Rubin77 (10187) reviewed Rye IPA from De Donder 5 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
33cl bottle from Bierwinkel De Hopduvel in Gent. F: huge, egg-white, long lasting. C: dark amber, hazy. A: grapefruits, orange, bit toast, light tropical fruits, caramel. T: full body, grapefruits, orange, bit pine resin, harmonic long lasting bitterness, bit bready, herbal spicy, medium carbonation, well done all together, fully enjoyed.
tderoeck (22711) reviewed Donkeren Donder Imperial Stout from De Donder 5 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
19/IV/20 - 33cl bottle from De Hopduvel (Gent), shared @ home, BB: n/a, bottled: 12/XI/19 (2020-351)
Clear dark brown to black beer, big creamy bit irregular beige head, stable, non adhesive. Aroma: very malty, lots of grains, hay, coffee notes, dark chocolate. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: very roasted, little bitter, dry, some dark chocolate, malty, grains, cow fodder, coffee, more roast. Aftertaste: more roast, pretty dry, some charcoal, coffee notes, bitter finish, malty, grains, soft acidity.
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Donkeren Donder Imperial Stout from De Donder 6 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
Rikkert De Donder's second commercial creation, a strong stout flavoured with coffee, chocolate and cocoa nibs, brewed at Jef Pirens' Oude Maalderij in Izegem. Mousy, medium thick, yellowish beige, regularly edged, slowly opening and eventually all but disappearing head, as good as black robe with a warm wine red hue appearing only when held near bright light, where minute bubbles appear during swirling the glass. Aroma of cold black coffee and coffee filters, dusty old 'fondant' chocolate bars, hard caramel, toasted walnuts, cigar ashes, dried dates, prunes, moist nutmeg, burnt toast crumbs and even a very faint dash of charred steak somewhere, fig syrup, old liquorish candy (quite obviously so), freshly extinguished bonfire, cognac, vague hint of damp earth after adding the sediment. Very restrained in sweetness - especially when compared to the legions of other, often non-Belgian imperial stouts one comes across these days - but still hints of dried fig and prune, sourish undercurrent (blackberry-ish almost), dry beef stock cube-like umami more clearly present but acceptable for this style; medium carbonation, full and smooth body, oily and slick-edged. Toasty-nutty and bitter-chocolatey maltiness with a very firm, almost ashy roasted bitterness in the end, enhanced by the added ingredients; the coffee pierces through retronasally but less overpowering than is often the case in coffee stouts, while the cocoa nibs add a black-chocolatey bitter touch as well. Brown-bready, roasty and boozy effects in the end, with a dash of spicy hop bitterness further accentuating the roasted bitterness; some black-chocolatey aspects linger, while the throat is gently warmed - and luckily not harshly burned - by a 'jenever'-like alcohol bearing some light wryness in its tail. Decent enough, if still a bit yeasty and fizzy the Belgian way, but then I have argued before that a case can be made to recognize 'Belgian imperial stout' as a somewhat blurry substyle within the whole of imperial stouts; this one fits very neatly in that category. Nice one, with the added flavourings kept relatively subtle so that the beer's basic character shines through sufficiently. Would happily drink this again - and I have a feeling that it is not the last time I encounter it...
SVD (7137) reviewed Rye IPA from De Donder 6 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5
Dark amber. Small, aroma is citrus, rogge, taste is the same, bitter, very nice
nathanvc (6963) reviewed Rye IPA from De Donder 6 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
24 February 2019. Wieze Bierfestival - cheers to Meeki, Ama Deke & the lovely Anke! Clear dark golden with a lasting, small, frothy, off-white head. Aroma of rye, orange peel, bitter mango, pink grapefruit, dank onion, breadcrust, pine, green banana, pepper. Taste is light fruity sweet, notes of apple & pear & vague estery banana, a bit bready & yeasty; quickly leading to a medium hoppy bitter core that brings mango, grapefruit, rye & pepper with some sourish lime & wheat for balancing. Dryish, piney hoppy finish, a bit floral, some dank onion, more grapefruit & rye. Medium body, slick-oily texture, lively carbonation. The brewer told us he wanted to make an uncompromising American-style IPA, and not the next 'Belgian hoppy blonde'. Well, he did it, nice one.
Kraddel (15844) reviewed Rye IPA from De Donder 8 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 9
Sampled at Wieze 2017. Pours clear, dark amber. Small white head. Smell is rather weak. bit bitter. Taste is bit bitter, some spices. Rather intense. Nice MF and carbo.
77ships (14506) reviewed Rye IPA from De Donder 9 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
Thank you for sharing Alengrin! Sampled 330 ml. bottle @ Gents Bierfestival 2016. Hazy amber orange, creamy off-white head; nose is milky bread, other grain, leaves, strong milky yeast. Taste is overly milky, stale black bread, other grains, sugar, not really getting much hop, bread, sugar,… Milky & bready body. Sorry didn’t appeal to me.
tderoeck (22711) reviewed Rye IPA from De Donder 9 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Imported from my RateBeer account as De Donder Rye IPA (by De Donder):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 15/20, MyTotalScore: 3.7/5
20/VII/16 - 33cl bottle from a trade @ home - BB: IX/2017 (2016-775) Thanks to Alengrin for the trade!
Little hazy amber beer, big fizzy yellowish head, pretty stable, non adhesive. aroma: bit chemical, rubbery smell, caramel, sweet malts, bit fruity, MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: pretty bitter, malty, citrus, fruity, caramel, grapefruit. Aftertaste: very harsh bitterness, citrus, fruity, some band-aid, bit rubbery, some exotic fruits, dry bitter finish. Not bad! Maybe a bit old?
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Rye IPA from De Donder 9 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
New Belgian IPA with two American hop varieties, made at De Graal to a recipe developed by home brewer Rikkert De Donder in Zele and celebrating the 50th anniversary of a local youth club called Juvenes (hence the name). In spite of the name, apparently brewed with wheat instead of rye, possibly inspired by Kees’ Double Rye IPA from the Netherlands, which has the same general profile. Only 150 crates were made for now, but there are plans to expand into an independent micro brewery. Fairly thick, creamy, lightly but consistently lacing, beaten egg-white head consisting of densely packed minute bubbles and retaining exceptionally well (still completely closed after half an hour); lightly hazy, deep warm orange blonde robe with vaguely brownish hue and vivid fizz, turning a misty amber as more of the yeast sediment gradually goes into the glass. Aroma adorns a fruity yeast character with rather restrained American hop aromas, resulting in a blend of impressions: moldy orange peel, green banana, faint whiff of bubblegum, dried ginger, (very) strong phenolic cloves, damp earth, white pepper, horseradish, apricot, soap, refined sweet mandarin and bitter grapefruit from the hops struggling a bit to get through, lightly toasted bread. Lively fruity onset, subduedly sweetish but more sourish, impressions of gooseberry, green banana, unripe pear and peach, with hop bitterness already showing itself at a very early stage. Supple, smooth, medium carbonated body, lightly bready barley with an accent of soapy - sourish wheatiness provides a solid backbone for the hops, which, from their onsetting bitterness at the start, evolve into a full-fledged, peppery, resinous and tonic water-like bitterness which comes to full glory in the finish, yielding modest grapefruit peel and spice aromas retronasally, mingled with clove-like phenols. The rooty, earthy bitterness dries the back of the mouth and throat for quite a long while: no compromise here. Some warming, gin-like alcohol warms the chest after swallowing. Honestly, there are so many of these occasional ales around in Belgium that they are often interchangeable, but this one does it differently: uncompromising hop bitterness justifies the use of the term ’IPA’ here, that much is clear. Some will probably argue that the yeasty aromas (esters and, more than anything, phenols) will distract from the hop aromas, but apparently the brewer did use an American yeast strain here - making me wonder why it still came out so fruity, perhaps fermentation temperatures have something to do with this. Whatever the case, a somewhat cleaner yeast profile would probably have made this better still, and so would a more ’lush’ and generous American hop aroma (as the hops add more pure bitterness than fragrance in this case), but for a first attempt, I cannot but encourage Rikkert to keep it up and venture deeper into the international craft beer styles. I am pleasantly surprised with this. Flawless from a strictly technical point of view, too, but I assume this benefits from De Graal’s experience; I hope this young brewer can maintain the same technical level when he decides to expand his own brewery into the realm of commercialism.