BELGO (Belgian Style India Pale Ale)

Thank you Mr. Joshua Paul Schipp for purchasing this beer from the Rock Island Hy-vee this past weekend for our Beer tasting gathering back at the house! We ended up splitting over 25 different micro brews (I counted). Tasted Tuesday evening out of a snifter.

Appearance: Bright orange with a coppered hue. The haze has an underwhelming glow, yet still retains some clarity to make the micro-bubble carbonation visible within the glass. Head is a thickened white foamy texture, that holds throughout the tasting. Lacing is sporadic, but but prominent everywhere the beer touches.
Aroma: Very yeasty right as the scent reaches the nostrils. Some phenols as well as other by-products of yeast fermentation. Herbal too, but everything revolves around the dominant yeast element.
Taste: The front has a note of candy sugar and faint breadiness. But more acknowledgeable is the fact that the flavor is indisputably yeasty as well. Bubble-gum pops up in the midtaste, and continues to the very end and on into the aftertaste. Hop character isn't what I'd expect from all the fantastic additions of some of my favorite hops. Nevertheless, some Simcoe emerges at the very end and in the aftertaste, characterized by that catty kind of profile. The finish is bittered, but spicy too. Alcohol is very well masked. Notes of cinnamon and clove are present along with the bubble-gum and hop complexities as well. Yeasty Belgian aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: Medium body and very frothy in texture. A couple seconds after the fluid overlaps the tongue, it erupts in a smooth bubbly consistency as it flows down the esophagus. Higher residual sugar content as a slight stickiness is left on the lips. Dry finish.
Overall Impression: Yeast is the word that has lead each category and it is certainly a character that shouldn't be missed when considering this beer. The complexity is rich, but all else follows the yeast backbone. Belgian IPA? Maybe with more hops factored in. This is a Belgian golden ale with an obsession with YEAST.


76/100