Finally, though, last night I met some friends at The Belgian Cafe and took a few short notes. The T'Smisje Calva Reserva is out of Belgium and is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale aged in Calvados barrels.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
T'Smisje Calva Reserva
I know it has been a few days since I last posted, but I actually have a reasonable excuse this time. I just didn't have anything to write about! Even with going to Weyerbacher on Saturday, I forgot to take pictures or write anything down. And then we went out to dinner that night so that was a no go too followed by Passover on Monday. So, yeah, I missed two days as a result.
Finally, though, last night I met some friends at The Belgian Cafe and took a few short notes. The T'Smisje Calva Reserva is out of Belgium and is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale aged in Calvados barrels.
Tons of apple, caramel, and vanilla in the nose. Most likely all from the barrel with just a bit coming from the base beer. Pretty well carbonated for a barrel aged beer. Not champagne level or anything, but it exists which is more than other beers like this. Body was similar to the nose with vanilla, caramel, apples, and a little bit of other fruit. Solidly delicious beer. I really should try whatever Calvados is at some point considering I keep getting things aged in those barrels and I don't even know what alcohol it is. I'm assuming it's brandy or something else sweet but I dunno. Regardless, this was tasty and it gives me high hopes for the JW Lees Harvest I have downstairs since it too was aged in Calvados barrels.
Finally, though, last night I met some friends at The Belgian Cafe and took a few short notes. The T'Smisje Calva Reserva is out of Belgium and is a Belgian Strong Dark Ale aged in Calvados barrels.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Calvados is apple brandy (maybe a pear brandy), and I'm pretty sure the name is an appellation, so there's a specific region in France where they make it. I've seen a lot of European beers aged in Calvados barrels, but I've not had as good a luck as you. I had an Alvinne one that worked well enough, but I've had a few others that were just plain sloppy and unbalanced messes. This one sounds good though!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark! I ended up looking it up on Wikipedia and you're right. Seems to be a type of apple brandy from a specific region in France. I haven't seen too many things aged in these types of barrels but we'll see in the future.
ReplyDelete