Brainless Belgian-Style Golden Ale
Epic Brewing Company

 

Chilled can to La Fin du Monde glass. Fizzy foam rises, sputters, leaves.
Aroma is familiar Belgian yeast, some mild fruit esters.
Taste takes awhile to unfold. The yeast isn’t totally right, there’s no spice notes, no hop bite, yet it’s tasty.
Feel is medium with high carb.
Overall, as a fan of Epic’s brews, this one falls flat.

 

 

 

Malty, but where is the spice? (Says this malt-head, almost never.)
This is my second in the Brainless Belgian series. The first from Tavour. And these two cans from Beer Drop. So I am glad to experience these crafting pioneers in Utah, a traditionally dry state.

for Brainless Golden, Epic got the brewers and candy sugar right, but I'd appreciate more spice from the yeast, perhaps a spice or two and some hops (I really taste very very few hops in Golden.) viscous in the mouth, but a lively yeast would improve everything. For that yeast, maybe borrow some Bruz stuff as they, too, are Mile High.

I want to like Epic and want to encourage them in the Belgian tradition. But they still have work to do.
I will review the second can with food.

 

 

 

 

Has a very cloudy, unfiltered dark orange look to it. It seems a bit lightly carbonated, and has a very small head that dissipates quickly. Smells a bit tangy and floral, quite yeasty. The taste follows the nose. It's got a very rich, grassy, tangy, heavily malted flavor to it, with a nice sweetness on the back end, but nothing is overpowering. It's a classic Belgian-style ale for sure. ABV comes in at 8.6% for this release, but be careful because this is very drinkable and it will sneak up on you quickly. Very nice!

I had Release #151 (October 2017), so it's about 3 months old at review time.

Pours blonde with a fizzy head that quickly disappears. Beer is cloudy with sediment. Not much in the nose, slight hints of the yeast.

Tastes like a good classic Belgian ale with a thick mouth feel.

The appearance and smell were basically the same in both bottles. The appearance was a nice looking hazy yet glossy burnt orange to ruddy brown color. The head was about a finger’s worth of white foaminess coating the top of the beer nicely. The head gracefully died at a nice pace leaving a nice clingy light foaminess around the sides of the glass. The smell had a nice authentic Belgian spiciness intertwining itself in between sweet malts and even letting in some light oranges to intermingle and dance underneath my nose. The taste took all of those previously mentioned flavors and seemed like it was almost perfectly blended into a really nice flavoring all around. On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body with a sessionability that wanted to show but alas, it could not prove itself to be so. No worries as a sipper, this one danced around my palate skirting a sharpness to pummel but still allowing a nice gentle rolling smoothness every now and again. Overall, this was an absolutely wonderful offering from Epic more than worthy of having again.