Rio D'Oro
High Water Brewing

 

 

 

 

 

Way to sweet

 

 

Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a clear golden amber with a half finger off-white head with good retention and lots of lacing. Mild aroma of sweet bready and caramel malt, stone fruit, light citrus and Belgian spicing. Flavor starts with sweet stone fruit, bready malt, Belgian yeast and spicing, light citrus finishes drier with a bit of buttery flavor, coriander and clove bitterness, slightly astringent. Medium bodied with slight creaminess. I like the start of this Belgian, a nice balance of malt, fruit and citrus, but the finish tapers off to the point where the spicing gets a little to bitterly drying. A satisfactory domestic Belgian style ale that could use a bit of fine tuning on the finish and spicing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a clear amber in the St. Bernardus chalice. Modest head which settles down to a thin veil in the glass. Fairly spritzy as you sip. Rather a nice aroma of raisin bread and malt.

The usual dry finish for the style. A sharper, less funky sort of Belgian flavor. Flavor is quite intense and rather bitter after a few mouthfuls. There is some kind of aromatic intensity that made me think of floral hops. The label says it's brewed with Styrian Goldings so maybe that accounts for some of the spiciness and bitterness. Clear, tart flavors like pear and some kind of hot fruit spirits. A dry, bitterish cider finish.

Definitely in the Belgian ballpark, but quite a surprising mouthful. A beer for sipping. From the 22 oz bottle bought at Best Damn in San Diego.

Pours a deep amber, darker than the label. The head is rather small for a Belgian. The beer is quite transparent, no apparent sediment. The aroma has a lot of interesting character. Both lighter sugar cane and deeper caramel malt flavors are strong. Big raisin flavor. Lemons, grass, peppercorns, rum. I can't quite put my finger on the yeast. It's different than most but still in the general Belgian wheelhouse. The taste starts pretty sweet but mostly dries out in the finish. A touch boozy. Big grass note, particularly in the aftertaste. Lots of malt sweetness. Carbonation seems a bit low. Mouthfeel is a touch oily and a little too smooth for the style, but it's not a major complaint. It's a very nice beer but not my favorite from High Water.