Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Flesje gedeeld met Benzai. Amberkleurig, helder bier met weinig schuim. Aroma van chocolade en pruimen. Ook in de smaak komt de chocolade duidelijk als eerst naar boven en de fruitsmaak iets later om met de hop te eindigen.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Bottle @ home shared with Inoven. Hazy dark orange to amber color, medium sized white head. Some yeast residu on the bottom of my glass. Smell and taste malts, caramel, slightly a hint of chocolate, dark fruits, brown candy sugar, moderately sweet and lightly bitter. Quite nice. Decent body, medium to firm carbonation though not annoyingly firm. Overall quite nice.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6
The quadrupel in this newish Ecaussinnes series, celebrating the birth of the Belgian state. Thinnish, off-white, moussy head leaving a steady rim, thin and disperse patches of lacing and some flat ’islands’ in the middle after a few moments; lightly hazy chestnut brown-bronze robe with warm burgundy hue. Aroma of toffee, candied cherry, raisin, medlar, a faint hint of DMS (cooked white cabbage) but luckily not overpowering, pear syrup, bitter honey, damp earth, cooked carrot, hazelnut, coriander seed, brown rum, kahlua, liquorish candy, soggy rye bread, ruby port, dried banana, marmelade, jute, fermenting tree leaves on a forest floor but no FFF, dried ginger, blackcurrant, cloves, blueberry, toast, dust. Spritzy onset, ’crackling’ carbonation even audible, but still not too coarse as the bubbles remain tiny in size (at least that is how they feel on the tongue’s surface), almost cava- or lambrusco-like; sweet, with a lot of residual brown sugar, along with esters reminiscent of sweetish pear, banana and red apple balanced with softly sourish blackberry and blueberry. Smooth, supple body, lighter than one would expect based on ABV which is considerable here; thoroughly caramelly malt sweetness acquires a gently bittering toasted and nutty edge as the beer passes through the mouth, turning effectively bittersweet, but it is still the sweetness - reinforced by residual brown sugar - which clearly dominates, while fruity esters and spicy phenols dance on top. Finish is ongoing sweetness which (barely) avoids becoming too cloying, malty and frankly, a little bit ’thin’ even though this beer carries 10% ABV, simply because it remains, in the end, underhopped: there is a whiff of earthy bitterness for sure, but not enough to build a finish worth mentioning. Soapy coriander ’bittersweetness’ lingers, with a somewhat resinous effect I really do not care for. Wodka-like alcohol lends a warming effect after swallowing but otherwise remains fairly modest in spite of this. Very earthy, sweet, inadequately hopped and slightly ’overcoriandered’ quadrupel, feels light in the mouth but lacks body and character. I prefer their Ultra Brune over this - or rather: in their respective (sub)styles, I think this one is less accomplished than its amber brother. This one to me is missing the point: do we not have enough of these half-hearted attempts at the great trappist quads already? Decent enough for what it represents I guess, but otherwise totally redundant, adding absolutely nothing to the Belgian beer map. I cannot imagine this being an alias of the more than adequate Ultra Brune, but then again, it’s been thirteen years or so since I had that one, so perhaps the recipe has changed into this... A side by side tasting of young bottles would prove interesting here, I think, especially since I am convinced that the amber version of 1830 is the same beer as Ultra Ambrée.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle shared. Slight hazy brown with a ring off white head. Aroma of malt, overripe dark fruit, caramel, toffee. Flavour is above moderate sweet and moderate bitter. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6
33cl bottle shared with Kermis. Almost no head. Almost black pour. A decent bruin
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6
33cl bottle shared with Kermis. Thin white head. Very hazy golden pour. A decent enough triple
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Bottle shared. Hazy orange golden with a small white head. Aroma of herbs, yeast, malt, toffee and light citrus. Flavour is moderate sweet and bitter. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
New series of Ecaussinnes beers celebrating the Belgian revolution of 1830, this one being the - typically Wallonian - ’ambrée’. Medium thick, egg-white, lightly lacing, moussy head over a hazy orange blonde beer with amberish hue and a ’fog’ of dead yeast particles hanging around throughout the entire liquid. Aroma of banana, peanuts, melting butter, caramel candy, persimmon, withering tulips, cream, red apple, dried grass, baker’s yeast, whisky, moldy lemon peel or even lemon-flavored tea, dry field flowers, sweet tomato, old Camembert cheese. Fruity onset, estery as can be expected from a ’bière artisanale’ from Wallonia, impressions of banana (but restrained, as in: no bubblegum), peach, apple and some redcurrant, sweetish with a souring edge, medium carbo, lean and slick body gliding smoothly over the tongue, caramelly malt sweetness with a bready quality somewhere, light nutty touch too but not as much as expected from an amber ale, finishing malt sweet and yeasty (again, a bit bready but not overly so) with light floral and somewhat herbal (tea-like) hoppiness to it, bringing an earthy bitterishness to it which enlightens the caramel and fruit sweetness; brandy-like alcohol at the back too, but well in place and fairly well hidden. Has a certain dairy quality to it (buttermilk, cheese) which I can appreciate, but otherwise gets stuck in this old Belgian cliché of sweet maltiness and fruity yeastiness; not bad for what it intends to represent, as is the case with most of this brewery’s beers. Kind of enjoyed it, after all, in being a bit different from other Wallonian amber ales, including a bit more ’cleansiness’. In retrospect: could this be an alias of Ultra Ambrée?
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
Bottle @ weekly tasting shared with Joes and Dutchdrebus. Clear red-amber color, small to average sized white to off-white head. Smell and taste malts, sweetish, some sweetish herb, spice, seed or fruit but I can’t tell which. Perfumy sweetness dominates the flavor. Not very interesting unfortunately. Doesn’t taste like 10% ABV though.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
Bottle @ benzai. Clear brown colour with a small off-white head. Smells some alcohol, malts, herbs. Tastes glue, nailpolish remover. Thin body considered its 10% abv, fizzy carbo.