Tag Archives: strong ale

FOUNDERS OLD CURMUDGEON ALE

Superior 9.3% alcohol-soaked strong ale merges sweet whiskey frontage and dry Scotch waft with heavily creamy malt concentration, picking up sturdy bourbon, burgundy, and chocolate liqueur illusions as well as subsidiary bruised orange-cherry feistiness. Sinewy floral yeast thickens tertiary banana-marshmallow hint and brown sugared anise slip. Heady slow sipping digestif conveys irrefutable character and strength.

(STONE) ARROGANT BASTARD ALE

An ‘aggressive beer’ indeed. Sticky molasses malts preside over up-front floral hop insistence, earthy grain thrust, and juicy tangerine stint for surefire opening salvo to brilliant rosy amber ale. Bittersweet dark chocolate overtones fade in and out, providing wonderful conduit ambushing lingering medicinal quilt. Fully formed red fruited finish shows off sundry character – each ingredient complementing the next with curious precision. For an added treat, 22-ounce bottles’ hilarious label brags about being ‘an honest microbrewery’ while deriding major corporate sludge. On tap, highly-hopped alcohol-laden malts convey full spectrum of pear-apricot-apple-cherry sweetness.

DUVEL ALE

Ambitious white-foamed pale-toned double-fermented dessert fodder. Lively champagne effervescence, ample cider tartness, tingly cherry mint julep motif, acetous fruity wine graze, clove-hopped spicing and floral dusting integrated perfectly. Concentrated yeast immediacy adds spunk to turbidly dry quince finish. Mellow crystal malting lightens the mood.

GOUDEN CAROLUS D’OR 2000

Dry prune-hued 8% alcohol ‘Grand Cru of the Emperor’ opens with cork-y plum-prune thicket. Smooth aging allows alcohol to dissolve nicely into sweet Cordial warmth as honeyed yeast sediment subsides. Carbonation flattens a tad, but dusty allspice-nutmeg seasoning integrates holiday splendor with moist basement dankness and expressive grape tannin tenure.