Stroom Brouwers
Microbrewery
in Ghent,
East Flanders,
Belgium 🇧🇪
Associated with 2 Venues
Established in 2021
Farrell’s home town back in Colorado was named after the confluence of the Colorado and Grand rivers. As luck would have it, Gent is also named after the confluence of two rivers, one of which runs right past the brewery. It was playing with this happy coincidence that brought us to Stroom – a place for creative connection.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
End of 2022, Stroom acquired a few wooden barrels, one previously containing Irish whiskey and the other rum, and created an ‘ad hoc’ quadrupel to mature it in. The result was bottled in 75 cl bottles, for sale at the brewery’s taproom; this rating concerns the whiskey edition. Shared with Katia Warny, cheers! Greyish pale beige, dense, moussy, somewhat irregular but surprisingly stable head (for this type of beer) on a misty bronze-brown robe with ruddy burgundy glow. Aroma of lots of vanilla-scenting oak wood, candi sugar, caramel, indeed clear whisky, hint of toast, dried prunes, ‘kramiek’, hazelnut, toffee, cookies, dry tea leaves. Sweet onset, clear dark candi sugariness but not sticky, fruity notes of fig, raisin, pear and slight banana, rather fizzy but luckily fine-bubbled carbonation, full and rounded body; caramelly, hazelnutty, brown-bready malt core, sweet with a toasty bitterish edge, almost Scotch-like. Lots of drying, even slightly astringent woody tannins with lovely retronasal ‘vanilla’ from the oak wood, plus clearly warming whisky booziness, paired with a leafy hop bitter accent and lingering caramelly and brown-bready maltiness. The whisky is quite outspoken here, but still fits into the whole well. Generally speaking a powerful, boozy, rich quad, probably very suitable for extended cellaring. Well done.
Alengrin (11561) reviewed Proof #1 from Stroom Brouwers 2 years ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8
Experimental session IPA by Stroom, brewed with additional oats for creaminess. From tap at the brewery’s taproom. Snow white, membrane-lacing, moussy, stable head, clear pure golden blonde robe. Aroma of dried grapefruit peel, field flowers, dried lemonbalm, hay, bread crust, moist white pepper, leftover dough. Restrainedly fruity onset, some unripe banana and green pear, dryish and generally clean; lively carbonation, smooth and lean mouthfeel, but not as velvety as expected considering the oats. Bread-crusty and bit grainy core, ‘pure’ pale malt sweetishness but remaining dry in general, especially when the hops set in, making for a spicy and somewhat zesty, floral bitterness. Agreeable, modern, easygoing quencher – but to fully merit the ‘IPA’ moniker, it needs a lot more (New World) hop aroma in my book. In this form, it feels more like a light, hoppy saison than an ISA. Regardless, this is one to chug by the gallon on a warm summer afternoon (even if I tasted it in late December).
Benzai (24278) reviewed The House from Stroom Brouwers 2 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
Can at home. Opaque black color with an average sized beige head. Aroma and flavor are malts, cocoa, light iron, oatmeal, slightly dusty but overall quite good. Pleasant beer, I like it.
tderoeck (22679) reviewed Proof #2 from Stroom Brouwers 2 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
17/XII/22 - 33cl can from the brewery, shared @ home, BB: 18/XI/23 (2022-1749)
Clear orange beer, big creamy off-white head, little stable, non adhesive. Aroma: ripe banana, cloves, spicy touch, bubble gum, malty impression. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: lots of licorice, some banana, yeasty, bubble gum, gentle bitterness, more yeast, banana peel. Aftertaste: more yeast, licorice, more cloves, some aniseed, bitter, ok.
Bierridder (4160) ticked Grindstone from Stroom Brouwers 3 years ago
Sloefmans (15338) reviewed Grindstone from Stroom Brouwers 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Utterly clear darker metallic golden beer, low carbonation to almost no head. Sour and faraway coffee aroma, sour grains, wheat (?). Faint coffee-ish bitterness, but the rest is watered-down pale malts. As to the fresh hops... Light body, almost no slickness, medium bodied at best. Sorry. This is a gimmick.
Alengrin (11561) reviewed Proof #2 from Stroom Brouwers 3 years ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
Experimental Stroom beer, a tripel hopped the New World way (with Idaho 7). From tap at Brouwbar. Snow white, moussy, medium thick, stable head, hazy apricot blonde robe with orangey glow. Aroma of unripe peach, banana peel, cooked potato or cold potato mash, turnip, halfripe nectarine, old apple cake, lychee, orange water but also a less flattering touch of DMS (overcooked broccoli). Clean, sweetish onset, apple, peach and light banana, minerally and fizzy carbonation, smooth body; brioche-bready, cereally and very lightly ‘caramelled’ maltiness under increasing fruity hoppiness, adding notes of lychee, orange blossom, guava and green mango, though in a not overly exuberant way. The hops add mild floral bitterishness but far too weakly so to counter the overall sweet effect of the malts. Feels like a tripel ‘infused’ with a strong NEDIPA influence, but still a tripel, i.e. remaining rather understated and restrained. Why not go full NEDIPA here? I guess Stroom is still hesitant to create full-blown, characterful and less compromising craft beers for the obvious commercial reasons, but I am confident that they can do more…
tderoeck (22679) reviewed Barrel Edition: Rum (2022) from Stroom Brouwers 3 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
2/XII/22 - 75cl bottle @ Stroom brewery, BB: n/a (2022-1713)
Clear deep red brown beer, small creamy beige head, pretty stable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: alcohol, some dried fruits, a bit sourish, some banana, dry impression, wood notes, a bit yeasty, dried fruits, some caramel. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: pretty bitter start, some alcohol, soft roast, hint of ripe banana. Aftertaste: bitter, yeasty touch, spicy, a bit sourish, dry, wood notes, some tannins, bit malty, some caramel.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
2/XII/22 - 75cl bottle @ Stroom brewery, BB: n/a (2022-1712)
Clear deep red brown beer, small creamy beige head, pretty stable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: lots and lots of banana, alcohol, lots of whisky, the whisky is very present, some vanilla notes, phenols, a little chemical even medicinal touch. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bitter start, lots of alcohol, banana peel, caramel, dried fruits, wood, tannins, alcohol. Aftertaste: very bitter, dry, woody, tannins, spicy, some dried fruits, dusty, banana peel, a bit chemical.
Alengrin (11561) reviewed Schol from Stroom Brouwers 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
Blonde hopped with locally grown hops – and by locally, I mean in the Sint-Macharius quarter of Ghent, which borders on the Heirnis quarter where the brewery is located. People from Sint-Macharius grew and harvested wild hops to use in this extremely local beer, only available at the brewery and in the pub located in the old gate building of the Coyendanspark in Sint-Macharius. Only 700 l is produced so far but intentions are to recreate it every year. Had this one from tap at the brewery. Snow white, creamy and dense, membrane-lacing, stable head on a warm pure apricot-golden beer with somewhat greenish tinge. Aroma of freshly cut grass, white bread, raw cereals, plaster, field flowers, dry hay, vague cooked white cabbage. Dryish onset, very restrained unripe banana and unripe apricot fruitiness, fizzy carbonation, very minerally; smooth cereally and white-bready malt core, sweetish pale maltiness gently bittered by grassy and floral hops, somewhat drying but in a very soft way (as is typical for wild hops), so that this pale malt sweetishness continues near unchanged into the finish. Obviously the botanical form of Humulus lupulus contains less of the alpha acids found in all those cultivated varieties, hence less aroma and less bitterness, though I have to admit this beer feels clean and pleasantly ‘greenish’ (grassy). Subtle but correct, easygoing quencher, one I would not mind revisiting next time I am in that particular neighborhood of my beloved city. Note the little pun in the name: many streets in the Heirnis quarter are named after fish (because fishery was once a major source of income there) and ‘schol’ is the Flemish name of the European plaice – but also a Flemish word meaning ‘cheers’, when toasting, for example with beer…
Brewery Stats
| Score | 6.88 |
| Beers | 37 |
| Ticks | 187 |
Top Reviewers (Not including batches)
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tderoeck | 34 |
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Alengrin | 29 |
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nathanvc | 16 |
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Sebletitje | 16 |
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mike_77 | 9 |
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beerhunter111 | 9 |
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Bierridder | 8 |
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jefverstraete | 8 |
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Kraddel | 7 |
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Harrisoni | 7 |