Alengrin
Ghent, Belgium 🇧🇪 MemberOptions
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Alengrin
updated a beer:
Oude Geuze à l'Ancienne
brewed by Stekerij Ambreus
6 months ago
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Oude Geuze à l'Ancienne - Limited Edition
brewed by Stekerij Ambreus
6 months ago
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Mirage from Soma Beer 6 months ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Spanish NE(D)IPA hopped with oldskool Citra and New Zealand Wai-iti, released in 2011; can shared with Craftmember. Loose, open, bubbly, off-white 'head' dissolving fairly quickly and completely over a cloudy to milky beige-tinged straw-yellow beer, looking like homemade pear juice. Aroma of granadilla, carambola, dank sweatiness, green onions, guava, hard green pear, honey pomelo, wodka, apple sherbet. Juicy onset, hints of guava, pear and granadilla, sweet with medium fizz and soft, fluffy mouthfeel; doughy pale malts thoroughly soaked in tropical juicy hoppiness with citric edge, lots of pomelo, guava, starfruit and granadilla with a dash of fresh dill at its core too, only lightly bitter with a mild but not too offensive hopburn and some brief, lightly warming alcohol in the very end (which should not be noticeable at all). The combination of the last two factors creates a peppery effect, but not to the extent that it overpowers that sultry tropical fruit sweetness. Typical present-day NEIPA, sweet and juicy, a bit 'basic' but performing okay, even if this is not my preferred beer type.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Special edition in Rock City's Second Date IPA series, "refurbished" because it uses hops from a previous brew - one could suspect that typical Dutch stinginess behind this idea, but it is probably ecologically inspired first and foremost... Thanks to Hinke again for the can! Snow white, frothy, thick and stable head slowly diminishing over a hazy golden robe with ochre-ish tinge. Aroma of green mango, unripe pineapple, desiccated green apple slices, old bread crust, pear peel, pomelo, dried biscuit, hints of petrichor, hay and burnt rubber faraway. Juicy onset, still brimming with colourful hop fruitiness, ripe apricot, mango, some guava and pomelo, medium carbonated with soft, fluffy mouthfeel; sweet bready malt core, a tad Betterfood- and biscuit-tinged, under tropical hoppiness with a zesty edge, ripe honeydew and mangosteen thrown in, with a generally sweet impression - almost devoid of any true hop bitterness. The alcohol remains well hidden. I must admit that had I not known that the hops in this NEIPA were reused, I would never have figured out, so they have very much retained their tropical fruit cocktail-like character - to the point where one can wonder why not more breweries work this way, but then who knows how many actually already do so... Not entirely my cup of tea because of the total lack of bitterness, but that is just me and I can say this of hundreds of contemporary hazy IPAs - so I will not take this into account too much.
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
The legendary To Øl, one of those breweries that pioneered American style craft brewing here in old Europe, paid a visit to Dok Brewing Company here in Ghent, and it should come as no surprise that a rather unique beer arose from this clash of geniuses: a 'farmhouse West Coast IPA' (one can begin to imagine what that would be about) flavoured with not only hops (Chinook, Comet and Riwaka) but also meadowsweet and yarrow... Thinnish and open, off-white, bit irregular yet consistently lacing, stable head on a misty golden blonde beer with ochre tinge. Aroma of lime zest, pink grapefruit, fresh herb cheese but more in the way of fresh dill and lemongrass than yarrow and meadowsweet, yellow kiwi, pear, guava, wet limestone, white bread crust, herb tea coming up when warming and finally revealing glimpses of the meadowsweet and yarrow but in a fresh 'green' kind of way rather than dried, freshly mown lawn, green olives, young birch leaves, potato starch faraway in the background. Crisp, refreshing onset, 'clean' fruitiness of green pear, guava and kiwi, moderately carbonated with slick mouthfeel; smooth white-bready maltiness soaked in herbal effects from both the actually added herbs and the hops, dill passing by again as well as lime orchard, but eventually moving into the yarrow and (less recognisably) meadowsweet, two wild herbs I basically grew up with. A zesty, grapefruity and long-stretched hop bitterness ensues, while minerally and herbal effects linger, with notes of grass, green tea and lemonbalm leaves; ends dry, but not as bitter as one would expect from a West Coast IPA produced by two brewers who both know exactly what West Coast IPA is (or was). I do get the amaro association in the very end, though, as a wormwoody, astringent effect sticks to the root of the tongue. Typical present-day revivalist West Coast IPA - in its core at least, because the use of indigenous herbs is of course anything but typical; the 'farmhouse' association, however, is completely lost on me, but I guess one can see a saison of sorts in any kind of dry, spicy ale nowadays... I was fearing that the yarrow and the meadowsweet would overrule the hops completely, obliterating those noble West Coast aspirations, but the fact of the matter is that all elements do cooperate smoothly here - resulting in a distinct, but very quaffable IPA. Decent, but I think I was expecting just a tad more 'oomph' considering To Øl's involvement.
Alengrin
added a new beer
Do You Want To See My Hop Fridge?
by
Dok Brewing Company
6 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
After a rather successfull attempt at the historical East Coast IPA, I had this deliberately old-fashioned black IPA by Uiltje, also generously donated by Hinke - what an interesting IPA evening that was. Thick and foamy, densely creamy, membrane-like lacing, pale yellowish beige head over a pitch black beer. Rich aroma of spruce tips, bergamot, orange zest, toasted Brazil nuts, dark bitter chocolate, lemonbalm, After Eight, Thai basil, unsmoked pipe tobacco, pink peppercorns, burnt blackcurrants, cooked dark grapes. Lively onset, fruity in a non-estery way, quite juicy even (so we are off to a good start here), reminiscent of fig, pear and ripe blackberry; sweetish with mellow carb and smooth, oily, full mouthfeel. Dark mouth-filling maltiness, toffee, dark chocolate, Macadamia nuts and toast but all very elegant and not becoming too roasty - at least not to the point where it becomes stout-like; instead, from the middle onwards the hops gain momentum, drenching these malts in a citrusy, grapey, zesty bitterness and 'hop fruitiness', piled on top of that dark maltiness and its inherent bitter aspect. The toasty aspect of the malts, however, remains beautifully subordinate to the hops, which eventually even display a Pacific-tropical character, highlighted by a calvados-like alcohol glow which otherwise does not stand in the way of everything. As one of Holland's most experienced IPA brewers, Uiltje, even in the clutches of Heineken, manages to pay tribute to its own track record of Cascadian dark ales, and does so with bravoure and grandeur: while many present-day European BIPAs are essentially hop bitter stouts or porters, this one understands perfectly what the genre is about and brings it to perfect balance. It is black, roast-inclined even, but still completely smells and tastes like an IPA: black IPA is all about finding the exact balancing point in that, which proves far more difficult than many contemporary brewers seem to think. I have been longing for a really good black IPA for a long time and now I finally got it. It surprises me that even within Heineken, this famous brewery is still capable of such greatness - Uiltje has absolutely managed to find the exact balancing point here and produced a black IPA the likes of which are very rare today, even in the States. A masterpiece in its style, as far as I am concerned.
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Oh, Behave! from Uiltje Brewing Co. 6 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
New Uiltje beer with an interesting premise: it tries to recreate the old East Coast IPA, the forerunner of the now-ubiquitous New England idiom, in a time when West Coast IPAs were all the rage; considering how East Coast IPA is apparently not even a category of its own here, this should almost be regarded as a historical beer style - apart from Brooklyn IPA, I cannot even think of such an oldskool East Coast IPA still being produced today... Thanks Hinke for the can! Huge, foamy, egg-white, membrane-lacing, firm, densely moussey head over a hazy peach blonde robe with deep golden glow. Aroma of dried grapefruit zest, fresh dill, Graham crackers, dill seed, wormwood, bitter honey, sundried tomatoes, cheese rind, dry green peppercorns, tonic water, green olives, herb cheese, persimmon, thyme, biscuit. Cleanly fruity onset, dryish even, with notes of dried persimmon and unripe peach but not estery, softish carb with somewhat resinous and oily, smooth mouthfeel; cracker- and slightly toast-like maltiness with a touch of biscuit, under a long-bittering, very grapefruity, wormwoody, green-peppery hop bitterness, dry and oily all the way, while some of that cracker-like maltiness lingers. Something vaguely cheesy (from hops I suppose) is present too, but faintly so. Indeed very oldskool no matter how you look at it: Uiltje, one of the pioneers in postmodern IPA in Holland, knows what that is about, but amplifies the bitterness to such an extent that this is also - ironically - more West Coast than many revivalist West Coast IPAs brewed today... In my memory, East Coast IPAs at the time were more mellow and fruity, i.e. a bit closer to the New England IPA style that succeeded it, but it has admittedly been a very long time since I had one and there is no denying that Uiltje managed to produce an American style IPA here that does taste like a blast from the past. The transition from West Coast to New England happened at the American East Coast for sure, and I believe it is safe to say that this one comes very close to what those early East Coast IPAs represented. A trip down memory lane, or close to that - have a point for that alone.
gave a cheers!
Alengrin
added a new beer
Oh, Behave!
by
Uiltje Brewing Co.
6 months ago
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Farmhouse from Oslo Brewing Co. 6 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
Farmhouse ale the Norwegian way, so fermented with kveik yeast (the well-known Voss strain) and flavoured with juniper; I think this brewery, and all the consumers who are into this kind of historical (or sometimes pseudo-historical) Scandinavian ales today, ought to honour the great Lars Marius Garshol, who practically single-handedly unveiled the ancient mysteries of a bunch of northern traditions that were, at first, all but forgotten in the present-day international beer world. Thanks to Hinke for this one! Thick and foamy, egg-white, regular, stable, very densely creamy head (almost looking like a 'nitro head'), lightly hazed warm 'old golden' robe with pale ochre-ish tinge and translucent dots of protein floating around here and there. Aroma of soggy bread, roasted parsnip, only very subtle juniper and much more juniper branches than juniper berries (fortunately, I am inclined to add), wet sand, dry hay, desiccated apple slices, sweetclover, petrichor, hints of honey cookies, old cake, croissants, Christmas bread, nori. Fruity onset, sweetish red apple, vague orange and green pear, halfripe peach perhaps, persimmon too - the fruitiness one can expect from a kveik yeast strain, but well-measured and not over the top; softish carb, fluffy mouthfeel. Bread pulp-, fresh croissant- and spice cracker-like maltiness, quickly sliding underneath a juniper herbaceousness - but somehow this effect restrains itself and does not become dominant at all, with in the end just a dash of green juniper branch aroma - even moving into a more clove-like effect reminiscent of Christmas cake and probably more related to the kveik than to the actually added herbs. Floral hops blend in nicely, dried chamomile-like almost, providing soft but adequate bitterness, while a honey waffle-like sweet effect lingers beyond - a bit oddly so, even, because I was not expecting this kind of sweetness this late in the process. In that sense, this is a subtly yet effectively surprising beer: the hops manage to maintain balance, the juniper is only a breeze, the fruitiness is strong yet contained and the finish is somehow sweet in a non-sticky way, while the general breadiness (or should I say 'croissantiness') is very appealing... Feels oddly Christmassy due to the sweet spice effects too, on top of all that. Cleaner than expected, but only superficially simple; in fact this brew contains more surprises than one would expect at first sight. Very different from what I was expecting, but all the more interesting for it.