Kraken/Octopus Blond
Stadshaven Brouwerij in Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands 🇳🇱
Belgian Style - Blonde / Pale / Amber Regular|
Score
6.45
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Out of the blue, you’ve got a new favorite brew that’s truly mouth-watering. You’ll sense the distinct aroma a mile away and get a fresh burst of flavor from the tangy orange bite and a touch of coriander.
Making waves. Fending off fins in South African waters, ships move port to port, picking up citrus and spice to brew a hazy, lazy refreshing drink up north. Fragrant and fruity. Keep your wits about you!
Making waves. Fending off fins in South African waters, ships move port to port, picking up citrus and spice to brew a hazy, lazy refreshing drink up north. Fragrant and fruity. Keep your wits about you!
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6.3/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6.5
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Small off-white head over hazy orange-golden beer. Hint of spices, and then a waft of coffee, surprisingly. Again green leaves, holly. Always something roasted - strange seen the colour. Bitterish flavour, toast to mild roast, bit fiery MF. There is a spicy flavour, but I cannot relate it to either fruit used. Some dull bitterness, raw hops. Feels very carbonated. Quite slick, but medium bodied at best. Unremarkable. The Kraken must have sunk the oranges cargo.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Mar 2023
at 09:30
5.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Pale blond colour with lacy head. Aroma has a floral, pepperyness. Bitter citrus pith. Has a stale taste.
Tried
on 08 Feb 2023
at 20:22
6.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6.5
Texture 7
Overall 6.5
Belgian style blonde from Rotterdam named after the legendary Kraken sea monster (allegedly based on observations of giant squid - see the picture on the front label, to name one example); longneck bottle from the Albert Heijn supermarket in Lokeren. Quite thick and frothy, egg-white, cobweb-lacing, even-bubbled and regular, stable head on a lightly hazed yellow straw blonde beer with lively sparkling rising up in the middle, becoming misty and more deeply golden with sediment. Aroma of banana-flavoured bubblegum to even banana liqueur (Pisang Ambon) without the alcohol, freshly cut green pear, white soap, chamomile, white bread dough, grass, unripe melon, hints of orange zest, cilantro, lavender (very faint but still pushing through from the background), damp earth and old potatoes. Crisp, spritzy onset, quite numbing carbonation but acceptable for style I guess, sweet but rounded and clean fruitiness of ripe banana, pear and slight melon; minerally and stingy effects of carbonation continue over a supple, smooth cereally and softer white-bready malt body, while some spicy notes are picked up along the way - clove-like phenols, but also coriander seed and a minty or lavender-like touch. Floral hops join the coriander in the finish, depositing a mild, yet pleasantly lingering, bit spicy bitterness - even if the banana ester still rules supreme at that point. Quite sleek and rounded for a Belgian blonde, but it ticks all the boxes with its residual sweetness, coriander and banana ester; I guess this is what one can expect from this kind of beer, but it is technically not badly made by any means. A dime a dozen, I was expecting something more powerful from a beer taking its name from a gigantic ancient sea monster - perhaps a salted caramel-flavoured imperial stout would have suited the name 'Kraken' a bit better, who knows?...
Tried
on 06 Feb 2023
at 10:31
6.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
33cl bottle from Albert Heijn Knokke-Heist supermarket. F: medium, white, good retention. C: gold, light hazy. A: malty, citrus, bit herbal, spicy, peach, bit bready, honey. T: medium malty base, peach, banana, herbal, honey, lime, good balanced bitterness, light soapy mouthfeel, soft to medium carbonation, good for the style, enjoyed for sure.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Jan 2023
at 19:29
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle 33 cl. ours an almost clear golden with a tiny, rough, white head. Sweet, fruity nose, with a yeasty touch. Medium body again sweet fruit with somesulphur and a bitter finish. I do NOT sense any blood oranges or kiwi fruit at all. 020123
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Jan 2023
at 15:35
6/10
Magus, Belgia pärm, nats tilline, veits happeline. Okish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Dec 2022
at 00:11
6/10
Belgian yeast, bitterish, hoppy, dry
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Dec 2022
at 23:19
6/10
33cl bottle. A clear deep golden beer with a off white head. Aroma of fruity wheat malt, belgian yeast. Taste of orange fruits, belgian yeast, tangerine.
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Oct 2022
at 19:16
6.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Fles 33cl in Zuidwolde. Belgisch gist, blood orange, fruitig, maltig, zoet, wat kruidig, suikers. (8-7-2022).
Tried
on 08 Jul 2022
at 19:33
6.6/10
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Appearance 7
Aroma 6.5
Flavor 6.5
Texture 7
Overall 6.5
Bottle 33cl. from a local Jumbo supermarket @home poured into a shaker. Hazy pale golden colour, fair frothy white head, slowly diddipating till a thin layer remains, fair lacing. Fruity aroma, sweet malts, orange, caramel, light vanilla, light coriander, citrusy hops. Taste below medium sweet and bitter, malty, grain, orange, grapefruit, coriander. Medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation, dry sweetbitter aftertaste, fruity and husky notes, finishes with lingering pepper and coriander, nice.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Jun 2022
at 16:33