4 Pines Beetroot Belgian Ale - 4 Pines Brewing Company

dgilks

Australia

4.01/5  rDev +18.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Cloudy golden colour with a creamy white head. Good head retention.

Spicy clove and citrus notes. Nice orange character. I quite like it.

Citrus and touches of clove. Some bubblegum. Well balanced and lots of yeast character.

Medium light body with moderately high carbonation. Nice.

A solid Belgian Golden Ale. Nice spicing and sweetness.

Serving type: on-tap

01-09-2013 09:24:07 | More by dgilks

laituegonflable

Australia

3.33/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a golden colour, slightly cloudy with white foamy head. Decent retention. Looks pretty standard Belgian.

Quite sweet on the nose, with vanilla and stone fruit. Hints of phenolic spice give it a decent Belgian twist but nothing too distinct.

Taste is a bit disappointing. Sweet and fruity again with bubblegum ester upfront, hint of banilla and caramel, then the back is quite boozey-tasting from the beetroot-extracted sugar not giving much character beyond ethanol. Gets very phenolic, but it's not too strong to ruin it all, still alright.

Bit boozey, but not sharp. Feels a little bit heavy and hangover-making maybe.

Interesting Belgian drop, but perhaps a little heavy-handed.

Serving type: on-tap

12-22-2012 05:42:40 | More by laituegonflable

lacqueredmouse

Australia

2.8/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

Misled, I was expecting beetroot to form part of the colour or flavour of this beer—in fact the beetroot is used to provide extra sugar for the brew, much like Belgian candi sugar, and the end result is a Belgian strong golden ale. Tried on-tap at GABS in Melbourne.

Pours a slightly hazed golden colour, with solid body weight. Head is full and fine, a firm ring and fluff of white. Fine carbonation makes it look very refined. Overall, it's a great looking beer.

Minimal characters on the nose above some slight estery Belgian characters giving a hint of spice. It's not bad, but it's just, kinda, non-existent.

Mild banana characters on the front of the palate, before the bitter, phenolic and boozy notes take over and absolutely overwhelm the rest of the flavours, whatever they might have been. Finish is spicy and astringent, with big hits of heat on the middle and back of the tongue.

It's pointlessly big—where the Belgians tease out complexities from the fermentation, this just steamrolls everything. It feels burning and astringent without purpose.

Serving type: on-tap

05-26-2012 08:13:53 | More by lacqueredmouse