Country of Origin: Belgium
(NOTE: This was the point when I retired the "availability" and "do they carry Bushmill's 1608" categories due to the fact that I had discovered the IHOD, otherwise known as the Shangri-La of All Packaged Goods Purveyors)
Price comparison: 1.5 times what I pay for everyday beer.
Alcohol percentage by volume: 9%
Cute bottle/label? One great dirty big 750ml bottle. Not a jeroboam, but reminiscent of one. Understated blue label, but sealed — kid you not — with a cork and wire. Too quool. Too way quool. If you find opening those whomp-can biscuits to be a satisfying experience, try uncorking a beer. First it pops really loudly, then you get a little bit of smoke at the top of the bottle, then you get the beer. Yes, sir. Good schtuff.
Appearance: Deep reddish brown with a soft, creamy foam. Looks almost like cola at first glance. Pour carefully; it's frisky and it wants to jump out of the glass and play.
Scent: Smells like a flowery perfume with a little bit of vanilla and possibly cinnamon. There was also a background of something toasty like good coffee or freshly-lit firewood (birch or apple, you know what I mean).
Flavor: Malty and more reminiscent of stout than the other 9% varieties (so far); balanced with a hint of alkalinity. The flavor is very rich; I expected it to feel more creamy in my mouth than it did, but then again, it didn't have the downhill flowing nitrogen bubbles of a stout either. (They do so. Order Guinness at a bar and watch the glass. The bubbles go down, not up. Click here to read the science behind it.) Nice natural carbonation; tasted and smelled fine in my standard beer steins, although the Chimay glasses that are available (not cheaply) are quite pretty and I wouldn't mind having some someday.
Impressions: This ale caused me to caress my beer mug tenderly and make happy little crooning noises. It's just delicious and satisfying and it smells lovely as well. My only problem with it, not much of a one, is that if you want some, you'd better by God want more, because I don't know if it was physics or arthritis, but I couldn't get the cork back in. So I had to finish the bottle though I wasn't planning to.
Will I buy this beer again? Damned skippy I will. Hell, I'd go buy another bottle right now if I felt like moving.
Rating:
5 out of 5 cute beer glasses — perfect score!
Reviewed: September 16, 2003
