Tonight I tried a new beer I picked up, Demolition from Goose Island in Chicago. It was quite good! Classified as a Belgian strong (pale) ale, it weighs in at 8% alcohol by volume. Here are my notes:

Appearance: Hazy gold-orange in color. Poured with a ¼-inch head that was creamy and bisque in color, but dissipated rather quickly. Not much lacing on the sides of the glass, surprising for the higher alcohol content.

Smell: Clean, cut grass; slightly floral. Maybe a bit of hops, but not much. Straw?

Taste: Grass (again), strongish alcohol, though not biting; Czech hops (Saaz, according to the label)—you can taste them, mild but there, ever-so-slightly spicy, in the background. It’s a well-done hop bitterness. Nice Belgian malt, maybe biscuit. Very Belgian through and through; perhaps there’s Belgian candy sugar as well.

Mouthfeel: Medium to thick bodied, rich and nice. Just right! Smooth and drinkable—just short of chewy, which is appropriate.

Overall: Yum! I’m glad I have another bottle of this, it’s very, very good. Very drinkable; you can tell the alcohol is there but there’s no unpleasant bite from it. I’m glad I found this; I may go back for more.

It scored 85 on BeerAdvocate, with 94% approval. If you see this in a store somewhere, do yourself a favor and pick it up. Or better yet, head over to Goose Island in Chicago and try it on tap…