Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
1/V/22 - 75cl bottle @ In de Verzekering tegen de Grote Dorst, BB: 2/III/27, bottle #0633/1000 (2022-472) Thanks to C’kes and crew for sharing the beer!
Pretty cloudy red to red brown beer, small creamy off-white head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: lots of raspberry jam, sweet impression, a little woody. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: sourish start, raspberry jam, a bit metallic, bitter, earthy. Aftertaste: bitter touch, some raspberries, metallic, woody, a little funky, pretty clean. Not bad.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8
Earlier this week, the Den Herberg brewery was inducted into HORAL's hall of fame of lambic brewers and blenders, the result of almost four years of mastering lambic brewing and blending, after an initial decade of brewing top-fermented ales in traditional Belgian styles. Who knows, maybe a similar honour could go to Angerik in Dilbeek, in the northern part of the Pajottenland west of Brussels: following in Herberg's footsteps, they too, after many years of brewing classically styled Belgian ales, have now taken the step to dip a toe in lambic brewing - the one style most tightly associated with the Pajottenland region. After they deemed the first results successful enough, they made a bold decision and took an Islay whisky barrel to age their lambic in - Islay whisky being notable for its peated character, something not necessarily working well with the delicate features of lambic; after half a year, the result, dubbed Cuvée Kluysbosch, was bottled in luxurious 'champagne cuvée' bottles with cork and muselet and packed in branded wooden boxes. Only 200 such bottles were made - and sold out in less than a day, so I am forever grateful to Poseidon Beers for helping me get one. Dense and tiny-bubbled, egg-white, creamy to even pillowy but regular, medium sized head retaining remarkably well (only slowly opening in the middle after fifteen minutes or so, but dissolving nonetheless another fifteen minutes after that); initially clear, deep and warm honey-hued orange blonde, almost amberish from the wood, with masses of tiny bubbles rushing throughout, turning misty further on - so far so good as far as looks are concerned. Strong bouquet of indeed very obvious and smoky peat, not just bags of moist peat like my grandmother had them in her cellar but iodine or even brine as well with peated whisky associations (Ardbeg, Laphroiag, Lagavulin and so on) immediately made, weighing heavily on lambic features of ripe gooseberry, damp hay, wet old oak wood with even a dash of vanilla, cheese spread or even young abbey cheese, sour cream, sorrel leaves, fermenting orange peel, dry cider, minerals (as in spring water). Colourfully fruity onset, gooseberry, wild apple, green plum, grape skin - acidic but not overly sharply so (in spite of a thin lemony edge), with a prominent unripe stonefruit-like astringency to it but also a softer, sweeter core vaguely reminiscent of peach; minerally carbonation effects from refermentation in the bottle, but in a soft way, adding enough liveliness without coming to the foreground too much. Supple, full mouthfeel, a smooth breadiness deeply soaked in lambic dryness, lactic tartness and light and still playful 'Bretty' funkiness, with this sour cream- or even goat cheese-like aspect on its edges; drying woody tannins gain considerable strength in the finish, and so does the peat, bringing all its smoky and iodine-like features to the foreground, indeed very peated whisky-like and lingering for a long time, adding a certain 'meatiness' and further dryness as well. Woody, noble, tannic but still fruity finish, hops nearly absent though 'structurally' there - again, with the peat remaining in both nose and mouth for quite a while. Impressive for its sheer boldness: this one takes Lambiek Fabriek's Colon-Elle (also involving whisky barrel ageing) a step further, probably in an attempt to distinguish Angerik lambic from the rest of the market immediately and decisively, considering what is on that market already. Intense indeed, I am not entirely convinced yet if the delicate and 'malse' character of the young lambic in question is up to the task of carrying such a hefty amount of peat on its frail shoulders though - I think backblending this with lambic of other ages (in the future of course since older Angerik lambics simply do not exist yet) may yield beautiful results though. Fascinating newcomer - and promising to say the least. Watch out for more lambic experiments from this brewery, which after all these years manages to seriously surprise me.
bier4der (3351) ticked Jonge Lambiek from Brouwerij Angerik 4 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
Oatmeal stout (though at lower ABV than is traditionally the case) from this still active microbrewery in Dilbeek. Thick and creamy, mousy, regularly shaped, quite dense, 'dirty yellowish' beige head, blackish robe with thin burgundy edge. Aroma of old coffee filters and coffee powder, dry and hard brown bread crust, old walnuts, dusty old jute cloth, dry tea, old 'fondant' chocolate with fat bloom on it, burnt raisins, dry autumn leaves, elderberry, nutmeg, minerals. Dryish onset, some dried fig and burnt currant aspects, clear but soft sourish undertone and a vague dash of old beef stock cubes; fizzy carbonation, rounded mouthfeel, feeling 'fuller' than one would expect at this ABV. Dry nutty and toasty middle with persistent sourish edge, brown-bready and a bit 'dusty' but also with a clear metallic edge; herbal, dry tea bag-like hop bitter accent in the finish, quite long, dry with ongoing dried-fruity touches and a lingering metallic 'zing' - though in this kind of lower ABV stouts, that does not really bother me too much. In all, even if perhaps a bit 'dusty' and herbal for the style, an accomplished stout, with remarkable body for its strength. Much better than expected, to be frank.
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
Pours dark brown to black, small tanned head. Smell is roasty, coffee, bit rye indeed. Taste is full, roasty, chocolaty, coffee, ashy. Not as bad as feared.
Bierkoning (17699) reviewed Harten Troef! from Brouwerij Angerik 6 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4
Orange blonde color, creamy head. Loads and loads of coreander in the aroma. Malty, slightly hoppy flavor, totally overpowered by coreander. Just a touch of ginger. There is a total lack of balanced in this potentially good beer.
Bierkoning (17699) reviewed Boerke Blond from Brouwerij Angerik 6 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6
Orange color with a touch of brown. Orange aroma with some hops. Sweetish, hoppy, somewhat yeasty flavor with some orange liquor. Yeasty bitter afteratste. The aroma promises more than the flavor delivers.
Bierkoning (17699) reviewed Boerke Donker from Brouwerij Angerik 6 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4
Yeasty aroma and flavor with some orange. Just a bit sweet, even syrupy. Spices, says the label, but I can only find some curacao. Disappointing.
Bierkoning (17699) reviewed Kriekenboerke from Brouwerij Angerik 6 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7
Bottle. Pinkish red color. Stony aroma with ash, ’zuurstokken’ and cherry sweets. Dryish, a bit sour flavor with stones, mint and hints of metal. Ash, almost like kissing a girl that smokes heavily and uses cherry lipstick. Strange beer, but in a way well made.