6.8

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle from Brouwland, of all places, thnx to Sam ! Pours a clear, medium darkened golden blonde. Medium large white head with long stability, and a medium creamy texture. Scent is Belgian yeast (banana, but fairly mild) fresh maltyness that are simply lovely, and just a hint of what I s'pose are continental hops (bit earthy) . Fresh and in balance, which already lifts it up above most tripels. Taste is quite bitter, ans fresh. Tad herbal ( hops, but perhaps some spices as well ?) yeastyness is far more intense on the esters here, making the finish not nearly as fresh as expected, to my dissapointement. Farily high carbonation (to High for me, but that's what Belgians like) . Bit too sticky on the finish (esters) and not as malty as the scent gave away.

6.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

On tap at the 14th Brugs Bier Festival, Brugge, Belgium. A hazy golden/orange coloured pour with a medium white head on top. Hoppy, citrus, orange, mango, tropical fruit taste/aroma. Pleasant easy drinking DIPA from Enigma.

6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle from Tidens Farver @ Home.Pours hazy golden with a white head. Aroma of malt, little yeast, citrus, grapefruit, peel. Flavor is bitter, malt, citrus, grapefruit, peel. Medium body, average carbonation, light bitter finish.

6.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle from Beers@Moviefun. Hazy dark brown, stable, foamy, tan head. Aroma of milk chocolate, mocha, peanut, dusty chocolate powder, plum, fig, liqueur. Taste has sweet plum & fig in a caramelly malt body, some chocolate but in a diluted way, herbal & spicy notes alongside it. Herbal hoppy finish, more phenolic now, dried fruits, a bit chocolatey, softly warming liqueur-like alcohol. Medium body, slick texture, average carbonation. The Tiramisu Stout missed the point somewhat but was satisfactory in itself; this one is just not that good. Shame!

7.9

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Can from Beers@Moviefun. Hazy orange, stable, frothy, white head. Aroma of ripe tangerine, melon, dank mango, peach, biscuit, honey. Taste has sweet peach, melon & tangerine, softly bitter citrus peel & grapefruit, dank, somewhat spicy acent and firm biscuity maltiness. Floral hoppy finish, peppery almost, quite grapefruity, bitter mango note in balance with juicy tropical fruits, dash of warming alcohol. Medium body, creamy texture, soft carbonation. Very decent example.

7.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle from Beers@Moviefun. Hazy black, stable, foamy, tan head. Aroma of cold coffee, mocha biscuit, fondant, hazelnut, vanilla bean, biscuit, almond, coffee liqueur. Taste has sweetish chocolate powder, mocha & almond; vague hint of dark fruit next to bitter coffee and some spices. Herbal hoppy finish, bitter espresso, dash of cream and softly warming Kahlúa-like alcohol. Medium to full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. Rather firm on the coffee bitterness, it actually only hints at tiramisu. Pretty good.

7.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Double IPA by Enigma in this Hopnytized range with the instantly recongisable psychedelic labels - apparently already the second version (I missed the first one), containing no less than six (New World!) hop varieties. Very thick and foamy, beaten egg-white, thickly cobweb-lacing, large-bubbled but tightly knit and stable head, misty golden blonde robe with yellow-apricot hue. Aroma of guava, green mango, orange blossom, sweet onions, yellow Zespri kiwi, some light 'diesel' dankness getting stronger warming up, fresh southernwood, gin, pink peppercorns, wet marijuana, Thai basil, lemon bread dough, mandarin pith, vague damp earth accent. Juicy onset, very colourful with all those hops, trying to cover up light estery notes of pineapple and peach and actually succeeding quite well at that; minerally carbonation, effervescent but acceptable still (though clearly sharper than in the average DIPA or NEDIPA), full and rounded mouthfeel. White-bready malt backbone, deeply steeped in citrusy and tropical hoppiness, dominating from the start with a retronasal tidewave of tropical blossoms, citrus fruit and yellow-green tropical fruits like mango, carambola and guava. The sultry effects of these tropical fruity hops are kept in place by a more old-fashioned citrusiness though (Citra, Simcoe), while the sweet grape effect of the Nelson Sauvin subtly pierces through; more importantly perhaps, the end phase is quite strongly bittered too, in an almost wormwood-, quinine- and green peppercorn-like way, a bitterness aided by the afterglow of gin-like alcohol. Ends very aromatic, but also bitter, a tad powdery and subtly but unmistakably boozy - but not phenolic or otherwise yeasty as many Belgian attempts at IPA do. A light but clear hopburn is noticeable in the end - but given the overall flavours I was treated upon here, I cannot be bothered too much. It may come from an old school 'Belgian style' steinie bottle rather than a flashy can, but this DIPA is actually surprisingly decent for what I tend to expect from Enigma; it cannot have been easy to master this style and I respect this brewer for the evolution he has undergone since his more humble beginnings. Powerful, a bit crude perhaps and a tad too boozy, but surely an impressive offering seen in its context; I do feel like he is boasting his way through the craft beer scene, because a showcase of six different hops with such outspoken characters is 'doomed' to drown either of them in a bigger, indiscriminating whole. I am not entirely in favour of creating new beers all the time rather than refining existing ones, but in this particular case it could have been a better idea to create six different DIPAs each highlighting only one of the hops that went in this gluttonous hop monster. That said: pleasantly surprised overall (and apparently significantly improved lately, seen earlier ratings below); Enigma is becoming one to watch I think, especially considering the improvements this project has made over the years.

7

Niet heel enigmatisch. #tripel

7.4

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

One of several ‘Hopnytized’ beers by Enigma, all hop-forward beers with somewhat psychedelic (or indeed ‘hypnotizing’) labels. Very thick, hops-enhanced, egg-white, foamy, cobweb-lacing head on a lightly misty, deep and pure golden beer with vaguely greenish tinge and strong visible sparkling. Aroma of straw, bitter honey, dried chamomile, white bread dough, raw potato peel, radish, honey, halfripe banana, clove, pumice, minerals. Green pear, unripe peach and a dash of banana peel in the onset, lively carbonated with thinly sourish undertone, over an arch of white-bready, slick-cereally malts towards a florally hoppy finish, where clove-like phenols and an eventually rooty, drying, straw- and white pepper-like hoppiness adds body and character. Indeed a very typical “Belgian IPA” – as in: compromise between Belgian blonde or tripel and ‘real’ IPA, which is kind of a compliment in this case because many intended Belgian IPAs have literally nothing IPA-like apart from the higher hop dosage. This one fits the style perfectly, a style I can sure appreciate every now and then if done right. Makes me even more curious for the other IPAs in this series: Enigma apparently has no problems adding yet another fine hoppy Belgian to the market, but can they tackle a true Anglo-Saxon style IPA too?

6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bottle from Tidens Farver @ Home. Pours hazy dark golden with a small creamy tan head. Aroma of malt, yeast, sweet dark fruit, oak. Flavor is sweet, malty, yeasty, oak, vanilla, dark fruit, ripe apple, rich alcohol. Medium body, average carbonation, sweet boozy finish. To boozy. 120322