Brouwerijen Alken-Maes
Commercial Brewery
in
Alken,
Limburg,
Belgium 🇧🇪
Owned by
Brouwerijen Alken-Maes NV/SA - Heineken Belgium
Established in 1988
Contact
Subsidiaries
Description
Winning innovator on the Belgian beer market with brands such as Maes, Cristal, Desperados, Grimbergen, Affligem, Strongbow and Mort Subite.
De “Brouwerijen Alken-Maes NV” ontstond officieel in 1988, als gevolg van de fusie van de brouwerijen Maes en Cristal Alken. Maar de roots van beide entiteiten gaat terug tot omstreeks 1880. In Waarloos kocht Egied Maes toen nl. de brouwerij Sint-Michaël, terwijl korte tijd later Arthur Boes een brouwerij startte in Alken, zo’n 100 km verderop.
Beide brouwerijen ontwikkelen zich stelselmatig, met bv. Cristal dat in 1928 als eerste Belgische pils het licht ziet. Maes Pils volgt in 1946. Nadien vervoegen Grimbergen, Ciney en andere bieren de portfolio, tot aan de fusie in 1988. Na onderdeel te hebben uitgemaakt van Danone en Scottish & Newcastle, wordt Alken-Maes in 2008 eigendom van Heineken.
De “Brouwerijen Alken-Maes NV” ontstond officieel in 1988, als gevolg van de fusie van de brouwerijen Maes en Cristal Alken. Maar de roots van beide entiteiten gaat terug tot omstreeks 1880. In Waarloos kocht Egied Maes toen nl. de brouwerij Sint-Michaël, terwijl korte tijd later Arthur Boes een brouwerij startte in Alken, zo’n 100 km verderop.
Beide brouwerijen ontwikkelen zich stelselmatig, met bv. Cristal dat in 1928 als eerste Belgische pils het licht ziet. Maes Pils volgt in 1946. Nadien vervoegen Grimbergen, Ciney en andere bieren de portfolio, tot aan de fusie in 1988. Na onderdeel te hebben uitgemaakt van Danone en Scottish & Newcastle, wordt Alken-Maes in 2008 eigendom van Heineken.
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottled (most likely in the 70s). Clear red-brown color, no head. Aroma of some caramel malt, heavy prune and raisin, some walnut, bit dusty. Slight sour taste, malty, still a bit sweet, bit roasted, dry. Very complex, i did not expect this to be drinkable actually.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Dec 2005
at 17:54
6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 6
Brugs Wit. Deeply hazy wit with a thin white head. Rich wheat, bananas and cloves in aroma, but sulfur notes noted. Nice light wheat with light bananas and spices in mouth. Light bodied summer wit. Good. April 2005, 67 eurocents at GB
Tried
on 19 Dec 2005
at 21:35
4.5/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 3
Texture 6
Overall 4
6 pack of 25ml bottles from Auchan. Seriously what would I do without France to give me access to such a wide variety of beers? Darkish ruby colour with thin off white head. Candy sugar with banana yeast aroma. Sugar syrup fruit in the mouth with decent malts I guess and then a banana yeast sharpish finish. Brown sugar though still within it. Not terribly well integrated. The banana yeast flavour is ok, but doesn’t sit well with the candy sugar.. Like a banana split with caramel drizzled over it. Not keen on this. Now who can I get to drink the rest of the 6 pack?
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Dec 2005
at 15:46
5.1/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 5
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 5.5
Blonde lager with an adjunct malt aroma but decent taste, with fresh crisp malt coming out, and faint hops. Lighter bodied quaffable pils.
Tried
on 18 Dec 2005
at 21:37
5.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Red brownish ale with a light moka head. Very light brown sugar aroma. Nice lightly sweet malt with a good bitterness, a bit molassey. Creamy mouthfeel. Medium bodied. May 2005.
Tried
on 18 Dec 2005
at 17:27
8.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Bottled(250ml). -thanks to Doggythedog for sharing this with me, dark amber coloured, little brown head with good lacing, malty aroma with toffee notes, little bit too sweet finish, but otherwise very good beer
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Dec 2005
at 17:56
6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottled(330ml). –thanks to Doggythedog for sharing this with me, extremely yellow coloured, huge white head, slight apple cider nose, light fruity aroma with citric and coriander notes, mild acidic finish
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Dec 2005
at 17:54
6.3/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 8
Beer no. 16 of my Slovenian beerhunt. Brought from Belgium by my friend Boštjan (thanks!). Shared with ozujsko. 0.33l bottle. Poured a huge fluffy head. Pale yellow colour (like a cheap lager), very well carbonated. Light fruity aroma, dust, malt, hints of coriander. The alcohol isn’t hidden very well (but I thought it wasn’t that intensive). Nice appley and lemony taste with hints of honey, some weak traces of hops. Perhaps I’ve drunk it too cold. A good Duvel-style beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Dec 2005
at 13:15
7.8/10
—
Appearance 10
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 8
Beer no. 15 of my Slovenian beerhunt. Brought from Belgium by my friend Boštjan (thanks!), shared in Zagreb with ozujsko. 0.25l bottle (too damn small). Poured an extremely dark amber colour with a small tanish thick head that never went away, and left tons of lacing as the level of beer in the glass got smaller. Interesting nose. Slightly acidic with obvious toffee and hints of chocolate and fruit. Slightly acidic taste too, orange, some hops and alcohol, nice Belgian malt, creamy, a bit sweet and light taste. Very tasty stuff. Some alcohol in the aftertaste that shouldn’t be there, but very good anyway.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Dec 2005
at 13:10
5.3/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 5
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 6
First beer of my trip to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Brought from Belgium by my friend Boštjan. A huge thanks to him. 0.33l bottle if I remember correctly. It poured a huge thick but fluffy white head that went fast, leaving tons of thick lacing. Pale golden colour with lazy carbonation. The aroma was basically, dusty lemon. Interesting. Generic grainy taste with some dusty honeyish malt with an underlying herbal hopiness and lemoniness. Weak lemony aftertaste. I’ve had a lot of worse pilseners than this. Better than Stella too.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Dec 2005
at 05:08