Belgian Cloak
Wild Ride Brewing Co.

Bottle from Brewers Haven. Clear, dark amber, fizzy head. Aroma is plums, prunes, raisins, brown sugar. Taste offers some Belgian yeast with the sweet, fruity flavors, smack of cola. Could probably have gone with a dubbel for style. Feel is kind of light.

i have been seeing more and more beer from these guys around idaho, and i really dug this little bottle. an american brewer doing traditioanal belgian styles always interests me, and this is way ahead of the curve, awesome execution. a few things about it really make it stand out to me. the first is its lower abv for the style, these can run north of 10% abv, and i appreciate it being more restrained, drinkable, i want two instead of one now, smart idea there. it still has all the grain richness and yeasty complexity of something stronger, but doesnt need to be sugary or boozy to be awesome, and i like how laid back it drinks. the other thing thats really cool is the yeast, i know there is a tendency for american brewers to let whatever belgian strain they have crank way up hot, get all estery, and dominate the beer, but this is also restrained in that way too, balaned, and while its surely yeast driven in a good way, its far from one dimensional there. there is cool depth to this, raisin and clove and rum and cherry juice and light smoke and cocoa and chestnut and white pepper, poached pear, candied citrus, molasses, and anise. its wintery and hearty, but its uniquely dry for the style, and the effervescent carbonation is on point for what it is. its like a dubbel without the candy sugar element. rarely does american made beer in this style turn me on like this. this has me wanting to go out and try as many beers from wild ride as i can find, a truly impressive specimen!