Alengrin
Ghent, Belgium 🇧🇪 MemberOptions
Activity
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Ultra Phase from North Brewing Co 4 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
NEDIPA brewed with oats and wheat and hopped with Citra, Simcoe and Enigma; can bought at Tesco in Aberdeen. Sketchy rating from notes almost lost forever - I was stupid enough to keep them in the pocket of my shirt, forget about them and washing said shirt in the washing machine, so needless to say, it took the patience of a saint trying to reconstruct the puzzle afterwards. Creamy, thick, egg-white, dense head over a hazy golden robe with ochre tinge. Aroma of honey pomelo, ripe melon, mandarin, whipped cream, wodka, sweetened fruit yoghurt, guava, grapefruit zest. Smooth, juicy onset, sweet melon and orange effects mingled with lemongrass and green guava, soft carb, creamy body (oats!), doughy core soaked in citrusy and zesty but also tropical (the Enigma for sure) flavours, remaining soft in bitterness and with a warming wodka-like boozy tail. Typical present-day NEDIPA in every sense, very decent.
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Evolved Caractère from Brouwerij Rodenbach 4 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
With the "Evolved" series, new owner Bavaria has started a new and so far mildly interesting tradition in the old Rodenbach brand, with this year's variant being a play on the Caractère Rouge theme, a fruit variant launched in 2011 and macerated with cherries, cranberries and raspberries. This one uses raspberries and mango, the latter being a fruit species I would never associate with 'oud bruin' - but then anything goes nowadays, so let us find out if this works. From a 75 cl bottle with cork and muselet. Thick and frothy, crackling, pale yellowish beige, uneven-edged but somewhat retaining, if eventually nearly dissolving head on an initially clear, pure deep orange-glowing amber coloured beer with copper-brownish tinge and lots of strong, visible sparkling, turning misty in the end with the sediment added. Aroma of sour yoghurt, mango chutney and mango sherbet, raspberry vinegar, touch apple vinegar also, marmalade, caramel, sweet sherry, hints of oak wood (very subtle here - I guess mostly young, non-oaked Rodenbach was used), 'mottenbollen', oxidized rosé wine, rosehip, wet limestone, rooibos tea, some background Brettanomyces sweatiness warming up. Tart onset, quite sharply so for a Rodenbach due to the raspberries, with a touch of raspberry vinegar flavour-wise but luckily no harsh acetic effect, though consistently souring; the mango adds a bit of sweetness as well as retronasal aroma, but feels a bit artificial, as in mango extract; this sour-sweetness however does match the classic Rodenbach profile better than one would perhaps expect. Yoghurty, drying tartness pushing through a slick caramelly malt core, very smooth-edged and in itself harbouring some sweetness, while the raspberry and mango flavours continue well into a sweet-and-sour finish where the sourness remains quite edgy. Oaky vanillin notes do appear in the end, adding a layer of complexity, but remain altogether subtle. Some sherry-ish alcohol gently warms, while the fruit tones, red and yellow so to speak, begin to fade - but their artificial extract-like nature lingers on for quite a while. "The new Evolved Caractère is an answer to a new trend combining sour beers with fruit to get a more balanced taste", the press release text says - I wonder how this trend is "new", considering e.g. cherry lambics have been around for generations, but I guess this odd statement has more to do with shallow marketing than with actual beer history. That said, a Rodenbach with mango was not something I saw coming, and though I can appreciate the attempt as such, it does clash a bit with the already hollowed-out character (sic) of Rodenbach beer, at least to my taste - fortunately this beer still dares to be sour and is not the sickly sweet rouge or 'yellow' liquid candy I was fearing (I still remember a thing called Redbach) so that is definitely a plus, but at the same time it lacks a bit in depth like all Rodenbach products since the takeover, and both the raspberry and mango flavours feel artificial and unnaturally 'added' rather than truly - with real fruit - macerated. Not as bad as expected, but not my cup of tea either - I will gladly take the 'classic' Rodenbach Caractère Rouge over this any time.
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8
One of the countless HBH variants executed at Deca under the Bim Bam brand name - piled on top of an already confusingly long series of HBH beers produced before by Alvinne. This time the basic beer, a dark one but I have no idea which one, was aged on Invergordon whisky barrels, allegedly the only single grain whisky from the Scottish Highlands and one I never heard of. Bottle shared at home with Totem's brewer Klaas - after an exhaustingly long tasting at my place, so sorry to David Rogiers, the man behind this project, if my review here lacks a bit in accuracy... Pale greyish beige, medium thick, breaking and thinning head on a hazy mahogany brown robe with burgundy glow. Aroma of caramel, indeed clear whisky, beech nuts, brown rum, vanilla-scenting oak wood, dried prunes, fig, varnish, nutmeg, dried cranberries, wood glue, old raisins. Sweet, sleek onset, dried prunes and old raisins again, touches of fig and lingonberry, medium carb with quite full, smooth, somewhat vinous mouthfeel; caramelly maltiness, sweetish but not sweet if you get my drift, with a slightly nutty edge and even some light toasty bitterness, as well as brown bread dough effect in its core. Herbal hops pair with soft woody tannins (even some lingering vanillin), while this Invergordon whisky provides a non-peaty, quite elegant and vinous, warming and rich booze effect. It blends in with the beer almost seamlessly - so this combination of beer and whisky seems to be a very successful one, with less of the contrast (and sometimes clashes) in flavours one sees in some other HBH creations; for this reason I am inclined to declare this one above average in comparison with many of its predecessors, even though it is still a bit on the crude side. Solid.
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Shaky Bones
brewed by Rock City Brewing
4 months ago
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Shaky Bones from Rock City Brewing 4 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
New England style IPA with oats and wheat, from a can bought at the Jumbo supermarket in Ghent - arguably the best supermarket in the greater Ghent region for beer ticks. Medium sized, egg-white, opening, uneven-bubbled, irregular and eventually completely dissolving 'head' over a hazy yellow blonde robe with pale apricot tinge. Aroma of honey pomelo, fresh mandarin even, guava, ripe pear, meringue, watermelon, ripe kiwi, homemade lemonade, apple banana, lemon thyme, candied lemon even, vague touches of green olive, gypsum and herb cheese faraway in the background. Juicy onset, sweetish and a tad sourish, citrusy or fruity in general but in a very bright way, with impressions of watermelon, pear, carambola and kiwi, quite sharply carbonated with minerally effect running through it all; slick body, made softer by the oats and more soapy by the wheat (a tad unnecessary for me actually), soaked in sweet-fruity-hoppy aromas from the start, adding apple banana and guava to the flavours already present. Bitterness remains very mild and soft, with a citrusy character, just enough to provide balance I suppose - but I prefer a bit more of it even in this style. That said, this is technically a very well-brewed NEIPA from one of Holland's IPA specialists so I am not complaining.
Alengrin reached Level 50 with 62054 XP
Find out more about Alengrin's level here
Origin S'Morey from Siren Craft Brew was the one that did it!
4 months ago
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Origin S'Morey from Siren Craft Brew 4 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Flavoured stout by Siren intended to evoke s'mores, the popular American barbecue finisher consisting of roasted marshmallows topped with chocolate caught between two crackers (if I am well informed). Thanks to Meeki for sharing! Yellowish pale beige, open, thinnish, tiny-bubbled, dissolving head over a black robe with thin burgundy edges. Aroma of fondant chocolate bars, toffee, vanilla, almonds, toasted coconut, marshmallows, date syrup, port wine, nougat, hazelnut purée. Dense, candied-sweet onset, candied dates, yellow raisins, treacle, with just a touch of teriyaki on top (adding a light umami flavour); soft carbonation, very full, syrupy, oily body. Toffeeish, deeply chocolatey, hazelnutty core with a coffeeish bitterish ending, but more sweet than bitter; vanilla hovers over it all, while the coconut appears in a credible, genuine but not too intrusive form, blending in with the hazelnut, chocolate and toffee flavours of the malts. A kick of peppery hops lurks at the back along with brandy-like alcohol, but the whole structure is solid enough to absorb everything and remain its unctuous, smooth, bittersweet, delicious self. Perhaps just a bit too much umami for me - more roasted bitterness could have replaced it elegantly - but very tasty and rich, even if I had (admittedly American) stouts conveying this whole s'mores idea more accurately.
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Origin S'Morey
brewed by Siren Craft Brew
4 months ago
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Gordon Choco Squad from John Martin 4 months ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
New variations are added to the infamous Gordon brand every now and then and when I saw this one pass by on social media, I just had to have it, if only just for 'fun': a chocolate-flavoured Scotch, or at least that is what it pretends to be. Medium sized, lacing, pale yellowish beige, moussey head slowly breaking over a crystal clear, deep amber-bronze robe with mahogany brown hue. Aroma of Chocotoff candy, candied cherries, bubblegum, caramel, rosewater, banana peel, cheap brandy, glue, treacle, industrial white sugar syrup, natural rubber - in all, notably less off-putting than feared, I must say. Sweet onset of course but in a simple, sugary way, clean and 'esterless' apart from perhaps a vague touch of fig; medium carb, very slick body, thinnish for its strength, with a cereally core admittedly piling up some caramelly maltiness on top - more so than expected. The promised chocolate effect, though, remains superficial, thin, unconvincing and volatile - in fact there hardly is one, as the whole 'dark sweetness' of this concoction taste more like caramel than like chocolate. Some toasty bitterish malts reside in the finish, hops are only virtually present and a gin-like alcohol presence accentuates both that caramelly sweetness and that toasty aspect of the malts, but there are also glueish, rubbery and plastic-like elements that remind you of the fact that you are still drinking a Gordon. That said, this is a variant on the classic Gordon Scotch ale rather than the umpteenth infernal addition to that truly nightmare-inducing range of Gordon strong lagers, and that I was not expecting at all. Superficial, soulless, thin and silly as it may be, this simple observation means that I disliked this Choco Squad far less than I was expecting - or perhaps even hoping, in view of this Gordon brand being one of my pet hates in beer. Not good at all, of course, just not as infernally bad as anticipated...
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Apparently Rock City in Amersfoort kept Buried Treasure, originally a superstrong flavoured stout brewed in collaboration with the great Dutch craft pioneer De Molen, in its standard range, albeit in less strong and less 'ornate' form, calling it a 'double' stout on the cans but still referring to it as an 'imperial' stout on their website. Can from the Jumbo supermarket in Ghent. Thinnish, initially moussey but quickly opening, regular, greyish-beige head on a black beer with thin nut brown edges. Aroma of charred toast, black coffee, bonfire ashes or charcoal even, burnt raisins, porcini, dried pine needles, black pepper, gin, tar, reduced Asian plum sauce, molasses, shoe polish. Dense, sweetish onset but not nowhere as sweet as most other contemporary imperial stouts, just hints of prunes from a can, old raisins and some dark berry-based venison sauce - balanced by a light umami touch (porcini) and softly carbonated with very thick, somewhat syrupy mouthfeel. Thick layers of black chocolate-, mocha- and toast-like malts unfold in the mouth, unctuous yet more bitter than sweet, in fact the sweetness seemingly comes from the malts only and not from something 'added' - indeed a no-nonsense approach in this highly profiled style... Minerally aspects run underneath, almost unnoticed, while fortified wine and cooked dark fruit elements fleetingly pass by - overshadowed by huge dark clouds of roasted, coffee-like bitterness and dry, unsugared black chocolate. A solventy aspect, with a sweet side to it, does linger retronasally - a minor flaw for me personally, but the finish remains firm and focused, with bayleaf- and salmiak-like aspects, leafy hops and warming, rum-like alcohol, the latter perhaps just a tad too outspoken (but I admit that I am very sensitive to booziness in strong beers). Rock City's great strength lies in IPAs and this strong stout is no match for those even in its own respective style (for me at least), but this 'double' version of Buried Treasure sure remains a powerful, polished and boldly roasty example. Too bad I did not know about the original version with De Molen, I certainly would have tried to get my hands on a sample if I had known of its existence.