Alengrin
Gent, Belgium 🇧🇪 MemberOptions
Activity
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
One of the fixed new Achel beers, a brand that was restyled when the Achelse Kluis monastery - literally on the border of Belgium with the Netherlands - ceased to be a trappist abbey and was sold to a private investor; nevertheless this 'Grand Cru' (a term derived from French wine culture but meaningless in Belgian beer culture other than simply meaning that a beer is intended to be of a higher class than its brethren) refers back to the trappist past of the site, as Marc Gallant, deceased eight years ago now, was the abbott there up till 2006, when he moved to Orval in retirement. I vividly recall the Achelse Zomer of 2004, a one-off commemorating his then 75th birthday, as one of the best Achel trappists of them all, so I was hoping to find at least a glimpse of that memory in this present-day equivalent. Snow white, frothy, cobweb-lacing, slowly breaking but generally stable head, peach-golden blonde robe with ochre-ish tinge, clear at first, misty further on. Aroma of dry straw, dried flowers (though not necessarily heather, which was actually added), cooked turnips, moist white pepper, halfripe peach, camomile, clove, bread crust, 'graanjenever', wet clay, juniper berry (probably just those heather flowers again), apricot, green pear. Fruity onset but relatively restrained in sweetness, unripe peach, very subtle pineapple and a dash green pear, minerally carbonation, smooth and full body; rounded white-bready, somewhat cereally maltiness superseded by a noticeable, yet not overly dominant florality of the heather flowers - adding something very vaguely honeyish in aroma, though not in flavour, and lengthened by the floral character of the hops, which provide a gently drying bitterness. The hops actually accentuate the general dryishness of the beer, but as usual with 'herbal' beers (in the literal sense of the word), part of the end bitterness probably comes from those heather flowers. 'Jenever'-like alcohol warms the tail - and in the end becomes a bit too intrusive for my personal liking. Decently brewed tripel with a subtle ornament in the form of those heather flowers, lending it a certain sense of 'terroir' but blending well into the whole, not as sweet as many other abbey style tripels and easy to drink - but alas, not resembling the Achelse Zomer of 2004 at least not from what I remember, lacking that bright, sweet, elegantly peachy juiciness and fruitiness I recall. I should not be too suprised about this, I guess.
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Achel Gallant - Grand Cru Special
brewed by De Achelse Kluis
1 week ago
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Desperados Red
brewed by Heineken France
1 week ago
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Gordon XplosioN Red Fruit
brewed by John Martin
1 week ago
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Dead Crow Rum Flavoured Beer
brewed by SHS Drinks
1 week ago
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Cubanisto - Mojito Flavour
brewed by Anheuser-Busch InBev UK
1 week ago
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Gordon XplosioN Gin Spices
brewed by John Martin
1 week ago
Alengrin has a new beer style achievement
Level 10 for Fruit Beer ticks with a total of 250 ticks of this master style.
Buval Rouge from Martens was the one that did it!
1 week ago
Alengrin (11675) reviewed Buval Rouge from Martens 1 week ago
Appearance - 3 | Aroma - 1 | Flavor - 0.5 | Texture - 1 | Overall - 1
The 'rouge' hype of red candy flavoured, extremely sweet and simple beers in Belgium has even reached the Aldi supermarket chain meanwhile - and after having tasted thousands of beers, including some of the best in the world, a darker side of me still silently remains on the lookout for the "worst beer in the world" as well. So what can be worse than the "rouge van den Aldi", right? Thick and frothy, off-white (but vaguely pinkish-tinged), coarse, 'Brugse kant'-like lacing head - I must admit the heads on rouges are often pleasing and that is where it all stops; crystal clear coral red robe rather than deep ruby red, but red alright. Aroma of red Haribo candy as usual, cotton candy, the old familiar 'poepkens' of course, a candy version of orange peel somehow, red bubblegum, rubber, cheap industrial perfume, motor oil somewhere. Utterly sugary onset as expected - the watery form of red candy ('poepegatjes' indeed), sticky yet thin, annoying throughout in a very 'loud' and blatant way; red candy sugar or red bubblebum further dominates everything else so there are no 'phases' of flavour, everything remains as monotonously red candy-like as it can be, with even a more chemical, motor oil-like aspect to it than is the case in some of the other great masterpieces in this 'genre'; indeed I must admit that in comparison with Kasteelbier Rouge, the one that made it all happen in Flanders (rouge was already spreading in Wallonia and northern France before that one saw the light of day), this version feels significantly inferior, more chemical, less 'full', more industrial. Never thought I would say this, but apparently there are quality levels even within this infernal 'rouge' genre. I think this one almost equals Average Rob's Tout Bien Rouge, another lowpoint in Belgian brewing history and also produced by 'independent bad beer factory' Martens, but I am inclined to assume that it had to be produced even more cheaply for the stern commissioner in question - the famed budget supermarket - and that the net result is therefore even lower class than the rest. I hate these 'rouges' in general, but this one must be the worst of them all so far... I can only rate this expression of bad taste and cheapness when thinking of the very worst beers I ever had - and those are engraved in my memory just as deeply as the very best - coming to the sobering conclusion that we are indeed very close to rock bottom here. There is, or has been, very little on the market worse than this chemical, sugar-ridden, unfathomably cheap and simplistic abomination - even for a rouge, which is horrible as a concept 'tout court', this Buval version manages to painfully underperform. Never thought that was even possible - in any case this thing belongs to the very worst 'beers' I ever had.