Alengrin
Ghent, Belgium 🇧🇪 MemberOptions
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Alengrin has a new beer style achievement
Level 2 for Lager - Malt Liquor ticks with a total of 10 ticks of this sub style.
Chairmans ESB (South Sudan) from Southern Sudan Beverages was the one that did it!
2 months ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
ESB - in this case meaning "extra strong beer" and not "extra strong bitter" - brewed by the only brewery in the relatively new country of South Sudan, officially recognised as an independent state only in 2011; the brewery was opened in its capital Juba four years later, with the help of SABMiller, and apparently helps to symbolise the country's independence. The malts, hops and sugar are brought in from abroad by trucks, but I love the brewery's reasoning that the major ingredient is always water, and this water is sourced from the White Nile running through the country... Sample at tderoeck's place, thanks Tim! Off-white, loose and open 'head' - originally a medium thick, closed one apparently, over clear 'old' golden beer with some tiny protein dots and a browning tinge of oxidation. Aroma of dry cookies, rusty oxidation, hints of biscuit, dried apricot and honey. Sweetish onset, again a vague hint of dried apricot and perhaps pear, soft carb, smooth mouthfeel; cereally and lightly biscuity malts (complemented with the sugars the brewery apparently sources from South Africa), sweetish and straightforward, with a whiff of softly bittering floral hops in the finish. Strong lager and sadly not an ESB in the English sense of the word, but actually not the worst I had - my interest in what this brewery does, is certainly sparked, but I doubt I will ever come across its product range again...
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Kerel Kaishaku Ker-elle from VBDCK Brewery 2 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Now here is something I did not see coming: a collab of two breweries I would not easily have associated with one another, in the form of a blend of Lambiek Fabriek kriek (sour cherry lambic) with Kerel Kaishaku (an unusual creation by VBCDK fermented with sake yeast)... Sold even at the local Delhaize supermarket in Lokeren (though I got mine through Huis van de Geuze). Medium thick, vaguely pinkish-tinged off-white, tiny-bubbled, shred-lacing head on a misty scarlet red robe with deep cardinal to fuchsia glow - a beautiful colour I must add, of a different shade of red than usual in a cherry lambic, but equally intense. Aroma of candied cherry as well as actual sour cherry, embedded in impressions of lychee, rosé wine, cranberry sauce, Kirr Royal, sake, rosewater, vermouth, fruit yoghurt, elderberry juice, sourdough, cold cooked rice but this is probably autosuggestion, rosehip. Fruity onset but far less tart than I was expecting - in fact even tilted to the sweet side, no doubt coming from the Kaishaku, hinting at faint banana, lychee, candied cherry and elderberry, even a touch of orange perhaps. Medium carb, very active but fine-bubbled, lambrusco-like with smooth, vinous body; sourish-sweet cherry effects 'diluted' by the Kaishaku are carried on top of it all to a lightly tannic finish, mildly tart much in the same way as a lambrusco or a sparkling rosé wine, with herbal, somewhat perfumey accents (rosehip, jasmin rice, rosewater); a 'friendly' but clear, warming, indeed sake-like alcohol glow ties it all together in the end, while this cherry flavour lingers - again not truly sour as one would expect from anything containing lambic, but nevertheless shining brightly in a kind of rosé-like sweet-tartness. Generally considerably sweeter than I was prepared for - I too expected a much stronger effect from the fruit lambic, so it is quite a surprising combo of flavours, I have to admit. This will probably not work well for those into actual lambic (cherry or other), but in all its gentle, almost 'feminine' power, I think it does an excellent job as a sparkling 'apéritif' of a very distinct and unique kind. Once I got the idea of dominance of lambic out of my head and viewed it as an apéritif beer, I was certainly able to appreciate this oddity...
Alengrin has a new beer style achievement
Level 18 for Lambic Style ticks with a total of 800 ticks of this master style.
Kerstkuvée Oude Geuze from Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen was the one that did it!
2 months ago
Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 9.5 | Flavor - 9.5 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 9
The first edition of a special 'Christmas geuze' by 3 Fonteinen, not because the lambic was flavoured with Christmas spices (luckily, perhaps), but a special version of the famed Cuvée Armand & Gaston enriched with a portion of five year old lambic to create extra depth. Snow white, medium thick, bit irregularly edged, bubbly head sustained by a storm of sparkling swirling through a hazy golden robe with apricot glow. Intense, refined bouquet of unripe peach, freshly cut green apple, green gooseberry, old wood, kimchi, green leek, old leather, unripe nectarine, rhubarb, lime juice, sweat, pickled onions, green walnut, dry earth, old dry sherry. Very crisp, 'crystalline' onset, lots of gooseberry, green plum, Granny Smith apple, redcurrant and unripe apricot impressions, sharp yet not harsh - tingling with 'champenoise' effervescence in an essentially smooth, full, bready core laced with green-fruity lactic sourness and lots of ongoing minerality. Tannic woodiness in the finish, dry sherry notes - a bit nutty even, but not as pronounced as I was expecting seen the average age of the lambics; add a perfectly tuned leathery Brett funkiness and combine it with this very crisp, fruity splendour and what you have, is this absolute gem of a geuze, perhaps feeling more 'summery' than 'Christmassy', but blended to utmost perfection. This is 3 Fonteinen geuze blending at its best, even topping the already majestic Cuvée Armand & Gaston for me... The depth and complexity of the five year old lambic does make a difference, without deviating too much from what one expects from a geuze by this world class producer. I hope this one will be repeated every year, it truly adds something to the already crowded world of traditionally made lambic beers.
Alengrin
added a new beer
Kerstkuvée Oude Geuze
by
Brouwerij 3 Fonteinen
2 months ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
One of three special geuze editions created for the tenth anniversary of the renovation of Villa Servais, a 19th-century estate in the Pajottenland region now operated by a couple as a B&B and cultural centre; two other geuzes were made for this occasion by Boon and Ambreus. Light gusher, so be warned, but it stopped abruptly too so this may have been related to temperature contrasts. Medium sized but slowly dissolving, off-white, tiny-bubbled, shred-lacing, breaking head over a hazy, apricot-yellow blonde robe with ochre-ish tinge. Aroma of unripe green plums, pickled onions, wood sorrel, apricot vinegar, old dry sherry, damp hay, sawdust, old oak wood, gooseberries, armpit sweat, stale lemon juice, cucumber soaked in vinegar, dry strawbales, grass silage, farmland. Spritzy, crisp onset, tart-fruity with impressions of sour plum, gooseberry and gherkin, but also a softness of ripe apricot somewhere - 'mals' is the right word here; minerally carbonation through a supple cereally, bready core, soaked in fruity sourness, lime- and gooseberry-like, rounded and refreshing with a yoghurty edge. Woody tannins in the finish, but also quite some funkiness, retronasally revealing itself as freshly fermented farmland (manure), sweat and mouldy citrus peel - adding a 'heavier' dimension to a generally bright, fruity, juicy geuze. Elegant blend, typical Herberg style, with both a refreshing fruity side and a 'darker' funky side. An entertaining yet still accessible, all-round geuze, enjoyed it.
Appearance - 9 | Aroma - 9.5 | Flavor - 10 | Texture - 10 | Overall - 10
One of the top stouts from one of the top stout specialists in the world, invariably featuring in lists of the world's best beers along with a couple of other stouts from the same brewery - I have been looking forward to tasting this one for years now, never quite had the chance, but obtained a bomber of the 2021 vintage through a private collector and my fiftieth birthday today seemed like the best occasion I could think of to open it. Open, deep mocha-coloured (brown), tiny-bubbled, dense ring of foam over a jet black beer - with perhaps one millimeter or less of a mahogany tinge around the edge. Intense, mesmerising bouquet of all the good things one can find in a top notch U.S. style "impy": clear whisky upfront, embedded in blankets of chocolate ganache, soufflé au chocolat, thick fudge, black peppercorns, latté macchiato, cold Irish coffee, bayleaf, vanilla-exuding oak wood (strong), hints of cinnamon rolls, chocolate chili, cognac, artisan mocha ice cream, vague fond brun, reduced port sauce, pear syrup, fig liqueur, nougat, touch amaro. Utterly dense, concentrated onset, lots of 'praline'-like sweetness, pear syrup, yellow raisin, fig compote - with a waferthin sourish edge but sourish as in blackberry jam and not more; a brief moment of fond-like umami is present too, but all these flavours are rolled up into one ball of deliciousness from the start. Soft carbonation adds to a very dense, oily, velvety mouthfeel - very thick as one can expect from the genre, but also exceptionally smooth, maintaining relatively high drinkability (again: for the genre). Thick layers of toffee, chocolate ganache, pure milk chocolate, coffee liqueur and even caramel tart build up, with these candied dark fruit flavours continuing - also carrying onwards this sourish blackberry-like touch which subtly breaks the sweetness a bit. Tannins remain fairly soft while the vanillin aspect of the oak is very strong retronasally, along with all these other aromatic impressions of bayleaf, mocha and very vague (but in this case actually ornamental) liquorice, while a spicy hop dosage sits underneath, adding foundation. Roasted bitterness, as in coffee, remains subordinate to toffee-chocolate-caramel sweetness, but it too lurks in the depths of this wonderful beer - until the whisky sets in, slowly but steadily, heating the back of the throat without scorching it. Whisky, toffee, chocolate and vanilla flavours last forever after swallowing and remain supported by peppery hops. The perfect winter warmer Iowa style, stylistically quite old school to contemporary American standards in fact (even though, having originated 'only' in 2012, it is by no means a pioneer in the style), executed to perfection; not just the rich tapestry of flavours impresses, the perfect mouthfeel does so too, just as is the case in its even more coveted brother Kentucky Brunch: every time I have a Toppling Goliath treat like this, the sheer velvetiness and smoothness baffles me. This is an assassin of a beer indeed, but one with velvet gloves - and fine dining manners. I could not have wished for a more satisfying beer on not just a snowy winter night, but my fiftieth birthday as well: this is beer drinking at its most refined, classy and glamorous. Rightfully regarded as a masterpiece - perhaps even a tad more convincing in fullness and velvetiness than Mornin' Delight, but also just a tad less entirely perfect than the divine Kentucky Brunch (booziness being just a smidge more apparent here), so have a score right in the middle of what I rated these two other Toppling Goliath legends.
gave a cheers!
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 8
The obligatory dubbel in this animal-themed series commissioned at Grain d'Orge, this one referring to the (red) deer. Came from a festive packing containing all three Thirsty Animals beers plus the customised glassware. Thick and foamy, pale yellow-beige, regular and dense, moussey, shred-lacing head thinning and dissolving over an initially clear, deep chestnut brown robe with burgundy-reddish glow and dots of protein, eventually becoming hazed. Aroma of dry caramel, ground hazelnuts, medlar, tea, brown soap, green pear, banana peel, coriander seed, clove, treacle, dried peach, rosemary. Fruity onset, sweetish with a slight sourish edge, hinting at pear and medlar with a touch of baked banana, quite sharply carbonated; smooth brown-bready, cereally and caramelly malt sweetish core, some light honeyish sugariness but nowhere too sweet, let alone sticky. Herbal hop bitter notes in the end alongside phenolic clove and nutmeg spiciness and added coriander spiciness; meanwhile a volatile retronasal whiff of rusty iron passes by, indicating the first sign of oxidation. Completely predictable, stereotypical Belgian dubbel - a textbook example of the style, I would even say. Correct, like the two others in this very classically styled miniseries.