Alengrin
Ghent, Belgium 🇧🇪 MemberOptions
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Alengrin
added a new beer
Farmhouse
by
Oslo Brewing Co.
6 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
The brewery with the most beautiful name in Belgium (though surrounded by the Netherlands in a bizarre twist of historical fate), referring to a quote attributed to Ghent-born emperor Charles V, is not afraid to experiment every now and then, and this one somehow sparked my curiosity: a blonde aged in barrels (which ones remains undisclosed) and flavoured with pine tree resin, as a tribute to the ancient Greek retsina tradition, stemming from a custom of sealing wine amphoras with Aleppo pine tree resin - a custom far predating the non-resinous wines the Romans started producing. Inches thick, egg-white, bath foam-like, coarse head, initially towering over a hazy warm yellow blonde beer with apricot blush, but settling after a while. Aroma of indeed strong pine tree resin in an almost air freshener-like way, retsina, fresh mediterranean herbs in the way of sage or rosemary, spiced crackers, bergamot, some light oak, grapefruit zest, juniper berries. Crisp, spritzy onset, fruity, sweetish with sourish undertone, lively hints of pear, fresh persimmon, some pineapple and red apple, strongly carbonated with supple body; soft white-bready malts with a dash of spice bread, a spiciness later revealing itself as being linked to that resin, which becomes tangy, herbal and a bit astringent, ethereal even, yet somehow refreshing. It is coupled with a late but effective, drying, grassy hop bitterness and only mild traces of woody tannins, while the initial fruitiness remains as vivid as it was from the start. The hops and the resin combined form a somewhat citrusy effect - I guess citric hops were used, and they have remained more lively than average for a barrel aged beer. Quite a daring move, many people seem to hate retsina for that resinous effect alone and I must admit I was fearing the worst as well, but this brewery's craftmanship is so great that they managed to create a summery, refreshing, tasty and entertaining ale out of a rather ill-fated premise. Much better than expected - I do not see many other breweries in Western Europe pull of a pine resin-flavoured ale this elegantly.
gave a cheers!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Dochter van de Korenaar's celebrated quadrupel aged in peated whisky barrels - a new batch, not mentioning the Islay whisky anymore but simply called 'Embrasse Peated' and coming from a longneck bottle; I assume it is still the same thing so I refrained from creating a new entry for it, but I will leave it up to the admins to find that out as I have not quite kept track of all these Embrasse variants in recent years, alas. Thick and moussey, pale yellowish beige, tiny-bubbled and dense, very regular, stable head on a misty dark bronze-brown robe with mahogany glow. Aroma of quite some peat indeed but more actual (wet) peat than iodine bandage, heavily hovering over impressions of caramel, smoky barbecue sauce, dried prunes, old raisins, brown bread dough, actual whisky, dry earth, black tea, dried fig, nutmeg, bayleaf, wood glue. Fruity onset, sweetish but not as sweet as many other quads (as can be said of the base beer, of course), hints of dried fig, prune and dried goji berries, with a sprinkle of brown sugar on top just to remind us that it is a quad we are having, but also with a dim sourish undertone; moderate carb, full and smooth, bit fluffy body. Brown-bready, roasted walnutty, dry-caramelly malt core, the sweetness lingering for a bit but becoming more fruity (dried dark fruits in this case) and eventually giving way to the peat, which comes in strong and smoky, but not overly iodine-like. Instead it adds a umami aspect to a warming, bit herbal, dark-malty and rich finish, in which aspects of bayleaf, salmiak and clove linger over a refined, yet confident bitterness, consisting of both a toasty aspect and herbal hops. The whisky as such does begin to dominate a bit in the end, with an actual whisky flavour and accompanying peppery alcohol heat - just a tad too much for my personal liking, but the sheer soundness of the basic beer can take a beating, and the whole remains firmly upright. Quite a complex evening sipper, but peated whisky is very much present here, on the brink of becoming overly dominant even - so be prepared for that. Not one for the 'easy' and sweet quad lover, I guess - this is more challenging, but also very rewarding in the end.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Anniversary beer by Dutch superstar Moersleutel, an oldskool imperial stout generously shared by Hinke, cheers! Moussey to creamy, pale yellowish beige, regularly shaped head, black robe with thin ruddy edges. Aroma of roasted walnuts, coffee grounds, bayleaf, salmiak, hint of 'drop' or liquorice, haemoglobin, toast, black tea, burnt currants. Dense onset, sweetish but nowhere explicitly sweet, hinting at dried blackberry and fig with vaguely sourish undertone and medium carb; very full, oily body. Layers of bitter chocolate, blackened toast and roasted walnut - going for a full roasty bitter profile rather than the toffee- and chocolate-like sweetness one all too often sees in contemporary imperial stouts, with this sourish aspect lingering, as well as a touch of haemoglobin (blood-like iron, but entirely natural). Herbal hops provide a spicy aftertaste and a liquorice-like accent pops up, but the toasty bitterness, never becoming too ashy or astringent, remains the key element here, highlighted by a warming, whisky-like alcohol glow. Straightforward, still more American than English in style, but certainly old-fashioned even in that sense - takes me back many years in that respect, I must say. As solid as it gets - from one of Holland's foremost strong stout specialists, so what could go wrong...
Alengrin has a new beer style achievement
Level 9 for Lambic Style - Gueuze ticks with a total of 200 ticks of this sub style.
Oude Gueuze à l'Ancienne - Lambics Vieillis en Fûts de Whisky Tourbé from Gueuzerie Tilquin was the one that did it!
6 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
One of the two 'whisky geuzes' released by Tilquin a while ago and apparently the less rare of the two, but also the more 'daring', in using a peated whisky - we all know how smokiness and sourness are not typically best friends, so this must be a bit of a challenge, I suspect... Shared with Craftmember and Goedele. Off-white, cobweb-lacing, coarse and thick, stable head over a hazy apricot blonde robe with ochre hue. Aroma of dried lemon peel, clear iodine-like peat piercing through (a bit 'clinical' even but that was to be expected), preserved apricots, dry old wood, green gooseberry, wild apples, old cracked leather, some barnyard and a peppery note probably coming from the whisky. Tart, estery onset, rounded sour apple, gooseberry, redcurrant and rhubarb notes, medium carb - a tad less effervescent than is typical for a geuze perhaps, but lovely soft, smooth mouthfeel; a bready base is pierced by fruity lactic acidity, yoghurty and lemony, meeting with tannic woody effects and Bretty funkiness (wet leather). The latter is enhanced by the peated whisky, with a pronounced iodine-like retronasal effect, yet somehow it does not overpower the subtleties of the lambic - it is rather another layer of flavour carefully draped on top of it. The whisky adds a whiff of sweetness in the end as it tends to do, but not to the point that the lambic features are lost (as was the case in some preceding 'whisky geuzes' by other producers), so that all ends as complex, elegant, drying and funky as any good Tilquin lambic. Granted, 'peated' geuze is a very narrow segment in the lambic world, even narrower than 'whisky geuze' in general, but the very few that preceded this one are no match for Tilquin's mastery of balance and elegance. The best of a very select group of very specific beers - it took me a while to appreciate that iodine-like character of 'peatedness', but that was years ago, and now that I mastered it, I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed this inaccessible but very well made blend, just as much as I enjoyed it non-peated congener.
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Pikasour from Brouwerij De Backer 6 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Sour ale flavoured with hibiscus flowers, created by this microbrewery in Wetteren; contains rye and has been soured with lactic acid bacteria. Steinie bottle from the Carrefour in Sint-Denijs-Westrem. Medium thick, opening, pale pinkish-tinged off-white, tiny-bubbled, regular head over a clear, deep ruby red beer with scarlet shade, shifting to a more cloudy burgundy red further on. Aroma of hibiscus tea (I guess they used dried flowers and quite a lot of them), cassis (strong, oddly), cherry jam from a jar, fruit yoghurt, bergamot, strawberry juice, woodruff, elderberry syrup, hints of freshly baked bread and moist potting soil. Crisp onset, sour and sweet, very fruity with elderberry, blackcurrant, cherry and strawberry aspects - surprisingly, because unless the brewer is holding back some fruit ingredient, all these aspects must come from those hibiscus flowers; the sweetness is subordinate to an underlying, continuous lactic acidity, which remains fruity and mellow, yet does not miss its drying, quenching effect. Smooth, slick bready core, deeply soaked in this truckload of hibiscus, which after a while begins to add its floral and herbal, tea-like effect - something I have never been very fond of, but in bearing so many red fruit colours, somehow manages to increase my appreciation of it. Tart red berry-like effects even outlive that tea-like herbaceousness, with everything ending quite lively and juicy. Not bad at all, seemingly intended as a summery, fruity quencher, but feeling very 'honest' and artisanal - even elegant and balanced. Better than I was expecting, to be frank...
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9
One of those mighty Fellowship beers from Alvinne - more often than not masterpieces of originality and sheer deliciousness - consisting of a madera barrel aged wheat wine blended with an aquavit barrel aged tripel, resulting in, I guess, an even more complex 'barley-wheat wine' of sorts. Medium thick, off-white, papery lacing, slowly breaking head over a hazy peach blonde robe with ochre tinge. Intense and alluring bouquet of apricots soaked in brandy, sweet madera very obvious, vanilla from oak wood, marmalade, old apple cake, some almond, vague strawberry, dried basil, honey liqueur, brioche dough, sweaty funky note. Very fruity, estery onset, hinting at peach, ripe yellow plum, cooked apple and pear, with a very light sourishness underneath a more pronounced, rounded sweetness; medium carb, full mouthfeel - though more 'fluffy' and tripel-like than vinous and barleywine-like, perhaps. Soft sweet bready and cake bottom-like malts, opulent and adorned with considerable 'woodiness' including that lovely vanillin effect from oak, but also with light 'wild' notes (slight Bretty sweatiness) and herbal accents (green herbs) probably coming from the aquavit. The madera adds a sweet wine-like aspect while soft breadiness and vivid fruitiness linger, gently but adequately bittered by herbal hops and warmed by the alcohol, which somehow remains very friendly and inviting. A note of marzipan lingers faraway in the background. Complex, rich sipper, somewhere in between a barley (or indeed wheat) wine and a tripel, but that is exactly what it physically is so that comes as no surprise; in any case Alvinne's two decades of experience with barrel ageing and blending is amply illustrated here. I need to seek them out more, I had truckloads of their beers in the past but I am still impressed whenever I encounter one - the fact alone that they keep producing original masterpieces (or excellent beers) as if it takes no effort, remains quite remarkable. As I may have stated more than once before: this is a world class brewery and should therefore be treated with according respect.
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Fellowship Ale 2024 N° 2: Barleywine Bridge
brewed by Brouwerij Alvinne
6 months ago
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Pajottegem Kriek from Lambiek Fabriek 6 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
I guess the geuze created some months ago for this Rock & Roell Experience pub (and event organiser) was successfull enough to pave the way for this logical extension of the range: an 'oude' kriek, again blended at Lambiek Fabriek. Thick and foamy, loudly crackling, pale pinkish-tinged off-white, moussey head, collapsing into an irregular blanket of foam and then slowly dissolving over a hazy vermillion robe with somewhat rosy tinge and lively fizz, a shade paler in colour than most traditional kriek nowadays actually, including Lambiek Fabriek's own Jart-Elle. Aroma of sour cherries as is to be expected but more 'unripe' and skin- and seed-forward than fleshy, redcurrants straight from the bush, Bretty 'urine' and damp hay, apricot kernels, stale (blood) orange juice, young green tree leaves, a faint whiff of chlorine, old pecorino, wet old wood, sweat-soaked leather, some forest floor and rhubarb. Tart, estery and fruit-filled onset, a tad 'waxy' from the cherries, which are very present in a tangy, somewhat astringent yet juicy way, flanked by impressions of yuzu, redcurrant, unripe red plum and rhubarb; the sourness remains altogether quite 'mals', moving into a deep lactic 'yoghurtiness' through a bready core that remains soaked in tannins and acids from the fruit. Mushroom- and leather-like funkiness grows stronger in the end, meeting with drying woodiness in itself amplified by the pits of the fruit; some hay and tree leaf aspects make for a 'wild' side to the whole, but in the end everything is connected well, with a drying, lipsmacking, tannic yet still juicy and supple finish. The sour cherries are unmistakable, but behave a bit berry-like here, with more tanginess, tartness and crispness but less fleshiness than average for the style; nevertheless this fruit lambic delivers as promised: easygoing (for its style at least), supple and quenching, but with all the complexities, funkiness and 'wildness' of any traditional lambic. Not quite on a par with Jart-Elle if I may continue the comparison, but certainly tasty, genuine and solidly made. I wonder what the next Pajottegem lambic will be...