Archetype Brewing Co. - "The Sage" Belgian strong ale

Friend and colleague Miguel was in Asheville, North Carolina a while back and kindly procured me this brew for sampling. A product of Archetype Brewing Co., this is a respectable 11.67% ABV Belgian dark strong ale. Check out that awesome bottle art!

Archetype is only a few years old and joins the already-burgeoning Asheville craft beer scene. When Miguel mentioned he was going, I specifically asked for him to grab me something from a small brewery that wasn't well known to me. It's fun to find hidden gems! According to their website, Archetype's main focus is Belgian beer, and head brewer Steven Anan developed his own strain of Belgian Saccharomyces yeast in his home kitchen. Archetype now uses that as their “house strain” of yeast. Very cool; these guys obviously know what they're doing. On to the beer!

Pours a light root beer color; nose is apple cider-esque and sour. Not super spicy or yeasty, but there's a definite Belgian touch to it. There's not much head.

Deep spices and brown sugar accompany the first sip of this beer; as it develops on the tongue, dark berries, mulling spices, and unsalted butter come to the forefront. Very full flavors here, lots of creaminess and low sweetness. Moderate alcohol flavors but remarkably light for the ABV. I'm getting more of that familiar Belgian spice as the beer finishes. Very tasty.

Quite nice and deceivingly light - it feels like I'm drinking a Belgian dubbel at 7.50%, not a strong ale at 11.67%. In terms of flavor, the dark berries and butter notes coupled with the creamy texture form a taste not unlike treacle, minus the sugar. I've found a lot of Belgian beers overload the Belgian spice and yeast, making the beer syrupy - this one is refreshingly light and drinkable. I really enjoy it! As it turns out, I'm not the only one - in 2018, this beer won the North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild's Brewers Cup trophy - beating out 74 craft breweries, with 624 entries. With this victory under their belts, I hope to see more great stuff from Archetype in the future!