Alengrin (11609) reviewed Deo from D'Oude Maalderij 10 years ago
Appearance - 2 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6
Another Oude Maalderij beer made at Gaverhopke, so I carefully open it over the sink, and lo and behold, upon removing the cork, the beer literally spouted out of the bottle neck like a fountain. I have no idea what is going wrong with Gaverhopke these days, but this is really ridiculous and hugely annoying, practically every beer coming from their brewery is a heavy gusher these days. Sigh... Anyway: very coarse, papery, pale greyish beige, irregular head towering inches above the beer but gradually collapsing; colour is a hazy very dark chestnut brown, murky with deposit; I also found bits of semi-solid ’mud’ in the bottom of my glass. Aroma of glue- and shoe polish-like phenols (very strong initially but fortunately fading after a while), dead leaves, coffee grounds, old dusty cocoa powder, fondant chocolate, elderberry, nutmeg, toasted brown bread, bayleaf, black pepper, walnut, fresh mushrooms, pear. Sweetish and sourish onset of elderberry, redcurrant, hint banana; very clearly overcarbonated with an even somewhat numbing effect on the tongue, distracting from the flavour. Dusty yeastiness shows up early and carries all the way to the finish, over a caramelly and toasted malt body with roasted bitterness in the end, cold black coffee effect with certain chocolatey aspects; earthy, peppery hop bitterness further dries the finish and as expected, the phenols return retronasally, but less intrusively than I feared based on the aroma. Deep redcurrant sourishness persists (a bit too strongly) alongside the caramelly and toasted malt bittersweetness. The idea behind this is good, like most Oude Maalderij beers, but it is very obvious that it has been very badly executed from a technical point of view. I will temper my disappointment over this because the basic flavours are okay but I highly recommend this beer company to take their beers elsewhere!
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Maximo from D'Oude Maalderij 10 years ago
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle from Hopduvel. Brewed at Gaverhopke, so I open it over the sink and indeed it gushes, but manageably so. Deep mocha beige, medium thick, moussy head slowly dissolving in the middle and completely vanishing in the end; jet black colour with mahogany edges, leaving a yellowish ’film’ on the glass afterwards. Strong aroma of chocolate liqueur, charcoal, kahlua, cappuccino, candied cherry, dried banana, strong shoe polish- and even paint-like phenols, cloves, Belgian chocolates, calvados, toffee, liquorice. Intense taste of dense candied sweetness, dates and raisins, deep blackberry sourishness, meaty umami flavours, lightly above average carbonation for the style, very thick and oily, ’fat’ mouthfeel, creamy, consisting of a big caramelly and nutty malt body with bitter chocolate properties and increasing roasted, coffeeish bitterness in the end, while (too) apparent, wodka-like alcohol already manifests itself in an early stage and burns a bit in the end; apart from that, the finish also yields strong glueish phenols and some spicy hops, but the thick, oily malt bittersweetness keeps dominating along with that initial, liqueurish candied sweetness. Quite an intense beer to pour down, not entirely flawless but in this thick a body, the overly strong phenols and very obvious alcohol are covered a bit so the end result is still agreeable. Clearly inspired by Struise’s Black Albert and the like and in that sense a very ’Belgian imperial stout’ if such a thing already exists, but lacks finesse and restraint; still, if you are into imperial stouts, this is an interesting one to try. Given the previous experiences I had with this brewery and especially with beers made at Gaverhopke, this is better than I expected, or in fact probably the best Oude Maalderij beer I had so far.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Dark brown colored, hazy, small beige head, non lasting, floaters. Aroma is of caramel and dark fruits, oak and winey, sour and roasted. Taste is medium sweet caramel, some brown sugar, moderately sour, dark fruits, winey oaky. Medium bodied, soft to average carbonation, chewy. The sourness takes the magic away...
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 2 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 2
Pours dark brown - nearly black. Big white head. Smell is sour, dry. Looks like another infection took place, but the other version ( makers mark ) turned out quite nice, even thouhg it was infected as well. Taste is sharp, very sour, metallic and glue in the back. Waaw, the sourness is quite nice but the taste here is completely off and jusrt plain terrible. I respect jeff as a brewer, but this one is a straight drainpour...
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Leviathan from D'Oude Maalderij 10 years ago
Appearance - 2 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5.5
The other one in this bizarre project, aged in Ardbeg barrels. Coarse, off-white, loose head dissolving quickly and almost completely under influence of the alcohol, colour is a murky peach blonde with brownish hue, completely ’milky’ and muddy with deposit. Like its Kraken counterpart, this beer has a very agressive and not too inviting aroma dominated by glue- and paint-like phenols, a heavy dosis of iodine (peat) and a lot of alcohol (whisky), next to wet wood, mouldy orange, rotten peach, cough syrup, cloves, vanilla, caramel, chlorine and ureum... Sticky sweet onset, honeyish and white candi sugar-like with a lot of unfermented sugars, feeling a bit ’worty’ even, banana, overripe peach, very (too) low in carbonation even for a 14% beer, slick caramelly and honeyish malt sweetness with again a surprisingly ’thin’ body - or at least thinner than expected. Finishes in continuing sticky honey and overripe fruit sweetness, an awful lot of glueish phenols, wet woodiness, strong retronasal iodine and expectedly a huge amount of whisky-like alcohol, burning a bit till deep down the throat. I found the labels, the sea monster theme and the whole idea behind this duo very fascinating, but now that I tasted both of them, I cannot recommend either of them. Both have fermentation issues and are completely out of balance, in being way too alcoholic and extremely phenolic to the point where it becomes hard to pour down a complete glass - in fact, as with the Kraken, most of this beer went down the sink. A missed opportunity at producing something remarkable and this one in particular suffers from heavy peaty iodine presence, very medicinal, something I do not seem to be able to master. Peated whisky is a refined and balanced product as it is, but when used for beer, it seems only the iodine smell remains and frankly, in most cases this completely ruins these beers for me. This one adds insult to injury in having no redeeming features or decent structure underneath that iodine so I cannot but give it a painfully low score, I’m afraid.
Alengrin (11609) reviewed The Kraken from D'Oude Maalderij 10 years ago
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
Bottle from Belgiuminabox shared with Craftmember. Irregular, moussy, pale greyish white head leaving a bit of lacing and dissolving in the end under the influence of the alcohol; colour is a hazy orange amber, completely ochre ’mud’ with deposit. Aroma instantly attacks the nose with sharp brandy- to even methanol-like alcohol, after which other impressions appear: damp dishcloth, mouldy orange, joiner’s glue, fig, chlorine, roasted hazelnut, wet wood, dried porcini, turnips, mouldy leaves, overripe papaja, cigarette tobacco, red apple. Sweet onset, marmelade, strawberry, mango, candi sugar sweetness lingering, sourish accents of gooseberry or redcurrant, soft carbo, smooth and strangely lacking a bit of body, honeyish and remaining marmelade-like sweet, finish adds mostly wry alcohol, clearly badly hidden and even rising up retronasally, but little of the wood drought I was hoping for; I get a deep, late, brief earthy hoppiness too, but not adding (enough) bitterness. Very earthy with deposit too, big starchy yeastiness; a kind of raw beet sugar sweetness lingers. This is a very weird concoction indeed, I guess you’ll either like it or hate it, but to me this lacks the finesse, elegance and ’nobility’ I expect from a 14% barley wine. Not the first time this brewery promises a lot but ends up disappointing me, and it will probably not be the last time either.
Sloefmans (15389) reviewed Leviathan from D'Oude Maalderij 10 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Medium to good dense, cream-coloured head over orangeish amber beer. Peat, tarr, Islay whisky - nothing but very classic. Slight touch of orangepeel. Tarr, phenols and, once more, orangepeel. Tarred wood. For the rest, the beer itself presents little noteworthy features. Thinnish MF, watery, quite carbonated; Definitely better than The Kraken. Or - is it because I like Islay malt taste, and certainly Ardbeg...? Once more, the claimed ABV seems hard to swallow.
Sloefmans (15389) reviewed The Kraken from D'Oude Maalderij 10 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
Small greyish-cream head, dwindling over orangeish amber beer. Brandy jumping out of the glass, and also marked oranges+alcohol, as in Mandarine Napoléon, but also Sangria. Plastic, solvent, chemical flavours. Fruity - again oranges, yes - but again as a artifical addition to fruitsweets. Not pleasant. Thin, alcoholic (but..), somewhat burning MF. Feels quite carbonated but absolutely doesn’t look the part. Kraken? Little scuttlefish, yes. And I have some serious doubts about this claimed ABV.
77ships (14506) reviewed The Kraken from D'Oude Maalderij 10 years ago
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 2 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 2
Thanks to Kraddel! 500 ml. bottle sampled. Bottle # 222/666. Pours a nasty & murky orange brown with bubbles only on the side. Nose is huge massive band aid with heavy weird plastic, rotting candy, big sugar, strong butter, almost touch sour, rotting lemons style, more weird & muddled wine sugar. Taste is butter, plastic & very heavy band aids, touch esters, the barrel is here but all weird, muddled & watery in the back with layers of band aids & sugar, you get touch of oak & massive cheap sugar & sugary wine,… Weird & watery. Pretty much flat, watery, thin, watery sugar. I am sorry but I think that this is horrible, tastes like the base beer was a catastrophe and the barrel was meant to mask that fact. The other ratings are good, the probably might just lay with me & maybe I just don’t get this beer. Sadly I couldn’t drink this at all. Same goes for its brother Kraken. Label is cool but came across better on paper than it does on the label.
77ships (14506) reviewed Leviathan from D'Oude Maalderij 10 years ago
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 2 | Flavor - 1 | Texture - 2 | Overall - 2
Thanks to Kraddel! 500 ml. bottle sampled. Bottle # 208/666. Hazy orange, some bubbles only on the side. Nose is horrendous, phenolic, watery, battery acid in your face, something rotting sour, peat comes across as hugely plastic in a bad way. Taste is rotting, plastic, battery acid, plastic, weirdly sour, hugely buttery, spoiled, watery body, mild peat behind this mess, big sugar, touch nail pollis,… Pretty much flat, watery & buttery. I am sorry but I think that this is horrible, tastes like the base beer was a catastrophe and the barrel was meant to mask that fact. The other ratings are good, the probably might just lay with me & maybe I just don’t get this beer. Sadly I couldn’t drink this at all. Same goes for its brother Kraken. Label is cool but came across better on paper than it does on the label.