Brooding Soldier
Brewsters Brewing Company & Restaurant - Eleventh Avenue

A fairly recent "seasonal" offering at Brewsters Calgary Crowfoot location and also putting in an appearance at Beer Revolution, a golden amber color with middling white froth and an aroma dominated by classic Belgian yeast smells of banana peel and musty old cloves, along with an underlying sweet breadiness, perhaps faintly nutty. Palate features orange and lemon citrus right up front, interesting. The rather assertive hops (for the style) add some gooseberry and pine sap notes to a matrix of plain doughnut-like malt, teabag, bitter marmalade, unripe pears, yeasty vitamin tablet, crabapple, and a whisper of darker malts that remind a little of molasses. Lots going on but perhaps lacking in cohesion. Overarching effect is sweet malts and sour fruit with nigh-American style hopping but plenty of yeasty special effects as well. Authentic Belgian in this latter regard. I enjoyed this well enough even if I would be unlikely to actively seek it out again.

A 14oz pint on industry night at the Oliver location.

This beer appears a hazy pale golden straw colour, with one flabby finger of tightly foamy, almost creamy dirty white head, which leaves a wall of seldom-broken painted lace around the glass as it duly recedes.

It smells of bready, grainy pale malt, a rising doughy yeastiness, a bit of black pepper, subtle cloves, and a slightly astringent earthy, leafy hoppiness. The taste is bready, crackery, rather dry grainy malt, a more pungent pepper/clove spiciness, some mildly edgy warming alcohol, and an understated musty, earthy bitterness.

The carbonation is apt to the job - nicely peppy, the body an adequate medium-light weight, and generally smooth, a teeny booze edginess keen to mess with a good thing. It finishes quite dry, the malt going full Euro-biscuit, with the spice and heat just being themselves.

A decent Belgian-style pale ale, or 'Blonde', as they deem it here. I've damned near had my fill of Low Countries beer sweetness already this year, and it's not yet even December, so this is a nice change of pace.