent beer here, although the price-tag is a bit off-putting. Nearly $10 for a pint of this just isn’t worth the price of admission. Aroma is grainy, slightly sweet with dose of hay, pear and apple juice. Flavor is mildly sweet, decent floral hopped flavor, light bubblegum and some faint citrus. Finish is a bit noticable with the alcohol. Body is a slightly hazy golden hue with a dense off-white 2" head. Again, nice but not for the sticke price.

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

Huge ceramic bottle labeled as 'Grand Cru'. Yeast was the dominant word here. The pour was a hazy gold with a huge white head. The aroma was predominantly yeast as was the flavour. A hint of citrusy hops came through in the nose, and their was a spicy itch on the tongue.

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

Gotta love the ceramic vessel. The wife has claimed it when I'm finished. A bright yellow colored beer. Big frothy white head rises above. Some hang time. Some filmy and ringlet lacing are left behind. The aroma is spicy, some citrus, some malt. Big carbonatied beer. Lots of bubbles rising in the glass. Creamy and full bodied. Flavors are coriander, citrus, malt and yeast dancing well together.

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

This was marked Grand Cru in a 750ml bottle. Aromas of apple, perhaps honey, and some spices. Body was a hazy golden, with plenty of yeast floaters. Flavor was sweet and malty with the apple taste coming through, along with some yeast, a little bitter but not too bad. Overall it was o.k., although the price was right i am not sure if i would try it again.

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

Marked as "Grand Cru"
500ml ceramic flip-top bottle
7.6% ABV
I tried this beer on December 18, 2009 at "Smokeless Joe's" in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The beer poured a hazy gold colour with a long lasting white head. The aroma was grainy malt, yeast, citrus, and light fruits. The mouthfeel was medium bodied and medium carbonation. The flavour was grainy malt, yeast, peppery spice, and light fruit (apricots?). A good beer.

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

Bottled (as Grand Cru). Golden colour, not much head. Aroma is fruity, yeasty and also has some glueish alcohol in it. Flavour is a sting of alcohol, some fruits, grass, sweetmalts and mild notes of honey.

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

Best By Date May 2010; Sampled January 2008
Pours with a frothy, initially three-finger thick, pale, off-white colored head. The beer is an orange tinged, gold color as it sits on the table, but shows a clear, bright gold color when held up to the light. The aroma is fairly fruit focused with notes of pear, melon and a touch of apple. Towards the end some dry, malty, cracker like notes become fairly noticeable. Perhaps the nose is a bit too one-dimensional in its fruit focus, but it sis enjoyable none the less. As my nose gets a bit more used to it some spicy notes become much more noticeable; aromas of white pepper, sweet ginger, bergamot and clove all make there presence known.

The beer starts out dry but quickly picks up a soft sweetness reminiscent of pears and ripe melon. A zippy carbonic bite contributes to a light spiciness here that includes flavors of pepper, stale orange zest, clove and ginger. A light honey-like malt note as well as some cracker flavors and perhaps a touch of breadiness round out the grain influence here. This has a light to medium fullness to it that keeps this from being thick, but doesn't strike me as being a quaffing brew either. There is also an earthy, almost herbal-stalk sort of spice note here as well, though I can't quite place it (sort of coriander but not really).

This is a nicely drinkable brew, it is not all that complex, but it also doesn't have any real flaws. It is an easy brew to enjoy a 500ml bottle of. Plus how can I not like something with my name on the bottle.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson, AZ