Golden Strong
Blue Spruce Brewing Company

July 7th, 2015 - This is a gnarly and dark looking beer for something billed as a Golden Strong Ale. The color is more of a Coca-Cola brown than a Duvel style golden ore. The nose is graced with light roasted apples and apple skins (very Autumn) and the taste gears up the flavor to make it bolder. There I find warmed honey, grilled peaches and a deep malty flavor, with a hefty booze hit. For such a small smell, the flavor is large and quite enjoyable.

named kiidk'yaas after that crazy golden spruce tree, really clever name, awesome label, better than average beer. a lot of stuff i have had from these guys has seemed a little amateur to me, but this is a really nicely done belgian strong blonde, almost smells like a tripel, with some of that characteristic added sugar sweetness and a high ester fruity belgian yeast strain fermented warm and allowed to really flavor the beer. great clarity on this, very heady in the glass, it really looks the part. on top of being pretty sweet, this has a very floral aromatic as well, elderflower or something sort of delicate but also bitter, with a honey sweetness and a freshness that i am attracted to. the flavor matches the nose, but the beglian yeast is really dominant, some of the aroma nuance is absorbed by it, but i like the white grape, green apple, and golden raisin complexion it gives off, nice with the grain sweetness. carbonation is nice and high, exactly where it belongs in this kind of style, and all at our table really liked this one. my first packaged beer from blue spruce and its very good. definitely one of their best beers to date. the alcohol is really well hidden here too, look out!