tderoeck (22711) reviewed IBI85 Black IPA from Brouwbar 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
13/VIII/22 - on tap, shared @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a (2022-991)
Pretty clear dark brown to black beer, small creamy beige head, stable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: very roasted, lots of coffee, very hoppy, quite some soy sauce, hoppy. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: very roasted start, bitter, hoppy, a bit sweet, malty, very bitter, a bit resinous, caramel, dark chocolate, more coffee, sugary, lots of alcohol. Aftertaste: bitter, some caramel, hoppy, a bit resinous, bitter, very roasted, a bit sweet, sugary, nice stuff, really decent, a bit young maybe, this will definitely improve with some age!
tderoeck (22711) reviewed WI84 West Coast IPA from Brouwbar 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
13/VIII/22 - on tap, shared @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a (2022-990)
Pretty cloudy orange blond beer, nice creamy dense off-white head, stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: lovely, super fruity, tropical fruits, lychee, citrus notes, orange peel, some sweet caramel malts in the back. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: wow, lovely, super fruity start, tropical fruits, juicy, some mango, gentle bitterness, more mango, a bit malty and somewhat sweet. Aftertaste: more grassy, dry, a bit resinous, tropical fruits, juicy, good bitterness, hoppy, touch of malt, still lots of mango.
gave a cheers!
tderoeck (22711) reviewed CB83 Classic Blonde from Brouwbar 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
11/VIII/22 - on tap, shared @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a (2022-988)
Cloudy blond to light orange beer, big creamy off-white head, stable, adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: fruity, sourish impression, bit yeasty, herbal, a little funky. MF: ok carbon, medium to light body. Taste: bitter start, dry, a bit grassy, a little yeasty, floral hops, bitter, malty backbone. Aftertaste: bitter, floral, a bit yeasty, a little sourish, fruity, some banana, more yeast.
Alengrin (11609) reviewed CB83 Classic Blonde from Brouwbar 3 years ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
Released right after a blonde with Vienna malt, this one takes Brouwbar's attempt to reach a wide audience one step further and omits the Vienna malt altogether, keeping things as simple as possible, with only pale malt - so in a sense, this is one of Brouwbar's most 'basic' beers so far. Irregularly edged, snow white, cobweb-lacing, slowly diminishing and opening head on a misty apricot-yellow blonde beer with vague pale-orangey tinge. Aroma of ripe apricots, banana peel, moist white pepper, dry linden tree leaves and linden blossoms, touch of mandarin somewhere, apple core, grass, hint of leftover dough. Smooth fruitiness in the onset, a whiff of banana and a touch of apple with a light sweet peach note, fizzily carbonated with slick body; clean, cereally pale maltiness indeed, only vaguely sweetish with slightly drying finish, a tad powdery to even starchy in the very end and mildly bittered by an echo of bitter-plant-like hoppiness deliberately kept 'tame'. Bready and apple-like impressions linger at the back. This is indeed Brouwbar at its most basic, but at its most 'typical' as well: subtly, sometimes almost 'sneakily' infusing their beers with a touch of (New World) craft, with a degree of elegance and finetuned balance not many brewers achieve. It takes an experienced observer to notice this, I suppose...
nathanvc (6963) reviewed CS79 Chocolate Stout from Brouwbar 3 years ago
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
3 July 2022. At Brouwbar. Cheers to Anke, mom & dad!
Hazy black, stable, frothy, dark beige head. Aroma of coffee roast, espresso, chicory, earth, toasted chestnut, toasted brown bread, walnut shell, chocolate powder, actual fondant, leather, vague charred meat. Taste has sweetish fig & prune with a sourish blackberry edge; dark malt core of brown bread, chestnut, fondant & coffee bean, quite roasted and bitter at that; slight earthy-umami edge. Earthy hoppy finish offering more toast, coffee roast and tobacco almost, dry & bitter. Medium body, oily texture, average carbonation. Deceiving as a 'chocolate Stout', almost hard to call this a 'Pastry', but satisfying in its dryness.
nathanvc (6963) reviewed VB82 Vienna Blonde from Brouwbar 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
3 July 2022. At Brouwbar. Cheers to Anke, mom & dad!
Hazy orange-amber, stable, frothy, off-white head. Aroma of biscuit, caramel, plum, orange peel, dried banana, apricot, sugared peanut. Taste has sweetish plum, apricot & vague banana in a softly caramelly, peanutty, brioche-like malt body (Vienna!), a tad spicy. Herbal hoppy finish, dryish bitter with lingering peanut, stonefruit & apple. Medium body, slick texture, average carbonation. Another one in the 'easygoing' range of Brouwbar, this time the Vienna malt makes a bit more remarkable.
nathanvc (6963) reviewed DI81 Double IPA from Brouwbar 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
3 July 2022. At Brouwbar. Cheers to Anke, mom & dad!
Hazy orange-amber, stable, frothy, off-white head. Aroma of dried orange peel, peanut, rusk, fried onion, mango, cheese, pink grapefruit, gin. Taste has sweetish mango & orange peel next to bitter grapefruit & pine in a biscuity, almost peanutty malt body. Piney hoppy finish, bitter & dry yet maintaining a citrusy, grapefruity freshness. Some hefty alcohol pointing at spicy gin in the end. Medium body, oily texture, average carbonation. Very strong and tasty - excellent Brouwbar stuff.
nathanvc (6963) reviewed SI80 Session IPA from Brouwbar 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
3 July 2022. At Brouwbar. Cheers to Anke, mom & dad!
Hazy yellow, stable, small, frothy, off-white head. Aroma of lime, unripe banana, young cheese, grapefruit peel, bread crust, vague soap. Taste has sweetish unripe pear & mandarin (indeed quite restrained), edge of lime zest over a dry-bready malt base. Floral & grassy hoppy finish, bit spicy but overall bitter grapefruity and citrusy. Medium body, slick texture, fizzy carbonation. Incredibly quenching.
Alengrin (11609) reviewed VB82 Vienna Blonde from Brouwbar 3 years ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8
With the approach of the Gentse Feesten, the yearly ten-days city festival setting old Ghent on fire, Brouwbar apparently sought to create an easygoing, accessible quencher for the masses to come - and indeed the masses were there, during my two visits so far, so I can only assume this blonde ale is a success during these Gentse Feesten. Snow white, slightly irregular, cobweb-lacing, medium thick head over a hazy peach blonde beer with pale orangey tinge. Aroma of dry biscuit, dried orange peel, bread crumbs, fried sweet potato, lemonbalm, raw parsnip, minerals. Clean onset, some sweet ripe apricot and pear fruitiness but certainly not as sweet and estery as the typical Belgian blonde, fizzily carbonated with slick, bit oily mouthfeel; rusk- and cracker-like maltiness from the Vienna malt, very smooth and rounded, working to a mildly citric, somewhat leafy hop bitterness, bringing things to balance without overpowering them - the breadiness of malts and a pinch of yeast survives the hoppiness without any effort, but the finish is nicely dry and quenching. Clean, slick and non-estery enough to deserve classification as an Anglo-Saxon style golden ale here rather than a Belgian blonde - in that sense perfectly fitting in Brouwbar's house style, in fact this one would be the perfect introduction to that house style, with is perfect sense of elegance, balance and studied restraint. Does exactly what it is intended to do: a nice, clean, modest thirst quencher in a postmodern, 'globalized' kind of style - secretly introducing lay people to postmodern craft brewing without them even realizing it, I reckon...
gave a cheers!
tderoeck (22711) reviewed VB82 Vienna Blonde from Brouwbar 3 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
18/VII/22 - on tap @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a (2022-887)
Clear orange blond beer, small creamy yellowish head, pretty stable, a bit adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: yeast, malty, grains, some caramel, fruity notes, some banana. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: malty, a bit sweet, some caramel, gentle bitterness, slightly metallic, some fruity notes. Aftertaste: more grains, malts, decent stuff, fruity, some citrus, good bitterness, a bit grassy, sweet touch, hint of peach and pineapple, ok!