Pauwel Kwak

Well, Christmas is over, and my collection of holiday beers is pretty much exhausted as well. There's still plenty to look forward to for next year though, and I can't wait for Christmas to come around again. In the meantime, I'd like to go back to one of the beers I missed reviewing from our trip to OBX.

Perhaps the most notable thing about Pauwel Kwak is it's extremely unique glass. The technical term for it is a stirrup glass, as it's similar to the shape of glasses riders used, which were designed to be held in the stirrup of their saddles while they rested. Still, that's not all that this beer has going for it.

The beer pours a nice reddish-brown color, although towards the thinner part of the glass it seemed like it was more orangish. There was initially a tan head of about one finger, but it dissipated quickly and left no lacing on the glass. I must say that with this glass, it's definitely one of the most attractive looking beers I've seen.

The aroma is fairly light. Predominantly, I noticed a combination of grassiness and sweetness in the smell. I don't want to say it had a hay quality to the smell, but it wasn't quite a straight grass aroma either. Perhaps it was a bit of the yeast coming through. Other than that, there was a bit of an apple quality to the smell as well.

The taste was spicy and sweet. The malt was forefront, and there's little bitterness to it at all. I didn't notice much alcohol in the taste if any either. It was definitely well hidden for a beer that's 8% ABV. There's some caramel flavor in there, and possibly cinnimon.

I also noticed it was a bit thick in my mouth. The carbonation sat well, and didn't get in the way of the flavor at all. There was just a bit of tingle to the beer, and it really was very easy to get down. I also noticed that it was neither too wet or too dry, just a nice balance in the middle.

Overall it was a very easy beer to drink - too easy for it's strength. The lack of bitterness made it very easy to get down, but it may have been too sweet for more than one. I didn't bother trying to find out though. All in all, it's a nice flavor, and a pretty good drink. It just didn't have anything to make it really stand out, or too much complexity in it's flavor. I'd definitely try it again if I got the chance, I'm just not sure that it's worth the hefty price tag that comes with it.

- Adam