Pain Killer by Meilby Brewing, Belgian Strong Ale, 11% ABV, 37 IBU.
Pours a rather dark golden body that is ever so slightly hazy, and that’s topped with a large, white, long-lived head that laces the glass well.
The aroma is strong, sweet and crisp, this is like a saison-ish tripel: it’s got the crispy acidity of a saison and the thick sugary spicy sweetness of a tripel! Nice! I get quite strong notes of fruits, citrus and even some vague banana in the back, yeast and spices. The aroma has a pleasant vinous feel.
The taste is moderate sweet and moderate bitter. The flavours are utterly and completely dominated by harsh, stinging and tongue numbing notes of alcohol. Never has «well hidden alcohol» been further from the truth! Luckily there are also some quite nice fruity notes and sweet sugary elements in front, but the mid-palate and the finish are more or less ruined by the alcohol. In the late aftertaste some lovely yeasty notes manage to push away the alcohol, and this really save the Taste rating. The body is full, the texture is oily and the carbonation is soft, so if it hadn’t been for the violent alcohol the mouthfeel could have been very pleasant.
Conclusion: some nice elements both in the aroma and the flavours, but the unusually unpleasant alcohol notes makes this brew close to undrinkable.
Aroma: 7 Appearance: 4 Taste: 6 Palate: 1 Overall: 10 Ratebeer score: 2.8