Soft-toned chestnut-hued fleshy-headed amber ale boasts crisp artisan water, emitting floral, cedar, and earthen horsehide-hay illusions to subtle grain-toasted finish, where delicately embalmed cork dryness picks up barleywine lick.

Elegant burgundy-sweetened pale-hazed Belgian brings floral-spiced hop persistence and carbolic intensity to swerved mineral graining. Its peculiar sesame wheat charm should appease exploratory greenhorns and connoisseurs alike.

Traditional top fermented bottle conditioned Dutch abbey with strong barleywine essence, ripe prune overtones, and loud liquor-stained fortitude (11.2% by volume). Very unusual for Dutch brew: caramelized instead of sour malted like Heineken or Grolsch beers. Compares favorably with less fruity Belgians.

Yet another brew that rips us off for .8 ounces (11.2 oz. instead of 12). Smooth, somewhat fruity Belgium ale goes down like clove-spiced champagne. Musty apple-pear misting and phenolic lemony grapefruit dissonance reach ransacked doughy bottom.  A tad too sudsy to fully satisfy the beast within, lacking body and character (especially when compared to finer Belgian ales).

Sharply alcoholic abbey ale complements scarce cherry-raisin palate with sweet floral yeast nose, dulled-out peppery hop anchor, cuddly cinnamon-spiced tease and dry-smoked barleymalt backbone for merely average sedation.

Regal full-bodied cola-colored Belgian-styled ale gathers creamy chocolate liqueur froth and ripe cherry warmth to rich black chocolate finish. Oats-smoked grassy peat underpins spice-hopped crackle. Gruff prune souring bolsters backend of bottle conditioned sedative.

Eloquent yeast-candied sugaring envelops bittersweet dried fruited piquancy to creamy caramelized center. Wispy fig-spiced raisin, plum and cherry sweetness contrasts orange-molded banana souring. Dry peat-smoked barleymalts hang in the balance as mild cognac finish unfolds. Less alcoholic and more buttery than Belgian competition, therefore easier for amateur imbibing.

Beguiling ruddy-hued Belgian-styled dubbel could be richer and more authentic, but who’s complaining as syrupy whiskey overtones embellish sweet banana-bruised cherry-juiced heft and cotton-candied caramelized apple crest. At midst, vanilla bean, rum raisin, sugar plum, and sour fig illusions crowd spicy cinnamon-coriander nook. Subdued Courvoisier, brandy, and bourbon tonicity increases complexity.

Cave aging gives dramatic bottle-conditioned copper-hued ‘aromatic burgundy’ ale a strangely convincing dank mildewed earthiness and mushroomed vegetal smidgen sidestepping dried fig-raisin frontage. Purple grape esters aid mild spiced grain finish as resinous hop bottom swells.

Brewed to the specifics of Belgian recipe, spicy-scented ale with web-like Brussels lace offers flowery citric sweetness, prune souring, and soft-hopped carbonation to tingling fruity wine effervescence. Given proper time to breathe, herbal adjuncts plus clove-allspice accents appear. Flows down the throat like pure silk.

Elaborate hop-spiced cork dryness subtly lingers across tart cherry jubilee/Lambic blend, picking up amiable honeyed orange nudge while staying less fruity than Ommegang’s more herbaceous Hennepin. Terrific highly alcoholic Belgian knockoff gains moderated white wine souring as buttery caramel, floral yeast mold, and prune undertones re-affirm calming medicinal warmth to exquisite cider-wooded barleywine finish.

Ambitious amber-clouded aperitif integrates sweet floral bouquet with cotton-candied white-sugared sweetness, tart cherry-citrus spray, and rosemary-oregano herbage before alcohol-laced acidity deflates complexity of dry-hopped finish. Watery texture depletes earthen mineral basin. Supposedly ages better than wine.