6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottled (BB 02/2005)
Hazy yellow, cloudy white head, lots of lace and carbonation. Citrus, fruity nose. Light, malty and soapy mouthfeel. Finishing a bit bitter. Hides alcohol well. Decent blonde but a bit boring. (5/3/6/3/12 2.9)
Re-rate, bottled (BB 02/2005)
Hazy pale yellow color, good white lacey head. Lively carbonation. Fruity, a bit yeasty nose. Carbonated mouthfeel. Malts and lemon flavors with a bite of alcohol. Quite light bodied. A bit like a light version of Orval. Light and plain Belgian ale. (6/2/6/3/11 2.8)
Hazy yellow, cloudy white head, lots of lace and carbonation. Citrus, fruity nose. Light, malty and soapy mouthfeel. Finishing a bit bitter. Hides alcohol well. Decent blonde but a bit boring. (5/3/6/3/12 2.9)
Re-rate, bottled (BB 02/2005)
Hazy pale yellow color, good white lacey head. Lively carbonation. Fruity, a bit yeasty nose. Carbonated mouthfeel. Malts and lemon flavors with a bite of alcohol. Quite light bodied. A bit like a light version of Orval. Light and plain Belgian ale. (6/2/6/3/11 2.8)
Tried
from Bottle
on 04 Aug 2004
at 05:47
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 7
Very huge, extra-dense cream-yellow head, very slowly collapsing ( in fact a bit too: there's ferroxide in the head as stabilisator); clear orange-foxy beer. Stereotyp cookie-ambrée-malt-roasted-alcohol nose, going over in more pleasant orange zeste. Bitter onset from roasted malt and citruspeel, then soft sweet main taste, bit of liquorice; peppery-orange going over in an even hoppy finish. Very soft texture, as from spring water, creamy mouthfeel, medium bodied, no alcoholburn. Not bad, at worst a bit dull, very nice mouthfeel. Best of Gauloise range - compare to S. Régal?
Tried
on 03 Aug 2004
at 12:30
6.3/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 6
Yellow-orange, slight haze; off-white head, condensing itself to 1/2 - 1 cm, some lace. Vanilla - and diacetyl in the nose. In a blonde - bwaaagh. Roasted malt and peppery, alcohol present. Dry taste, nothing obvious but pale malt, and a bit of alcohol. Diacetyl all but vanished, some roasted flavours. Becomes quite sweet in the finish, alcohol appearing. Maybe some fusels? Alcohol impression is exaggerated for its meagre 6.3 ABV. Quite dry and well-attenuated - I suspect sugar used is fully fermented. Technically OK blonde (diacetyl nose excepted) - but boring, boring...
Tried
on 02 Aug 2004
at 14:17
6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 4
Texture 6
Overall 6
Dark red to brown beer, realy opaque; brown-yellow frothy head. Dark malts, some chocolate, and laurel (bay leaf) in the nose. I get alcohol, banana- and other esters, and some alternative grain - like rice-cakes. Vile, woody, adstringent bitterness superposed on a dull sweet malt base. Some piney, resinous flavour, finish again with some bitterish chocolate. Adstringency keeps going on, mouthfeel becomes very dry, thinning out the texture. I thouroughly dislike this typical Walloon sweet-bitter assault. No refinement, the well-hidden alcohol excepted.
Tried
on 29 Jul 2004
at 13:04
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Copper color. Very nice aroma (malt and some fine hop). Quite dry, with a strong hoppy character (old hops) on top of a nice malty line.
Tried
on 19 Jul 2004
at 06:50
6.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Slightly hazy yellow color, short white head. Aroma is spicy and grainy, like most blonde belgain ales. Taste is moderately sweet and bitter, and grainy and spicy on the tongue. Indeed, typical blonde.
Tried
on 17 Jun 2004
at 15:44
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
(I deliberatly choose a very well-aged sample - well from the Du Bocq period, of course. This kind of beer usually benefits from it). Nearly red amber, slight yeast specks; virtually no head. Sweet caramel & portwine nose, fruity. Taste of good vintage port, fruity, slightly nutty. No noxious oxydation. Sweetness just in check, vinous. Mellow, alcoholic mouthfeel, like a vintage fortified wine again. Not really overly heavy-bodied. Excellent vinous beer. I might have been prejudiced about the age factor, IMO I was vindicated by the result. I can only recommend opening this only quite aged - with possible spectacular results. From memory, the younger versions are way too sweet, with an unpleasant scorched bitterness.
Tried
from Can
on 07 Apr 2004
at 14:26
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Very lively ascent to fluffy yellow head; foxy amber, clear beer. Extremely fruity nose: grapes, lunaria, peach, lime and - absolutely - nutmeg or mace. Again very fruity in taste, estery, yeasty, meat-aspic, passionfruit. There is some salt and a lot of coriander. Medium-bodied. Strange sensation, water, but at the same time probably iron and other salts. Oh dear; Saison Regal was once the pride of Brasserie de la Tour, Marbaix-la-Tour. Du Bocq took over and closed. First they managed to rape the beer completely, than they somehow got remorse (?) and turned it round again. This sample is quite OK; but a lot is going on in this bottle. It might turn out bad - I'm not surprised raters are hugely different in appreciation of this.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Apr 2004
at 15:16
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottle (33cl, BB 11.08.04)
Aroma is apples, prunes, yeast, light alcohol, very countryside-like. Dark ruby, brown color. Medium brown head with lots of lace and big bubbles. A lot of carbonation. Malty mouthfeel with an alcoholic touch. Body is quite light, so makes this quite easy to drink.
Aroma is apples, prunes, yeast, light alcohol, very countryside-like. Dark ruby, brown color. Medium brown head with lots of lace and big bubbles. A lot of carbonation. Malty mouthfeel with an alcoholic touch. Body is quite light, so makes this quite easy to drink.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Mar 2004
at 08:59
5.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 6
Clear yellow color, medium white head, some tiny particles. Aroma is yeasty, some hops, esters is probably a good way to describe the aroma. Taste is dry, some spices, bit bitter bit sweet. Ugly dry palate.
Tried
on 20 Mar 2004
at 16:38