33 cl. bottle @ home as “BRWN”. Love the name & label. Procured from Het Natuurhuis. BBF 27/03/2015. Brownish caramel amber, tanned head. Sweet overripe fruits in the nose, syrupy, caramel, nice sweet overripe fruits in the nose, dates, raisins, bubblegum, nice,…. Herbal, caramel, mineral, touch metallic, raisins, bitter bark, bubblegum, chocolate, bitter spices, nutty, cacao, spices, … Mineral, bit light body,… Flawed, bit too much, iron, mineral,… Bit thin but lots of interesting stuff never the less, bubblegum, nice chewy ripe dark fruits, leaves, spices,… Some interesting, nice stuff here

Spice ale since 2010 with the garlic that typifies Jessenhofke but also fresh herbs grown by Sanguisorba in Ranst, a well-known brewery supplier of herbs and spices. The herbs in question are salad burnet, hyssop, thyme, savory and myrte. Snow white, regular head, misty peach blonde colour. Complex ’herbalness’ in the nose as can be expected, difficult to distinguish one from the other even though I am familiar with their aromas, very flowery, some candi sugar, some fruits and, as in the other Jessenhofkes, no noticeable garlic. Sweetish spiciness in the mouth and, much to my surprise, there it is: a faint hint of garlic in the background. Light mouthfeel, sweetish caramel malt base, dry finish with the spices further developing alongside a herbal hoppiness. Interesting if you are into spice beers.

Organic beer since 2009, in which 30% of the mash consists of seitan, from seitan producer Maya in Hasselt. Thick white head, yellowish golden colour; aroma of raw potato, gooseberry, cheese, ginger, sour cream, orange zest. The taste is a strange starch-like breadiness, I assume this is the seitan, with fruity sweetness and a yeasty finish with rather thin mouthfeel. My first seitan beer and I will not be disappointed if it will be my last - modernism without good reason, if you ask me.

Dark counterpart of Jessenhofke Tripel with off-white, sticky head and brownish bronze colour with yellowish glow. Nutty aroma, thyme, pear, dates, coffee beans, nutmeg, hops. Dried fruits in the mouth, rounded but dry mouthfeel, some coffee-like roasted bitterness, nutty malts and a moderately hoppy finish with warming alcohol. Okay for its style but nothing spectacular.

Heavy dark Jessenhofke launched in 2010. Intended as a provision, beer, with off-white, sticky head and deep bronze colour. Aroma of caramel, chocolate, hazelnuts, pear, honey, liquorice, candi sugar. Dark fruits in the mouth, yeasty, chocolatey maltiness, some roasted bitterness in the end. A Scotch-style ale in my view and not at all a true bière de garde, but interesting nonetheless.

The original Jessenhofke, now with the ’Tripel’ added, spiced with garlic. Creamy, medium thick, sticky, off-white head, orangey peach blonde colour with brownish hue, cloudy. Fruity and yeasty nose, orange, honey, mint, melon, coriander, brown sugar, no garlic at all (which is fortunate, perhaps). Restrained fruity taste, mineral-like with medium carbonation, light maltiness, subdued spiciness, dryer in the finish with some resinous, herbal hops and warming alcohol, and again the garlic is unnoticeable. Perhaps it should have been more prominent, then this beer would have been less boring.

Gents bierfestival Nr 5 Pours unclear, muddy purple/brown . Small white head Smell is fleshy , fruity . Taste is bitter , sharp fruity , bit of funk . Full body , high, but OK carbonation .

Imported from my RateBeer account as Jessenhofke Vulcanus (by Jessenhofke):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 15/20, MyTotalScore: 3.8/5

17/V/14 - 33cl bottle from De Bierloods/Zytholoog (Adegem) @ home - BB: n/a (lost the back label) (2014-502)

Clear orange beer, lots of sediment floating in the glass. Aroma: sweet, honey, malts, some caramel, some citrus. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bit oxidized, citrus, bitter hosp, bit grassy, spices, some banana, pretty bitter, sweet malts, some caramel. Aftertaste: bitter, bready malts, sweet touch, some banana, citrus, nice dry bitter ending. This one has aged very well!

Bottle. Aroma spicy with light citrus fruits, light bubblegum. Rounded and inviting. Taste is rather sweet, both spicy and malty. A bit weird, not working with me. Finish turns somewhat tart. I am conflicted about this one.