Spacewalker American Belgo
Great Lakes Brewing Co.

Poured out of a 12 oz bottle into one of my tulip glasses. Pours a cloudy, hazy amber color with little chunks of yeast floating about in it. Has a good white head about 1/2 inch thick when first poured that settles to a nice thick ring lining the inside of the glass and some nice clusters of foam on the beer's surface. A good amount of lacing here for sure. Aromas of banana and clove come through along with a hint of spice, some citrus, and hops. Flavorwise this beer has hints of the aforementioned banana and clove along with a little bit of caramel malt sweetness upfront that gives way to quite a bit of piney, citrus hop bitterness. A very young, yeasty flavor here too. Maybe the way the flavor profile is now in this beer is exactly what Great Lakes is aiming for here, but to me it is almost as if Great Lakes didn't wait for all the yeast to drop out of suspension so the flavor profile could fully settle/develop. This was bottled way too soon IMO, and with the knowledge and skills that a brewery that Great Lakes has they really have no excuse for making such an error. The really fresh yeastyness reminds of the many times I tried samples of the unfermented wort right after we've transferred a beer out of the boil kettle and into the fermenter and pitched the yeast when I have helped my good friend Jon Passow brew many a batch of his home brewed beers. As the beer sits and warms up a bit the sweetness balances out the fairly extreme bitterness a bit, but overall this beer is still way too bitter IMO for a Belgian Pale Ale. I have 3 more bottles of this, since I bought a 4 pack, that I will age in my cellar for quite awhile in the hopes that some time will improve my bottles of this batch. I'm all in favor of breweries coming out with new beers and trying new things, as Belgian style ales is pretty much the one beer style that Great Lakes hasn't really delved into too much in its 26 years of existence, but boy did they really miss the mark with this one. First time in quite a while I can say that I am disappointed with one of their beers. Has a crisp, slightly prickly and oily, smooth, medium bodied mouthfeel with moderate carbonation and a dry finish. Great Lakes needs to try making this again and not fuck it up next time.

3/31/2019 review look-4.25 smell-4 taste-3.75 mouthfeel-4 overall 3.5

Okay, so now I am reviewing this beer again, from one of the bottles I have aged for over 4 1/2 years now. Poured out of a 12 oz. bottle into one of my tulip glasses, this beer pours a cloudy, hazy amber color with lots of streams of little bubbles fairly rapidly and continually rising to the beer's surface. Has a thick, creamy looking, just slightly off-white head that's about an inch thick when first poured with good retention and nice lacing too. Aromas of some bready, slightly toasted, caramel malts with some sweetness and a bit of yeastyness. The other aromas that were present when I drank this back when it was fresh seem to have now faded. Has some bready, slightly toasted, caramel malts with some sweetness and a bit of yeastyness and a surprisingly still high amount of citrusry and floral hop bitterness. Still not a great flavor profile for this style of beer, but certainly an improvement from what this was when I drank it fresh. Has a slightly crisp and prickly, also smooth and frothy, medium to full bodied mouthfeel with moderate carbonation. Has a clean, slightly grainy finish. Now a decent beer, but still not even really a good beer, let alone a great beer.

Eric

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pours a cloudy apricot, with a big cap of frothy white foam.
Aroma-Spicy yeast notes
Taste-Spicy Belgian yeast alongside bitter hops and sweet malt. Rather muddled and unbalanced. A spicy food pairing would certainly help things out.

 

 

 

 

Meh meh meh meh meh

 

 

 

Not a fan of that yeast strain, whatever it is.