Pauwel Kwak

Brewed By: Brouwerij Bosteels in Buggenhout, Belgium

Purchased: 33cl/330ml/11.2oz bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013

Style/ABV: Belgian Dark Strong Ale, 8.4%

Reported IBUs: ?

College was great. And at some point in time, one of my friends decided it was important to buy Das Boot. Perhaps made most famous in the cult classic, Beerfest, Das Boot became the source of much juvenile entertainment. The name of the game was to fill it up with beer, and see how fast you could drink said beer.

Das Boot

It's ironic then, that tonight's beer, and its prissy ass glass, are also used for consuming massive quantities of beer in as short of time as possible. Yeah, revisionist history is a bitch. According to the Bosteels Brewery, Pauwel Kwak was a brewer during Napoleon's time. Mr. Kwak noticed that when coachmen would stop at his "De Hoorn" inn in Dendermonde, the coachmen were not allowed to leave their coach and horses. So Mr. Kwak had the Kwak glass made, along with an accompanying mount, so the coachmen could get their drink and drive on. Hey now. Of course, the brewery didn't launch the glass and beer until the 1980s. According to Wikipedia, and about to be confirmed by moi, the bulb at the bottom of the glass creates a sort of vacuum, so when air reaches the bottom of the bulb, a large amount of beer gushes towards the drinker. The accompanying noise supposedly sounds like "Kwak" spoken quickly. 

Over-Compensating

How is this not a vessel to get your drank on with? Those classy coachmen were wasted, and probably set early precedent for laws against driving drunk. Bastards. Before we jump into this, a quick word about the Bosteels Brewery:

Tonight's beer is brewed by Brouwerij Bosteels, or "Bosteels Brewery." You can read about their beer and find out about the brewery on their website HERE. Their website is flash heavy and features annoying looping music, so be warned. The brewery was established by Evarist Bosteels in 1791, and has been family run by the Bosteels for over 200 years and seven generations. 

If you download the PDF thing on the brewery's website, you'll see that Kwak is described as an amber strong ale, with mellow, fruity, and malty aromas, with a hint of spice. This is a relatively strong beer at 8.4%, which means you can tranquilize twice as many frat boy douche bags in half the time. I am excite.

Like a cross between a Hefeweizen and a Belgian Dark Strong, this beer literally pours "amber." If you want to see an amber beer, this is it. Pack your shit and go home. This one poured with four finger's worth of super foamy, protein-fueled head. The head is slightly off-white. Bright light reveals that this beer is super filtered, and there's some sparse and lazy carbonation snaking its way up the long neck of the glass. The head is foamy and cloudy, and sustaining nicely. It does betray the beer a bit with some glossy legs. The glass and the base/shoe are ridiculous. I believe you're supposed to grab the handle and drink this thing with the base, or pull the glass out and chug, chug, chug! Ahhh.

Pauwel Kwak

The nice thing about Hefeweizens is they are light beers, perfect for the summer...perfect for drinking lots of. This smells like a Hefeweizen. Initially, during the pour, I was plucking out some candi sugar and plums, but now I'm just getting blasted with banana, clove, wheat, white sugar, vanilla, and maybe some cherries and dark fruits. This is definitely sugary, sweet, and veering into sugary Belgian fruit land. It's not a bad place to be by any means.

Really unbalanced, I'm getting a lot of grain, tons of mineral, mineral biscuit, and biting astringency. You do get some clove, cardboard, and SUGAR up front, with more sugar, alcohol heat, caramel/toffee, and burgeoning grain/biscuit in the middle. The back is fade to dry grain, unchecked booze, fusel cherries...it's a bit of a mess. And to top it all off, you just want to chug this shit because of the glass its in. I'm getting mad heat and warming in my tummy. The glass definitely "Kwaks." 

This is some novel shit. The glass is a pain in the ass, and not worth the effort for any relaxed drinking session. If you want to have fun, it's a cool gimmick. I will use this again when I'm feeling maniacal. The beer itself is pretty hot at 8.4%, as I feel my tummy and head warming up. Palate depth is low, complexity is low, and the mouthfeel is medium-full to full-bodied. This has carbonation up front, but gets lost in the syrupy, cardboard, mineral, grainy mess that this beer is. The dry finish doesn't really help here either. It's possible I'm just camping on an old bottle, but I don't care. Up front is carbonation, a dash of coriander and allspice, hints of clove and banana; this rolls into wheat, cardboard, syrup, mineral; the back end is lingering fruit, fusel booze, grain, and fade to dry. The sky is the limit for Belgian Strongs, and this is not that.

Rating: Below-Average

This is a strong Below-Average beer. I probably wouldn't buy this again, especially given all the sexy Belgian Dark Strong Ales out there. But the glass is quite novel. And that's the gimmick here, right? You get something that's fun, like das boot. Fill it up with a beer, and slam it down. "Kwak." This isn't poison...it's just very macro-esque. It reminds me of Leffe Blonde, a bit. And I shouldn't be belching apple juice! The price is right...the gift set thing costs around 25-30 bucks. You get a nice wooden base, a glass, and 4 x 11.2oz beers @ 8.4%. This beer should pair well with meats and cheeses, or a nice potato soup, some creamy corn chowder, or something with a broth or sauce. 

Random Thought: We'll always have Tripel Karmeliet, eh?