Belzacca
Flying Dreams Brewing Co.

I went to the website and noted the abv is 9.9% after adding this beer.

Darker amber color with a bit of yeast settling at the bottom of the glass. More hazy than cloudy--definitely not an NE version of an IPA. Good starting which lasts as a thin layer of bubbles on the surface throughout the tasting. The lace is blanketing and a bit chunky.

Deep, warm caramel to toffee nose. Light alcohol. The hop is lightly present, like a bitter spice. Very inviting.

This beer comes across like a variety of offerings. The alcohol warmth is reminiscent of a Barley Wine, which gives this beer a full mouthfeel. The bitterness is stronger than the smell suggests providing balance in the swallow and offering a decent length aftertaste. The main flavor, though, is the toasted malt. Albeit brief, the tastes of dark, but unburnt, toast resonate. The toffee is greatly muted as this is a dryish beer.

 

 

 

 

 

03/12/2016

Picked up yesterday, def excited for this one... their first 2 staple beers were good but not great, but almost everything since then has been great if not phenomenal.

Pours a nice rich creamy foamy 1 finger head that fades slowly with nice rich lacing too, tons of layered lacing, great head for an almost 10% beer, very clear slight rosy amber reddish-orange beer.

Nose explodes with fruit, citrus and tropical fruit, pineapple, tangerine, clementine, papaya, melon, strawberry, actually a lot of strawberry, watermelon even, and a faint sweet malt. So much fruit it almost seems artificial but yet not.

Taste explodes again with fruit, so much strawberry at first, back into pineapple, clementine, mango, papaya, generic tropical fruit, etc. Into a little bitter rind, some nice pith characters, with a mild spicy earthy hop coming through later, and a big bitter pith. Also some melon as it warms, melon rind especially. Into some sweet candy malt notes, little toasty amber malts, little syrupy and faint booze warmth, little ester note as well. Finish is sweet and sticky unfortunately, pretty bitter with earthy spicy rind hops, more strawberry and melon again.

Mouth is thicker syrupy sweet, a touch of warming booze late, decent but lighter carb.

Overall it had some great fruit flavors, tropical, strawberry, melon, pith, citrus, etc, so much great characters both aroma and taste, but the sweet syrupy finish makes it a bit tough to swallow (so to speak), and wish the carbonation was a bit more.

Picked this bottle up at the brewery a few minutes ago. Bottled roughly 1 hour ago. Primary hops are Belma and Azacca, followed by additions of Columbus, Bravo, and Summer. 116 IBUS.

A - Poured into my Duvel tulip a nice slightly hazy copper hue with a one finger offwhite head that fades slowly to leave a thin blanket, very little lacing.

S - Aromas of pineapple galore, mango, really intense strawberry. Light melon, little bit of citrus peel. No discernible alcohol.

T - Taste is similar to the nose. Very nice pineapple and mango, decent amount of under ripe strawberry (with loads of it towards the backend). Good citrus peel, light pine. Towards the end though the ABV makes itself known, finishes on the hotter/boozier side.

M - Mouthfeel is lightly carbonated, alcohol rather prominent on the finish, relatively boozy.

O - Overall, excellent showcasing of Belma hops. Absolutely loved the strawberry profile those hops brought to the table. My biggest complaint though is just how boozy this is. It certainly drinks like it's nearly 10%. Here's hoping Dave brews a 6% or so version of this as Belma / Azacca makes for a good combo. Also, I really love this name, a play on the two primary hops, Belma and Azacca.

Serving Type: Bottle