Alengrin
Ghent, Belgium 🇧🇪 MemberOptions
Activity
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
It seems that our friends at AB InBev, owners of Bosteels since 2016 already, are determined to continue their self-invented tradition of presenting the consumer of the famed Karmeliet with a special 'Grand Cru' version every year - and I remember predicting a barrel aged one for this year... Alas, even though the label effectively says "barrel aged edition" this time, I was further from the truth than I was hoping for: if I understood the description correctly, and they get more complicated every year, it is not so much the beer that went into barrels, but this distillate they made of it already last year, a liquor distilled from actual Karmeliet beer flavoured with orange peel, bergamot and vanilla. The barrels used were allegedly made from Japanese oak or mizunara, a name probably familiar to whisky lovers, where this expensive type of wood is also sometimes used. So, in summary: a lot of mumbo-jumbo to uplift what is basically a herb liquor-infused version of Karmeliet, in itself already moulded into a sweeter, more superficial and qualitatively lesser version of its own past since 2016. Snow white, very thick, foamy and pillowy, shred-lacing, slowly diminishing head on a pure 'old gold' coloured, completely clear robe with very busy, almost champagne-like sparkling throughout - remaining clear till the last drop so obviously filtered. Aroma initially hindered by prickling carbon dioxide, but then releasing impressions of brioche bread, banana liqueur, strong vanilla, canned pear, 'graanjenever', some pineapple, strong coriander seed, vanilla-scented bath soap, basil, honey, perfume, sweet potato - and that annoying 'cooked cloth'-like smell of pasteurisation draped over it all. Sweet onset, strong banana ester, bubblegummy, ripe pear and candied apricot notes, minerally carb but not too harshly so; full but very slick mouthfeel, slickness from oats I know - but also from that pasteurisation in this case. Soapy wheat is present and accentuates this overall slickness, while pale malts and complementary white sugars do the rest, with a generous layer of honeyish sugariness resting on top. The 'triple distilled' liquor then sets in: a botanical gin-like effect (which is very close to what this addition actually is) with extra, in the end rather astringent booziness. Deeply situated hops accentuate the booze bitterness but otherwise do not unveil themselves, while the oak seems to accentuate the vanilla already present in the distillate - but no human sense-organ is capable of determining that with certainty. Whatever it comes from, a vanilla scent is very present retronasally, along with something jasmin-perfumey and coriander - while in the mouth, annoying sweetness remains stuck till the very end. Essentially a slightly 'pimped' version of last year's Grand Cru, this Karmeliet version adds very little to what already existed - the sandalwood-like finesse of mizunara remains all but unnoticeable and in the end of the day, this is just another cooked-to-death, empty, overly sweet tripel ridden with residual sugars and isoamylacetate embellished with a fancy packaging more than actual taste. Do not expect anything dramatically different from last year's Grand Cru (hence my similar rating) - but without a doubt, the marketing masterminds of AB InBev will have another fancy addition for us in store for next year's edition.
Alengrin
added a new beer
Karmeliet Grand Cru: Barrel Aged Edition Mizunara Oak (Tripel Distilled)
by
Brouwerij Bosteels
1 month ago
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Baobab from Batteliek (by Het Anker) 1 month ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
Tripel brewed by Batteliek, the brewpub opened in 2022 in the deconsecrated church of Battel in Mechelen by owner Het Anker - now itself owned by Huyghe, so I wonder if this Batteliek project has any chance of survival. In case it has not, I purchased this 'tree-like tripel' at the Carrefour supermarket of Sint-Denijs-Westrem, because I had only one Batteliek beer before and wanted to have a broader view on their output, given my longstanding sympathy for Het Anker. Thinnish but stable, snow white, shred-lacing, partially opening head on a crystal clear, pure 'old gold' coloured robe with vague apricot tinge and visible sparkling throughout, turning misty with sediment. Aroma of breakfast cereals, unsugared oatmeal porridge, 'oude jenever', dried apricot, candied peach even, banana peel, clove, birch tree leaves in summer, linseed, grass, old musty lemon zest, vague hints of old cumin seed, sugarfree cookies, triple sec, violets, fennel. Fruity onset, sweetish peach, banana, pear and slight medlar, lively carbonation even for a tripel, with pronounced minerally effects; smooth-edged white-bready and cereally pale malt core with a layer of honeyish sugars on top - yet not as much as in the majority of Belgian tripels nowadays, I must admit. Slight herbal aspects in the finish - cumin, clove and anise spring to mind but only very distantly so, while a juniper berry-like aspect becomes much more pronounced, its bitter side merging with the leafy, slightly peppery hops - the promised citrusiness of which remains altogether very restrained and 'dry' instead of juicy. Somewhat 'rooty' finish in which part of the honeyish sweetness survives, along with that typical smoothness of oats - all warmed up by a notably 'jenever'-like booziness, both in flavour and in harshness, to be honest. Maybe this beer contains more alcohol than it can bear - a flaw often seen in strong beers not up to the job - but for me, it felt a bit wry and unbalanced, especially considering the tripel style that was intended here. Then there is this weird, bitter, juniper berry-like 'alkaloid' aspect I disliked - and which I could not identify unless actual juniper berries, but I cannot find any data anywhere that would confirm that. Not a very big success for me - the original Gouden Carolus Tripel is, at least in my recollection, a whole lot better.
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
The eleventh Indulgence in Anker's ancient Gouden Carolus series, now in the hands of Huyghe, reprises the concept of the original one, which I fondly recall having tasted in 'avant-première' at the Horeca Expo in Ghent at the time, by applying the infusion idea - now being done to death by other brewers in Belgium especially - to the tripel, thus creating a blonde counterpart to the original dark one. Thick and frothy, egg-white, fluffy, medium thick head, slowly breaking in the middle and leaving thick lacing, over an initially clear warm 'old golden' robe with fine sparkling, turning misty later on. Aroma of pan-fried red apple, freshly cut sweet apple peel, apricot, halfripe banana, peppery (but non-peaty) whisky indeed, dried field flowers, chamomile tea, green pear, clove, dry biscuit, white bread and an odd hint of sweet cooked tiger prawns somewhere. Crisp, fruity onset, sweetish with strong apple ester and almost equally strong - but tolerable - banana ester, laced with hints of ripe pear, apricot and pineapple; finely tingling carb, slick yet full mouthfeel. Slight minerality continuing through a very lightly caramelised but clean and smooth white-bready and somewhat honeyish pale malt sweet core - the sweetness of residual sugars remaining relatively restrained, though, certainly not cloying - especially when the whisky comes in, palpable as a prickly, peppery effect on the tongue, warming and boozy and bringing an extra layer of vaguely caramelly sweetishness, even a touch of vanilla. Retronasally - and this must be linked to the whisky, produced by the brewery itself by the way - this weird but not unpleasant touch of cooked freshwater shrimp returns briefly and vaguely. Meanwhile the booze manages to avoid harsh astringency and 'hotness', so even if I would (as always) prefer the much more expensive and time-consuming process of whisky barrel ageing over a simple infusion, it can be stated that in this case, the whole has remained quite drinkable and palatable, even enjoyable. It better be, of course: that 'historical' first, dark version was the very beer that sparked that entire annyoing liquor infusing trend in this country and still does it better than most of its epigones. I would not say that this blonde one equals the original, but it passes, even if it remains to be seen how Huyghe will treat this brand now that they own it - Gouden Carolus having been, during most of its recent history, far superior over anything Huyghe has ever released in the same time frame in my humble opinion...
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 7.5
New Boon geuze in limited edition (5400 bottles) - but this is not just a new geuze, it is a statement, as the brewery itself claims: the name is that of a city official in 16th-century Halle, a tax collector, who left us a document written in 1559 in which allegedly a recipe for lambic is described. A guy working in tourism named Marcel Franssens picked up this recipe in an article he wrote in 1970 about lambic and quoted it as being proof for it being the oldest surviving beer style, an assertion copied by the great Michael Jackson and, later, HORAL, including its founding member Boon - so that, especially with such hugely influential sources quoting it, the story became established as being an official and pivotal element in lambic history. That is, until an amateur historian called Raf Meert sent a shockwave through the lambic establishment three years ago, when he compiled the research he had already been publishing in his blog into a book ("Lambic: The Untamed Brussels Beer") which basically negated most of what everyone in the beer world thinks he or she knows about lambic - including the story of Remy Le Mercier's 16th-century recipe. I recommend purchasing and reading his book for the details, but when it comes to this particular story, Meert basically states that the famous recipe is not for lambic but for a form of witbier because 'lambic' does not appear earlier than the 18th century, the proportions of wheat and barley were incorrectly translated and thus injustly equated with today's proportions, and it does not involve either spontaneous fermentation or barrel ageing. Boon, having advocated the 1559 recipe as a lambic one since the seventies, must have felt Meert's findings as an attack - and came up with this blend of lambics, differing most importantly from any other (today or ever, depending on whom you believe) in that they contain 10% oats, an ingredient indeed mentioned in Le Mercier's recipe. A beer born out of controversy, so to speak, in which Boon aims to demonstrate that it is perfectly possible to brew lambic with oats - actually, historically, proving nothing at all, but the polemics surrounding the book are entertaining enough and so is the appearance of this totally new geuze, of course. Highly pressurised bottle, with foam even creeping out of the bottle neck after opening, but not a gusher in the strict sense of the word. Egg-white, medium sized, crackling, even-bubbled, tightly knit yet gradually diminishing and opening head (though well-retaining around the edge); misty apricot blonde robe with pale orangey glow and lots of tiny bubbles everywhere - in fact less misty than I was even expecting, because it apparently took the beer a lot longer to clear out due to the oats. Aroma of old dried grapefruit peel, dandelion leaves, old wood, shrivelled green apple slices, wood sorrel, minerals, old dry leather, orange pith, dried mugwort, dry earth, rusk, inedible bitter plant seeds, old straw bales. Dry, crisp onset, green plum, dried green apple and some green gooseberry, tart but 'mals' with a very mild lemony touch (milder than average), quite softly carbonated - but still minerally, and doubtlessly that typical 'velvety' effect oats have helps to soften the overall mouthfeel, which is indeed very noticeably smoother and more 'moelleux'. A bread-crusty backbone is strongly dried by lactic acidity and even more by tannic woodiness; deep below, the oats continue to have their softening, even slightly 'slimy' effect and at this point it indeed becomes clear that they mellow the acids too, without becoming actually sweet of course. In the finish, a dandelion-like, deep but long 'old hop bitterness' is strongly developed as well - more so than general in Boon lambics I would add, seemingly as if to counterbalance the softness of the oats... A lovely whiff of retronasal funk (even very superficially manure-like) passes by at that point as well. Controversial as its backstory may be today, this is a relatively accessible, 'malse' geuze, but the trick here is of course that this softness is established by an ingredient never found in lambic - at least today... It may not be historical proof for the marketing-driven story of the 1559 recipe, but it does prove that a fine geuze (if it can still be called a geuze) can be made from oat-containing lambics so who knows, maybe we should let go of the past and look into the future, where perhaps other lambic brewers may become inspired by this 'statement'...
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Oude Geuze Remy Le Mercier
brewed by Brouwerij F. Boon
1 month ago
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Triple Butcher from Fidens Brewing Company 2 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
NEDIPA from what appears to be the latest hype in the hazy IPA world: Fidens, a young (2019) brewery in New York specialising in the genre and referred to as "the best brewery you never heard of" by one particular beer writer a few years back - I have to admit that I had, indeed, never heard of them until Martijn came up with this can at Proevertjesdag in Ostend. Snow white, shred-lacing, opening and irregular head over a cloudy yolk-yellow blonde robe with apricot tinge. Aroma of mango juice, ripe papaya, rambutan, pineapple milkshake, meringue, hot olive oil, diesel, butter, yellow kiwi, sweat, fruit porridge, granadilla. Utterly fruity, dense onset, tropical fruit juice-like as expected with lots of mango, papaya and kiwi, some lychee and granadilla too, moderately carbonated (but okay for the style) with a fluffy, full body; 'deep' fruitiness penetrates everything, through a rounded doughy pale malt core and into a very colourful, lively finish radiating with all the abovementioned tropical fruit, bringing utter juiciness but also retronasal dank, sweaty and herbal notes (lemon thyme). Bitterness remains subordinate to all that juiciness but still the whole does not become overly sweet, as is all too often the case in this type of beers; the alcohol warms without doing anything else, the way it should be in a 10% ABV beer of any genre. Classic - using a trio of meanwhile very classic hop varieties, but doing so in an admittedly technically perfect way, the likes of which I associate more typically with actual New England (Tree House, Trillium). Great work indeed, if nothing new under the sun and in spite of the fact that I have grown tired of all these hazy IPAs in the past ten-odd years - but give me a perfectly executed, fresh one like this and I am a happy man.
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Triple Butcher
brewed by Fidens Brewing Company
2 months ago
Alengrin (11609) reviewed Burning Plumz from DUST Blending 2 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
This project started off as a brewer of ales but shifted to blending them (mostly their saison) with lambics and even wines, conveniently responding to the trends on the market I suppose, but with allegedly interesting results. I must admit that I have not been following their blending adventures at all so it was about time to put a sample to the test, namely this blend of their own saison with plum lambic (the maker of the latter sadly remains undisclosed). Bottle shared at Proevertjesdag. Thickly moussey, pale pink-tinged off-white, opening and eventually dissolving head, hazy vermillion robe with rusty-ruddy tinge. Aroma of red plum (not quite ripe), grape skin, rosehip, lemon juice, oxidized rosé wine, green walnut, wood sorrel, dandelion, dried parsley, young mugwort, lingonberries, dried purple coneflower. Dry, tart onset, unripe red plum more than the juicy ripe plum sweetness I was hoping for, side notes of grape skin, rosehip and redcurrant; medium carb, more or less vinous mouthfeel, slick cereally core dried by lively lactic acidity, remaining joyfully fruity and sharply edged by lemony sourness. Herbal, rosehip tea-ish notes appear retronasally but it is not uncommon for plum lambics to have that effect so I should not be suprised about it in a 'versnijbier' containing plum lambic either. Astringent tannic effects, probably mostly generated by those plums, dominate in the finish, accentuated by the acids; woody, tart yet fruity finish fading away slowly. Decent enough, fruity enough even in spite of the fact that I was hoping for more 'fleshiness', understandably appreciated by the educated beer community - but still I cannot get rid of the feeling that it lacks body, complexity and finesse. Nonetheless stimulating to find out more about this project.
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Burning Plumz
brewed by DUST Blending
2 months ago