My son and I just got back from golfing with friends and I decided to try to cool off with a beer. My beer cellar has mostly imperial Stouts, but I found this one for a hot afternoon like we are having today (it’s been over 90 degrees all week and we’re having a bit of a drought). The bottle says this beer is bottle conditioned and was bottled in July 2015. I think I got it from my dad or sister as a Christmas present and I’ve been holding on to it for a while.
Location: Poured into a TEKU pint glass from the 750ml bottle at my home in Bloomington, IL.
Numbers: 8% ABV, ~300 Calories
Appearance & Aroma: It’s primarily golden in color, with some orange hues in the sunlight. It has a good haze from the sediment in the bottle, and the head was thick and bright white. However, it fell very quickly to just a thing ring of bubbles around the edge of the glass. The aroma is quite unique with some white-wine-like aroma and some Belgian-like funkiness.
Taste & Feel: The body was medium and the mouthfeel was both crisp and quite dry. It has a bright melon-citrus-like flavor up front with a good amount of wine-like acidity. In the middle, the acidity fades a bit, giving way to some apricot, orange and tart, green apple flavors. The finish was very dry with a mix of acidic white wine flavors mixed with fruit and citrus flavors – with hints of green apple, peach, and apricot flavors. After the dry finish, the acidic fruit flavors last for a couple minutes in the aftertaste.
Food Pairing: This beer was very acidic, so I would pair this with something sweet, like a piece of fruit pie. The fruit would provide a bit of sweetness and complement the fruit flavors in the beer, while the bready toastiness of the crust would be the perfect contrasting flavor to balance it out.
Overall Impression: This was an extremely complex beer with a mix of a lot of different bright fruit flavors. I found myself searching my memory for the mix of fruit flavors, from apricot and orange to the tartness of a green apple. The green apple flavors also came from the fact that the beer was also very acidic and dry. Because it was so, I’d say this beer is definitely a sipper – not one you’d want to drink quickly. I really enjoyed trying it, and sitting on the deck on a hot day like this one was the perfect way to sip this been. Although the tart, sour-Belgian style beer isn’t my favorite, I enjoyed this one’s unique, complex flavor profile.
My Rating: 
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