L'Ensemble
(has 2 batches)
De Dochter van de Korenaar in Baarle-Hertog, Antwerp, Belgium 🇧🇪
Barley Wine - Barley Regular|
Score
7.51
|
|
A full malt barley wine of 13% by volume, which is brewed once a year; fermented with beer and wine yeast.
With L’ensemble we find the limit. Not only the boundary of the maximum possible, because 13% is extremely heavy for a full malt beer. But also the boundary between beer and wine, because to get this amount of alcohol, a part of the fermentation uses wine yeast. Brewing and fermenting this unique beer requires much time and attention. Partly because we make this beer only once a year and comes on the market when it becomes winter season. A perfect companion to the Christmas season! Deliciously warming.
With L’ensemble we find the limit. Not only the boundary of the maximum possible, because 13% is extremely heavy for a full malt beer. But also the boundary between beer and wine, because to get this amount of alcohol, a part of the fermentation uses wine yeast. Brewing and fermenting this unique beer requires much time and attention. Partly because we make this beer only once a year and comes on the market when it becomes winter season. A perfect companion to the Christmas season! Deliciously warming.
Sign up to add a tick or review
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Rich yellowish beige, thick head, extremely stable over hazy well-carbonated red-brown beer. Nutty & chocolatey, melanoidins & faintly spicy. Cocoa powder. Bitter-caramelly, with an alcoholsweet finish, clearly very warming. Dry, bitterish aftertaste with arachide, chocolateliqueur, again bitter cacaopowder, thick green leaves (aucuba). Very well-bodied, slick to viscous. Decent and balanced, but I did expect more spectacular fireworks from this one. Especially the relative lack of more complex aromatic components amazes me.
Tried
on 13 Jan 2013
at 05:03
8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
50 cl. bottle sampled @ 18th Christmasbeer festival in Essen. Dark amber with little beige head. Smell is sweet peel, very sticky hay, candy, syrup, very concentrated sticky caramel malts, very sweet spices, marmalade & some herbs. Taste is sweet, super concentrated sticky caramel & toffee malts, some herbs & noble hops, grains, herbal, light spelt-like qualities, sweet spices, sugar & foresty. Oilier, slicker & flatter. Slightly too muddled & vague but still quite nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Dec 2012
at 12:00
7.3/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Sampled at OBER Kerstbierfestival 2012. Opaque dark reddish color, small beige head. Smell matls, typical barley wine sweetness, lightly grainy, lightly fruity. Taste malts, sweetness, various grains, lightly alcohol and slightly buitter towards the end. Not bad at all.
Tried
on 16 Dec 2012
at 07:26
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle sample @ 18de Kerstbierfestival, Essen 2012. Yet another solid offering. Impressive. Cuivrée, col fin beige. Arôme est assez sucré, fruité, malt cara avec de suite un malt pils qui se distingue. Le tout garde un bouquet de grains, avec pour moi un aspect poudre de cacao couplé de fruits noirs et une fine note de douceur beurre? Palais reste dans un style barley anglais. Grains et sec avec juste une pointe d’amertume et ce profile typique de pilsner malt. Le tout est épais et réchauffant en fin de bouche. Fin de bouche alterne cara, choco léger, pointe d’épices houblonnées et un grains restant bien présent. Intéressant de voir comment cette bière peut évoluer avec l’age.
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Dec 2012
at 06:13
8.3/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Imported from my RateBeer account as De Dochter van de Korenaar L'Ensemble (by De Dochter van de Korenaar):
Aroma: 9/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 16/20, MyTotalScore: 4.1/5
15/XII/12 - 50cl bottle @ Kerstbierenfestival (Essen) - BB: n/a (2012-1354)
Clear deep red beer, big creamy yellow head, pretty stable, non adhesive. aroma: sweet caramel, raisins, dried fruits, sugary, syrup, forest fruits, candy. MF: soft carbon, medium to full body. Taste: sweet sugary start, raisins, chocolate, bit of mocha, alcohol, bitter hops as well. Aftertaste: bitter and hoppy, dried fruits, candy, cocoa powder. Good stuff!
Aroma: 9/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 16/20, MyTotalScore: 4.1/5
15/XII/12 - 50cl bottle @ Kerstbierenfestival (Essen) - BB: n/a (2012-1354)
Clear deep red beer, big creamy yellow head, pretty stable, non adhesive. aroma: sweet caramel, raisins, dried fruits, sugary, syrup, forest fruits, candy. MF: soft carbon, medium to full body. Taste: sweet sugary start, raisins, chocolate, bit of mocha, alcohol, bitter hops as well. Aftertaste: bitter and hoppy, dried fruits, candy, cocoa powder. Good stuff!
Tried
from Bottle
on 15 Dec 2012
at 10:11