omhper (44752) reviewed Rubbens Blond from Stokerij - Brouwerij Rubbens 2 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
--Bottled. -- Clear golden, small head. Aroma of honey and bread. Mid sweet with light to medium body and clean, rounded mouthfeel. Bread, floral honey and notes of marzipan. Low to medium bitterness.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
The dubbel in this predictable series of beers created by Rubbens, known for generations as a 'jenever' distillery, but recently dabbling in beer brewing as well; steinie bottle from the Delhaize supermarket in Zele, where this company originated. Inches thick, foamy, audibly crackling, yellowish pale beige, densely moussy and pillowy, stable head on a misty chestnut brown beer with ruddy-bronze glow and minute bubbles of sparkling rising up from the bottom. Aroma of old brown bread crust, hard caramel, green walnut bolsters, thyme, nutmeg, medlar, iron, wet humus, old coffee filters, hazelnuts gathered from a damp forest floor, dry chick peas, cinnamon, hints of Brussels 'grondwitloof', pear, tea bags, dust, moist brown paper, something very faintly blue plum-like lurking in the background. Fruity onset, sweetish with a touch of dark candi sugar, but estery as well with impressions of ripe pear, light banana and medlar, even a light sourish edge of plum, fizzily carbonated but not too sharply so; rounded, smooth mouthfeel, caramelly and brown-bready malt sweetishness with a pleasant hazelnutty edge and even something very thinly chocolatey. More toastiness in the end but not going really bitter, instead adorned by phenolic spiciness (clove, nutmeg, even fresh thyme) and actual added spices (cinnamon for sure but probably coriander seed as well). Especially the cinnamon element works its way up in the finish, pairing with the clove-like phenols, nutty and caramelly malts and leafy, floral hops, the latter providing a somewhat soft, but long-working and effective bitter aspect. Ends herbal, caramelly malt sweet and cinnamon-spiced, with some odd 'muddy' flavours as well, but manages to avoid outright off-flavours - so in the end and like the other Rubbens beers, this is actually well made, boring and cliché as it may be. I had a lot of much less interesting dubbels over the years!
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Rubbens, a 'jenever' distillery dating back to the 19th century, has recently taken up beer brewing as a means of generating extra revenue - probably responding to the artisanal beer hype - and could not have chosen a more beaten track, with a blonde, a dubbel and this tripel. Steinie bottle from the local Delhaize supermarket in Zele, which is where Rubbens began (they moved to Wichelen in 2009). Thick and frothy, irregularly cobweb-lacing, egg-white, uneven-bubbled but firm and stable head atop an initially clear, warm and pure golden blonde beer with 'old gold' tinge and lots of visible sparkling, turning misty and more peachy with the yeast deposit added. Aroma of ripe banana, brioche bread, pear, some pineapple, honey, sweetclover, camomile tea, hints of lavender-scented bubble bath, mint even, cooked carrot and - of course - 'graanjenever'. Sweetish, fruity onset, pronounced banana ester but not to the point where it becomes annoyingly bubblegummy, side notes of pear, red apple and peach, sharp carbonation with some numbing effect and strong minerality associated with it; sweet white-bready, soft maltiness with a layer of residual honeyish sugariness on top, carrying the banana ester onwards to a warming finish where hop bitterness, though thinly lingering for a while, remains gentle and floral, spicy phenols appear but do not become too dominant and 'jenever'- to even slightly calvados-like alcohol warms the throat. The alcohol could have been better hidden at this ABV and the overall flavour profile is clearly on the sweet side of tripel with just a bit too much banana and sugariness for me, insufficiently balanced by hop bitterness, which is kept at rather 'basic' levels - but that said, compared with a few other new tripels I had yesterday evening, this is a relatively solid one, at the same time adding absolutely nothing new to this overexposed category.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
33cl bottle. A clear orange brown beer with a beige head. Aroma of dark malt, red fruits, speculaas. Taste of dark red malt, caramel, speculaas, spices, raisins.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Thx to Jef V. for this bottle. Clear, blond color and a nice white head. Spicy nose, malty and yeasty flavors with nice Spikes. --- Beer merged from original tick of Blond on 20 Dec 2022 at 19:12 - Score: 7. Original review text: Thx to Jef V. for this bottle. Clear, blond color and a nice white head. Spicy nose, malty and yeasty flavors with nice Spikes.
Rubin77 (10187) reviewed Rubbens Tripel from Stokerij - Brouwerij Rubbens 3 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
33cl bottle from Prik&Tik Kampenhout, Belgium. F: medium, off-white, good retention. C: gold, hazy. A: malty, bit orange, honey, banana, red apples peels, spicy touch. T: full malty base, banana, red apples peels, bready, spicy, hay touch, decent bitterness, soft carbonation, ok for the style but nothing memorable.
Rubin77 (10187) reviewed Rubbens Dubbel from Stokerij - Brouwerij Rubbens 3 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
33cl bottle from Prik&Tik Kampenhout, Belgium. F: tanned, good retention, big. C: brown with coppery hue against the light. A: malty, dark breads, dark dried fruits, bit spicy, gingerbread, coriander, chocolate touch. T: medium malty base, bit chocolate, dark dried fruits, bit cocoa, spicy, dark bread touch, soft carbonation, quite good for the style, enjoyed.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Very light hazy blond colour, white foam. A bit sweet, a bit citrussy, light bitter hoppy finish. Good and well made classic Belgian tripel.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Dark brown colour, beige foam. Nose of cocoa, roasted malts, lots of spices, gingerbread, cloves. Taste is sweet, notes of dark fruit, lots of spices in the finish.