A Bush By Any Other Name.......Scaldis Belgian Ale
Nov 12 '04
The Bottom Line Exceedingly complex, exquisite beer.
The other day while out beer hunting, I came across an old favorite: Scaldis Belgian Ale. This has always been a treasured beer on my list, and rightly so. That’s because Scaldis is a rich and warming sot of Belgian Barleywine if you will, a Belgian strong ale of great character and complexity.
Try and find it in Belgium, though, and you might have a bit of a time. That’s not to say you can’t get Scaldis in Belgium; you certainly can. They just don’t call it Scaldis there. Instead, the brew is known as Bush beer, Bush Amber actually, and it’s one of a line of beers made by the Dubuisson brewery.
So why do they call it Scaldis, you might ask? Rest assured, the renaming has nothing to do with politics, and I have no idea what the position of the Dubuisson family is regarding our current president. No, Bush beer was renamed in the United States to avoid confusion with Busch beer, a product of the Anheuser-Busch brewery. I can just imagine the chagrin of someone ordering a Busch and getting a Bush, or vice versa.
Scaldis, or Bush Amber, is among the most potent of beers that you can buy. At a whopping twelve percent alcohol by volume, a little goes a long way. This is a sipping beer, best enjoyed slowly and slightly cool, but not cold. Scaldis is sold in 8.5 ounce bottles for about $3, and it’s worth every penny. A Christmas variant, Scaldis Noel, is also sold.
Scaldis Belgian Ale pours to a brilliant orange amber color and gleams to such an extent that you just want to stop and look at it before taking a sip. Lots of caramel malt going on here. Tiny champagne-like bubbles also rise from bottom to top, and a surprisingly large foamy head forms on a gentle pour. The nose is sweet and perfumey with notes of peppery hops and pineapple.
Scaldis has a rich mouthfeel but it’s not as heavy as many beers with this alcohol content. The beer is complex, however, with notes of pineapple, sweet toasty malt, mincemeat pie, cotton candy and an herbal, perfumey spiciness. There are peppery hop notes too, more so in the finish. A huge alcohol warmth increases in the finish, where it helps to balance the beer. There’s a gentle touch of hop bitterness too.
This is an exceedingly complex and delicious ale, perfect before or after dinner. Try a bottle poured into a brandy glass before the fireplace on a cold winter’s night and you’re in heaven.
EPINIONS CRITERIA:
Overall Rating: Five Stars
Beer Rating: A Must-Sensational
Weight: Full Body
Flavor: Sweet
Complexity: Very Complex
Price: $2.99 per 8.48 ounce bottle
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