Judge's Review: 84 Rating - Blood Brother by Straight to Ale

Blood Brother by Straight to Ale is being evaluated as a Fruit Beer (Category 29A) with a  base style of Belgian Dubbel (26B) according to the 2015 BJCP style guidelines.

This beer pours a deep amber color with a slightly hazy clarity.  An off-white creamy head of small bubbles quickly dissipates but leaves a thin sheen on top of the beer and a thin ring around the edge of the glass.  On the nose a moderately intense typical Belgian perfumy ethyl alcohol is present followed by a low bready malt and low esters of dark cherry and prune.  As the beer warms the blood orange used in this beer becomes apparent in the nose in low intensity.  The flavor consists of a medium malt sweetness is quickly overtaken by a medium alcohol, light peppery spiciness, and light dried dark cherries with malt flavor being lost to the alcohol.  Flavors of blood orange come three quarters of the way in the palate and persist into the aftertaste along with a low ethyl alcohol character.  This beer finished medium sweet.  This beer has a medium bitterness which appears to be accentuated by the alcohol presence with no hop flavor.  This beer has a medium-thin body with ample carbonation for the style.  This beer has a slight alcohol warmth.  Overall this beer’s alcohol character falls higher than a standard Dubbel, but less than a Dark Strong which slightly impacts the depth of this particular beer.  A touch less alcohol character coupled with a touch more malt character would accentuate the lovely use of the blood orange here.