Town Hall Raspberry Belgian Strong Ale

Town Hall Raspberry Belgian Strong Ale. 8.7 % ABV. Belgian Strong Golden Ale, with raspberries. Minneapolis Town Hall Brewery, Minneapolis, MN.

Clear, bright crimson, short-lived pinkish head.

In the nose: Big time berry. Slight tart and largely fruity. Raspberry all the day long.

In the mouth: Powerful pucker at the start. Fruit follows, the rest is fairly smooth, while strong. Light bodied, but packed with flavor. Going to my head. Ringing with fruity, tarty deliciousness. Nighty night.

Brilliant red color, freshly picked raspberry flavor/aroma, with a delicious cotton candy finish.

Cotton Candy? Now, I've heard it all.

De Proef Rainaert Flemish Wild Ale

The Legendary Cunning Fox, Rainaert Flemish Wild Ale, from the Brewmaster's Collection, De Proef Brouwerij, Special Reserve. Triple fermented using two yeast strains, Saccharomyces and Brettanomyces. 9% ALC. by VOL. Brewed and bottled by De Proefbrouwerij, Lochresti, Belgium. Bottle conditioned.

De Proef Rainert Flemish Wild Ale, 750 ml bottle.

Hazed, pale yellow appearance, solid, bone white head.

Funky, wild, and weird aromatics. Citric, sour, and horse-blanket musty-fusty. And a little feline urinary by-product.

Super-tart on the palate, big sour pucker, coupled with a hoppy blast. Despite the potent power of this double attack, it gets downright mellow thereafter.
Very smooth and indubitably delicious. This went down easy.

I'm a big fan of this, as a fan of Belgian sour ales, as well as Belgian strong pale ales, this does double duty. Yum-meeeee.

Revolution Double Fist Double Pale Ale

Chicago Beer #7: Revolution Brewing Double Fist Double Pale Ale. Revolution Brewing, Chicago, IL. Alc. 8% by Vol. Zero gobbledygook. So, let's drink 'er. After we look 'er, and smell 'er.

Clear, bright orange/amber, smallish head, turns to  tight ring.

Aroma: bright and burning malt, big and fat, out loud and proud. Big and bold, massive hops, huge malt. Straddling the line between a barleywine aroma and a double IPA.

Taste: gigantic. explosive. immense. brobdignagian. and so on and so forth. Big fruity flavors, full and flush blasts of berries and cherries, a bit of brandy, Reminds me of another "double pale ale", the one made by Flying Dog. That one is more brutal, about 11 % or so. This is more manageable, but had many of the same flavors.

Big time bitterness, well matched with full-on malt. Two times the Iron Fist. Very nice.

St. Stefanus Grand Cru

St. Stephanus Grand Cru. Anno 1295, Belgisch Abdijbier, Cellar Release: 10.12, 9% ABV. Brouwerij Van Steenberge, Ertvelde, Belgium.

Looks fantastic. Enormous, blooming head of foam, clean, clear golden appearance, generous carbonation.

Aroma is nothing but lovely. Bright, citrus-y, peppery, lively, and simply gorgeous.

Taste: Light-bodied, tangy, and utterly delicious. Drinkability is off the charts. A magnificent melange of light, fruity malts and citric hops, low on bitterness. Belgian yeast adds just the right notes, the correct character.

I don't know what is "Grand Cru" about this, but it definitely has the feel of a Belgian strong golden ale. And a really, really nice one at that.