Kwak
Brouwerij Bosteels

Not sure how you can call this a pale ale. Poured from a 330ml bottle at around 6-7 degrees in a kind of tullip tumbler.

It is morelike a belgian Double.
Ambre beer, pretty, a bit high in carbonation, small bubble, but very low on the foam and bad retention. 1-2 finger head, white head disolving soon.
Beautiful ambre colour. small bubbles, a bit of life in there.
Smell is like almonds. Bit of gingerbread.
Mouthfeel smooth, good balance in between sweet and bitter, with a bit a herby, bitter aftertaste.
On the lable it says there was corn added to this and some not natural carbonation.
I think both additions are a bit a work around for a not too well made beer. Something off making this short of a top rating.
The the end result is an acceptable beer though.

 

 

The pour is amber colored which I'm sort of surprised by because this style of beer usually pours a golden color. The body is medium & the taste is honey, spice, white bread, & mild caramel. Cheers! B

From notes.

Poured from a 330ml bottle.

Pours a reddish brown with an off beige, short lived tight bubbled head. The smell is of caramel , malt , fruitiness and alcohol. The taste is rich and strongly of alcohol , too much for me . Honey and malt fight in the background but they're hard to notice because of the overriding taste of alcohol. The mouthfeel is warm from the alcohol, thick and syrupy, unpleasantly so . Overall this beer is way too forward on the taste of alcohol, every other flavour is overridden and it tastes way stronger than its already ample 8.4%. Some beers can be strong and subtle about it , this isn't one of them . Disappointed.

The clear pint glass is nearly filled from a tap. There's about a quarter of an inch of light tan head on top of a beautiful dark copper-amber liquid. It straddles the middle zone between translucent and opaque, but it's not cloudy. The aroma is malty, yeasty and hoppy, in that order. That's the taste, too, but with a heavy dose of Belgian-style esters in addition. There's also a hit of alcohol the nose didn't smell coming. The malt is its best feature, then it gets to be too much of a mouthful. It's rather viscose, even for a Belgian ale and the taste of alcohol is distracting. To be fair, this is in the 8% plus ABV category. This is an institution onto itself and for that reason, a must try, especially when it's on tap. Lovers of the Belgian style should like this even more

 

330ml bottle. Bottling date marked on label is '07/01/2021', with a suggested best by date two years hence (07/01/20230, so a little past best by.
Clear, medium amber colored body. One thin finger of light beige head. Later this is an island and a ring. No lacing.
Aroma is green apple, raisin, fig, and toffee.
Taste is rich toffee, raisin, fig, date, and green apple. All sit on a base of dark sour bread. Sweet but has a sour note. Some spice in the aftertaste.
Smooth and silky mouth feel. Alcohol ABV% is warming. Quiet carbonation.
Balance of fruit and toffee, with a sour bread note. Enjoyable mouth feel.

Poured from a 750ml bottle at fridge temp. A few chunks came out with the pour. Not a ton of head, but some. Color is a medium brown with a hint of red. The nose is rich toffee, dark bread, figs, sherry, raisins, and a bit of apple. Really smooth.

The taste generally follows the nose. Very malty. Rye bread, Belgian yeast, toffee, bitter oak, raisins, almost a hint of citrus peel, and lots of plums and dates. Very enjoyable. Sweet, but not too sweet.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a fairly sweet aftertaste. Overall, really glad I got to try this.

Interesting yeast and malt with a lot of character and a cool glass.

330ml. bottle in Vientiane, Laos.Pours a clear amber colour with a small white head. Aroma of bread, yeast, toasted malt. Taste of spice, alcohol, malt, Balanced sweetness with a small amount of bitterness. Average carbonation. Very pleasant.

 

 

Got one in Paris. Quite a good beer, a mouthful of taste, but quite heavy, so it's an after dinner drink :)

Bottled 5/11/2020, so ~9 1/2 months after the 2yr BB suggestion . Let warm to almost room temperature [58F, +/-]

Deep orangey-copper, with light, quickly-dissipating light tan head.

Smell is mix of dried fruit (prune + fig+ date?), a little toffee & caramel, and a slightly boozy almost-brandy aroma.

Taste is brown bread (as in the base bread of gingerbread) , toffee, date, fig, and finishing with a bit spiciness (coriander,allspice,black pepper?) . Light bitterness. Didn't get any banana or orange that's in the description on the bottle.

Feel is smooth, and slightly slick, with light, very,very fine carbonation tingle.Light drying after-effect.

Overall, pretty good. Not an everyday sort of thing , but one I'd gladly have again , occasionally.
Seems as though it'd be a good dessert/after-meal sipper. (I'm having it before. ;) )
Though it's old, by the brewer's standard, still quite good. I'd like to try one fresh for comparison,.
If Orval [which I'm -rDev% on] was a bit fruitier, and sweeter, it might be like this.

 

 

 

Splendid looking beer. Aroma is a little off, but the swell doesn't translate to the taste or finish. Nice beer.

Love this beer. Poured into a Kwak glass.

I get the aroma of a lot of sweetness. The aroma to me reminds me of a Belgian tripel. It seems to me has an aroma of Belgian sugar.

Medium mouthfeel. It's not light but it's not a stout either. Caramel notes and notes of dates. It's a sweet beer yes but not cloying.

Just a really fun and enjoyable beer