Beer – #333 – Kereru – Velvet Boot

I gave in and brought some Kereru, this one their “Velvet Boot” Why not, well their go-to-market thing didn’t ring my bell, but in for a penny …

Brewed by Kereru Brewing Company this is in the style of a Belgian Strong Ale and they do that in Upper Hutt, New Zealand

I have the standard 500ml bottle of a 8% ABV beer (thats 3.2 standard Nz drinks) about 240 calories

A strong Belgian pale ale with complex aroma, spicy and earthy with some sweetness. Mildly-hopped.

or….

A strong Belgian ale with nashi pear aroma. Goes well with a nutty, soft, washed-rind cheese like Kapiti Ramara.

or….

A strong Belgian pale ale with complex aroma, spicy and earthy with some sweetness. Mildly-hopped, complements chicken, soft rind cheeses, & chocolate cake. Serve at 8-10°C.

Like who knows what that 8-10 thing is like, or how do you maintain that, oh it’s a drama,,,,

back to now, the aroma is bizarro banana and Belgium hops.. but mostly just like a wheat beer.

Pours a lot darker than I thought it would, since it smelt like a wheat beer. I thought golden pale hello, got chestnut brown. Head came and went like a Tuesday morning.

Aroma settles to a flat spicy thing, on a flat beer, no idea if there is carbonation or what going on in this glass

I think I reached for this based on ‘Strong” and “Belgium” go on judge me.

Tasting this gave me a sense of wet wood. Not something that I ever thought I’d write in a relative term to a beer. but it’s like beer through dry sawdust perhaps. At odds with itself.

This is terribly thin and totally lacking, I’m not even going to try an be kind.

Pdubyah-O-meter time says 6. Shakes my head. Has the flashes of the thing it’s aspiring to. but woefully undershoots and finishes embarrassingly short.

Drink a Belgium Strong Ale from a Belgium brewer and then try this, you are kidding yourself if you think this is an effort, it’s a poor effort and a swing and a miss as far as I am concerned, and both the readers of this blog will get that.

I was in a kind of mood, so this was with Barry White…. MrsPdubyah approved.

Am I enjoying it? Nope
Would I have another? Nope
Would I share with a friend on a porch and set the world to rights? I think that perhaps it’d end with a discussion about beer styles and how they are perceived in other places, it’s not a conversation beer, and frankly there are better attempts than this. I’m sure there is an underlying philosophy but you got to front it before you can back it up . Or no.

BELGIAN STRONG ALE

Belgian Strong Ales can vary from pale to dark brown in color, darker ales may be colored with dark candy sugar. Hop flavor can range from low to high, while hop aroma is low. The beers are medium to full-bodied and have a high alcoholic character. Types of beers included here include tripels, dubbels and ultra-strong abbey ales.