Alengrin (11675) reviewed La Culminante 31 from Brasserie les Mûriers 3 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
Yet another one proving that the old Scotch genre, popular in Belgium until the sixties, is still very much alive in Wallonia - albeit that this one is actually physically brewed in Flanders. Thick and frothy, pale yellowish beige, large-bubbled, shred-lacing head over a misty, warm ruddy-caramel brown robe with coppery glow and lots of fine-bubbled visible sparkling. Aroma of dry caramel, cranberry sauce, brown bread, clove, potpourri, iron, hints of apple sauce, sweet dessert wine, almond, bayleaf, preserved beetroot, rosehip, dry tea and some background biscuit. Sweet-fruity onset, Pink Lady apple and Durondeau pear but also medlar and raisin, with a vague sourish edge (probably reinforced by the carbonation, which, though nowhere painfully stinging, is very active here); smooth caramelly core, brown-bready and thinly sprinkled with residual sugars, but also developing a toasty bitterish side, accentuated by herbal, tea-like, gently but thoroughly bittering hops. Hints of clove and bayleaf linger together with the toasty bitter aspect of the malts, disturbed by badly hidden, gin-like alcohol, even becoming somewhat wry in the end. I had better Scotch ales in actual Scotland last year of course but I still sympathise with the often more yeasty Belgian interpretation of it so I really wanted to like this one, but the added iron and badly hidden alcohol prompt me to lower my initial score a bit - this is an okay Scotch, but (too) susceptible to improvement.
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
One of these Culminante beers brewed at Hofbrouwerijke in Flanders for a client brewer in the Eupen-Malmedy region, a hybrid of saison and IPA - claimed to be an original find, but in fact this has been done before many times, albeit not very often in Belgium, admittedly. Snow white, hugely foamy, dense, pillowy, paper-like lacing head over a misty pale yellow blonde robe with greenish tinge and lots of fierce sparkling rushing through. Aroma initially lightstruck ('cat pee') but this eventually fades as usual, unveiling impressions of wormwood leaf, spiced crackers, green banana, grass, bitterroot, white pepper, sawdust, old dried grapefruit peel. Dryish onset, green pear and green banana notes but low in both esters and sweetness, medium carbonated (soft yet still very active) with smooth pale malt core, grainy and dry, the dryness accentuated by a long, wormwoody, rooty hop bitterness. This bitterness becomes tonic water-like and dries the throat, but forgets to bring the range of retronasal aromas one tends to expect nowadays from anything with the term 'IPA' written on it. Much more a (very) bitter blonde than anything IPA-like, or again one of those beers lagging behind on international trends and still thinking that 'IPA' means 'more hop bitter than normal'... As for the saison part: ever since the craft beer movement 'discovered' this term, it has been applied to a whole range of blonde Belgian style ales indiscriminately and I fear exactly that has happened in this case as well. Decent dry quencher, technically well executed, but neither a true IPA nor a true saison for me.
Gerbeer (8336) reviewed La Culminante 694 from Brasserie les Mûriers 2 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
339 ml bottle. Pours a muddy orange/brown with light head. Aromas of mineral water, subtle fruit and toasted malts. Flavors of dusty caramel, copper and toasted malts. Not much going on.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
330 ml bottle. Pours a dull amber with moderate foamy head. Aromas of banana, fruity esters, and doughy malts. Flavors follow same with creamy malts and slight vegetal notes.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
Hazy pale golden yellow colour, small white head. Aroma of sweet fruity wheat malt, banana, yeast. Taste of herbal and fruity wheat malt, banana, mirabelles.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Clear golden beer with a beige head. Aroma of banana, stone fruits and yeast. Taste of dry yeasty wheat malt, banana, dry finish.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4.5
Erhöhte Karbonisierung. Trocken herb-fruchtiger Beginn mit Rhabarber, der nicht übermäßig stark in den Vordergrund gelangt. Milde Säure, trocken bleibend, kurzer Abgang. OK. 9/6/8/7/7/7
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5.5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Dunkler, cremiger aber trockener Malzbeginn. Röstnoten, leichte Bitternoten, das trockene Mundgefühl verstärkt sich. Noten von Schokolade, mittellanger Abgang, rund. 9/8/9/9/8/9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
33cl bottle. A reddish brown beer with a beige head. Aroma of brown malt, spices, toffee. Taste of spicy dark malt, brownies, caramel, spices, raisins.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 2 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 2
Trocken herber Beginn, mild bitter, laff getreidig. Dumpf, Hopfen wird höchstens angedeutet, kurzer Abgang. Meh. 9/4/5/4/8/4