Beer of the Weekend #191: Piraat Ale
Happy 2011, everyone! I hope the year started better for you than it did for the Big Ten.
I delayed the traditional BotW tasting to tonight because I was with family and friends for New Year’s Eve. Champagne is far from my favorite beverage, but I obligingly drank a glass that was forced on me at midnight. However, I would have much rather drank a bottle of the beer the weekend: Piraat Ale, brewed by the Brouwerij Van Steenberge of Ertvelde, Belgium.
Mad props to my cousin, who gave me PBGA for Christmas. The gift of beer strikes again!
Serving type: Four 330 ml (11.2-ounce) bottles. There are two cryptic batch codes on the back label, but nothing that is a discernable freshness date.
Appearance: A semi-straight pour into a tulip. The color is a cloudy, pale amber. Two fingers of light, white foam developed and dissipated slowly to leave a bubbly lacing and ring around the edge.
Smell: Mmm…yeast. Leans toward hefeweizen: Belgian yeast, almost-ripe banana esters, and a little clove spice. There is also a presence of bitter orange peel, citrus zest, and apple cider.
Taste: The first couple sips are bitter and packed with an alcoholic punch that overpowers the flavor complexity. However, the initial jab mellows with each sip to reveal a smooth and well-crafted brew. The taste mostly mirrors the smell: Belgian yeast, orange peel, citrus zest, apple cider, clove spice, and almost-ripe banana (when the skin is still a little green and very tough to peel).
Drinkability: Very nice brew. I am eager to crack open and savor another bottle.
Fun facts about PBGA:
-Style: Belgian IPA. Here’s what BA has to say:
-Price: I have no clue.
-Serving temperature: 40-45ºF.
-Alcohol content: 10.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: The side of the carrier has this recommendation:
-Piraat Ale is a very vague name for the beer, especially since a quick glance at the Piraat website reveals a number of ales on the brewery’s product list. Though this may be commonly known as Piraat Ale, I suppose the technical name is the one written on the side of the carrier: Piraat Belgian Golden Ale.
-I just heard this on the radio (yes, I still listen to the radio), so I need to write it down before I forget. Rock 108 played its worst station ID: a guy says, “If these songs were beer, we’d be drunk by now.” Then he drunkenly slurs, “Raw-ck one-oh-eight. Yeah!” It’s so awful it almost gives me goose bumps. Over the summer, Rock 108 began using new station IDs with a different voiceover guy, whose voice is not as deep as the guy they had been using since I was in high school. I bemoan the change, and I have often though of calling them to ask about it.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
I delayed the traditional BotW tasting to tonight because I was with family and friends for New Year’s Eve. Champagne is far from my favorite beverage, but I obligingly drank a glass that was forced on me at midnight. However, I would have much rather drank a bottle of the beer the weekend: Piraat Ale, brewed by the Brouwerij Van Steenberge of Ertvelde, Belgium.
Mad props to my cousin, who gave me PBGA for Christmas. The gift of beer strikes again!
Serving type: Four 330 ml (11.2-ounce) bottles. There are two cryptic batch codes on the back label, but nothing that is a discernable freshness date.
Appearance: A semi-straight pour into a tulip. The color is a cloudy, pale amber. Two fingers of light, white foam developed and dissipated slowly to leave a bubbly lacing and ring around the edge.
Smell: Mmm…yeast. Leans toward hefeweizen: Belgian yeast, almost-ripe banana esters, and a little clove spice. There is also a presence of bitter orange peel, citrus zest, and apple cider.
Taste: The first couple sips are bitter and packed with an alcoholic punch that overpowers the flavor complexity. However, the initial jab mellows with each sip to reveal a smooth and well-crafted brew. The taste mostly mirrors the smell: Belgian yeast, orange peel, citrus zest, apple cider, clove spice, and almost-ripe banana (when the skin is still a little green and very tough to peel).
Drinkability: Very nice brew. I am eager to crack open and savor another bottle.
Fun facts about PBGA:
-Style: Belgian IPA. Here’s what BA has to say:
Inspired by the American India Pale Ale (IPA) and Double IPA, more and more Belgian brewers are brewing hoppy pale colored ales for the US market (like Chouffe & Urthel), and there’s been an increase of Belgian IPAs being brewed by American brewers. Generally, Belgian IPAs are considered too hoppy by Belgian beer drinkers.
Various malts are used, but the beers of the style are finished with Belgian yeast strains (bottle-conditioned) and the hops employed tend to be American. You'll generally find a cleaner bitterness vs. American styles, and a pronounced dry edge (very Belgian), often akin to an IPA crossed with a Belgian Tripel. Alcohol by volume is on the high side. Many examples are quite cloudy, and feature tight lacing, excellent retention, and fantastic billowy heads that mesmerize (thanks, in part, to the hops).
-Price: I have no clue.
-Serving temperature: 40-45ºF.
-Alcohol content: 10.5 percent ABV.
-Food pairings: The side of the carrier has this recommendation:
goes with fish and meat. Is often appreciated as an after dinner beer and cigar lovers claim there is no better beer to enjoy with a cigar. Excellent to prepare for a good night sleep. Relaxing.
-Piraat Ale is a very vague name for the beer, especially since a quick glance at the Piraat website reveals a number of ales on the brewery’s product list. Though this may be commonly known as Piraat Ale, I suppose the technical name is the one written on the side of the carrier: Piraat Belgian Golden Ale.
-I just heard this on the radio (yes, I still listen to the radio), so I need to write it down before I forget. Rock 108 played its worst station ID: a guy says, “If these songs were beer, we’d be drunk by now.” Then he drunkenly slurs, “Raw-ck one-oh-eight. Yeah!” It’s so awful it almost gives me goose bumps. Over the summer, Rock 108 began using new station IDs with a different voiceover guy, whose voice is not as deep as the guy they had been using since I was in high school. I bemoan the change, and I have often though of calling them to ask about it.
The Quiet Man’s grade: A-.
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