3.8

nathanvc (6963) reviewed Hopvil Strong from Martens 8 months ago

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4

Can from Aldi.
A: clear golden, small, white head.
A: maize, potato, vodka, can iron, glue, band-aid.
T: sweet maize, candy floss, white sugar, phenolic varnish.
F: very vague grassy hops, harsh glue-like bitterness, wry vodka alcohol.
P: light body, watery texture, soft carbonation.
Recommended if you like sugar and alcohol.

Tried on 29 May 2025 at 16:28

3.6

Alengrin (11609) reviewed Hopvil Strong from Martens 1 year ago

Appearance - 5 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 4

The 'Euro strong lager' edition of Aldi's Hopvil, also produced by Martens in Limburg; can from the Aldi supermarket in Sint-Denijs-Westrem (Ghent). Thick, foamy, densely moussey, firm and closed, off-white, busily cobweb-lacing head on a crystal clear, pure golden blonde robe with slight 'old gold' tinge and one single string of fine-bubbled sparkling in the middle. Aroma of molten granulated sugar, sugared rice, industrial honey, sweet corn, some iron (stronger when warming up), plaster, apple flavouring produced by a chemical factory, some banana even, cheap white rum and even cheaper wodka, acryl, warm cotton cloth. Sweet onset in a very monodimensional way - granulated sugar and nothing else, with medium carb and slick, slender body, even a bit on the watery side for a beer of this strength. Sweetish grainy core of clearly inferior quality, severely eroded by candi sugar syrup, feeling 'empty' and light, with added sugars given the questionable task of filling up the whole thing, a task at which they miserably fail; no flavours develop here, everything remains stuck in this monotonous, grainy plus sugary 'discours', flanked by slight metallic edges. Only in the very end something does change, and that is not hops (even if a very faint grassy note is there if you want to make the effort of looking for it) but of course alcohol, even though I must admit that this time it does not harshly scorch away the little flavours that are there, but only warms, relatively gently even for this particular - abonimable - class of beer. Wodka-like, somewhat astringent alcohol nevertheless lingers, of course, even adding some 'fake' bitterness which in this case is believably supported by a frugal dash of hops - but by that time none of the very few flavours that were around at the start, are still standing. Feels very barren and empty, simplistic and industrial, but I must admit that in this specific genre of consistently horrible 'beers', this one is not the worst; it tastes like old Hopvil with added white sugar and alcohol, nothing more, nothing less. Indigestible and brutal to the educated beer palate as expected - and as usual in this 'style' - but admittedly perhaps just a tad less so than many of its congeners. Obvious drain pour, but less dramatically so than some of John Martin's finest "Finest" lagers, if I have to bring up that dreadful memory again.

Tried on 26 Oct 2024 at 00:51

gave a cheers!

5

BarleyAndBeyond (1997) reviewed Hopvil Strong from Martens 5 years ago

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 4

Review based on the BJCP2015 guidelines (style 25C). Can 50 cl - Batch L203 19:18 (BBF 21/01/22). AROMA: medium acetaldeyde notes, mixed with low phenolics (plastic) and medium-low sweet background. APPEARANCE: deep gold and cristal clear. medium-low white head with low retention. TASTE: initial medium-low acetaldeyde, phenolic, some papery notes. medium-low neutral sweet background. medium bitterness with a semi-dry to dry finish. PALATE: medium to medium-low body. medium carbonation. OVERALL: a belgian beer with conditioning problems.

Tried from Can on 03 Nov 2020 at 17:21

4

Rubin77 (10187) reviewed Hopvil Strong from Martens 6 years ago

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4

0,5l can (for 79c) from ALDI Oudergem in Brussels. F: medium, off-white, quick gone. C: deep gold, clear. A: sweet malty, bit caramel, grainy, alcohol touch. T: sweet malty, grainy, bit herbal, vegetables, almost no body, bit caramel, surprisingly alcohol is quite hidden, low to medium carbonation, it´s cheap and that’s the goal here.

Tried from Can on 30 Sep 2019 at 18:18