Belgian beer enthusiasts should have their eyes on the latest release in Big Storm Brewing Co.'s Hurricane Series. It's a Belgian quintuple called Category 5 that's as strong as it sounds.
The Pasco-born brewery's Belgian-style Hurricane Series has correlated with the Atlantic hurricane season. Each release features a more powerful alcohol by volume than its predecessor and was named after the storm levels defined by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (Category 1, Category 3, etc.).
"After our Belgian Single was awarded a Silver Medal at this year's Best Florida Beer Competition, we knew we were on to something, and decided to expand our Belgian offerings," said Big Storm founder Mike Bishop in a news release. "We never expected the Hurricane Series to be as popular as they have been."
Celebrating the end of the state's storm season, Category 5 will be featured at the brewery's Clearwater and Odessa taprooms in 5-ounce pours due to its ABV level: 11.1 percent. It also took Big Storm brewers four mashes to get eight barrels of wort for the brew.
"After an initial fermentation with their Belgian yeast strain they added a classic champagne yeast and moved the beer into French and Hungarian white oak Chardonnay barrels," according to the release. "The Category 5 went through a slower secondary aging for the next four months with delicious results."
The beer, a golden copper color with a thin head, has aroma and flavors of honey, oak, vanilla and liqueur, plus notes of banana and clove. Patrons can stop into either Big Storm location for a taste starting Tuesday. A 5-ounce pour is $7.95, while a Hurricane Series flight costs $17.95 (also cool: the flight paddles have a circular shape, mimicking a satellite view of a 'cane).
The series's other beers are Category 1 (Belgian single), Category 2 (Belgian dubbel), Category 3 (Belgian tripel) and Category 4 (Belgian quadrupel).
This article appears in Oct 27 – Nov 3, 2016.
