directions_run Activity
Alengrin
added a new brewery:
Brasserie Brewdger
located in Belgium
5 months ago
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Ypra (2010)
brewed by Brouwerij Omer Vander Ghinste (Bockor)
5 months ago
Alengrin (10989) reviewed Ambrée from Brasserie Artisa'Malt 5 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
Another new microbrewery in the province of Liège, more specifically Waremme, nortwest of Liège itself and bang on the language border (and therefore also carrying a Dutch name: Borgworm). Foamy, egg-white, dense, cobweb-lacing head on a hazy amber-tinged ‘dirty’ peach blonde robe. Aroma of fried red apple slices, ripe peach, clove (4-vinyl-guaiacol, strong here), fresh croissants, thyme, nutmeg, tea bags, yellow raisins, honey, minerals (wet ‘petit granit’ stone), cooked meat to even chicken stock note in the background. Fruity onset, sweetish with lots of esters, hinting at pear, peach, pineapple and red apple, moderately carbonated with full, bready-sweetish and lightly caramelly maltiness under a layer of honeyish residual sugars, flavours which eventually become a bit ‘blurred’ by strong yeasty effects with phenolic spicy aromas varying between clove, thyme and nutmeg, as well as ‘meaty’ proteins and other ‘dirty’ effects. Soft floral hops provide mild bitterness as the honeyish sweetness from residual sugars slowly fades – but still these sugars win in the end, as this beer is somewhat less hop-forward than average for a Walloon ‘ambrée’. Feeling altogether genuine and artisanal enough, though, as I was expecting considerable yeastiness and phenolic spiciness to begin with; still it would benefit from a drier and more hop bitter character, I think.
Alengrin
updated a beer:
La Déferlante
brewed by Hopseïdon
5 months ago
Alengrin (10989) reviewed La Déferlante from Hopseïdon 5 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
Another of these new microbrewers in the Liège province, active in a village near Chaudfontaine for exactly four years already now, even though up till last week I had never even heard of them. This Déferlante is a witbier or ‘blanche’ as the Walloon population calls it, containing the obligatory coriander seed but no dried citrus peel (a variation on the old Hoegaarden theme, which does contain citrus, but in itself nothing new of course). Thick and creamy, foamy, snow white, audibly crackling, membrane-lacing, stable head on a hazy straw blonde beer with pale ochre-ish tinge – a true ‘blanche’ look for sure. Aroma of coriander seed (strong and upfront), dried apple peel, white bread, unripe pear (pronounced), halfripe banana, field flowers, freshly crushed green gooseberries somewhere, Granny Smith apple or even quince, cereals, grass. Fruity onset with again mostly green apple or green pear, a flavour running through this whole beer from nose to finish, vague banana perhaps, lively to even sharp and minerally carbonation; soft wheat sourishness under a slender cereally pale maltiness, sweetish and white-bready. Wheat slickness or soapiness remains more limited than in most ‘hypercommercial’ witbieren and the attention is soon drawn to a floral and somewhat leafy hop bitterness, which is much more pronounced and longer-lasting than is typical fo the style. Meanwhile soapy coriander seed and that persistent green apple flavour continue as well. The hop bitter note compensates for the lack of citrus here, probably intentionally, but I cannot help missing a bit of citrusy fraîcheur here; all things considered, though, this is a somewhat old-fashioned yet technically well executed variation on the old witbier theme.
Alengrin (10989) reviewed Ibubonic from Nasty Fox Brewery 5 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
Belgian IPA - or rather APA, by a young (2020) ‘Liègeois’ brewing initiative working in the kettles of almost equally young (2019) La Cahute in Limbourg (not Limburg but a village in between Eupen and Verviers) to brew their beer. Thick and dense, hops-enhanced, off-white, fluffy, lightly lacing head on a cloudy peach blonde beer with ‘dirty’ ochre tinge. Aroma very hoppy in a ‘wet’ and earthy kind of way, grapefruit peel, thyme (quite strong – actually used?), fresh wormwood leaf, wet autumn leaves, moist white pepper, dry biscuit, old orange zest, leftover dough, cooked apple, peach, rosemary, cooked chicken, bitter honey, tonic water, damp earth. Estery onset, yeasty more than hoppy, with lots of sweet red apple, pear and peach, prickly carbonation with minerally effects, soft bready core with biscuity and cracker-like edges under growing floral and earthy hoppiness, fighting against residual sugariness and phenolic yeastiness but eventually managing to push its wormwood- and grapefruit peel-coloured bitterness through. It just falls short to effectively counter the sweetness, though, even if an orange zest-like aspect lingers – actually matching that sweetness well. Ends earthy, yeasty, fruity and bready like many Belgian hoppy beers these days, but lacks hop bitterness in the end, which I assume is intended to evoke the APA feel – but in the end result, what I got is a Belgian style blonde with above average hop aroma, with the finish remaining too sweet. More dryness, less yeastiness and more outspoken hop character could perform miracles here even without deviating from the APA intentions.
Alengrin (10989) reviewed Battelaar from Batteliek 5 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Het Anker bought the deconsecrated church of Battel (a village near Mechelen) in early 2022 and now uses it as a playground for more small-scale brewing experiments as well as liquor and lemonade production; this Battelaar is their most basic beer I guess, an ordinary Belgian style blonde. From a can bought online. Thick and foamy, egg-white, moussy head, lacing in shreds over a hazy straw-yellow blonde beer with pale beige-ish tinge. Aroma initially dominated by prickly carbon dioxide but once this fades, offering impressions of banana, Doyenné pear, white bread crust, soapy coriander seed, raw sweet potato, dried flowers, grass, clove, vague nutmeg and honey. Sweet-fruity onset, estery notes of banana, pear and green melon with a very thin but structurally important sourish undertone, reinforced by very lively carbonation; supple white-bready and cereally pale malts with a thin layer of residual ‘white’ sugariness on top (even a tad aspartame-like at a certain moment), but the aforementioned sourish undertone provides some balance. Softly spicy, soapy coriander shows up in the end right before a mild floral hop bitter note announces the end, but residual sugars and banana isoamylacetate maintain the upper hand. Easygoing, ‘commercial’ blonde like we have thousands of in Belgium already – an every man’s friend, so to speak, but not unpleasant to drink and technically correct.
Alengrin (10989) reviewed Naughty & Nice (2021-) from Vocation Brewery 5 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
Chocolate stout by Vocation, can at De Koffer in Groningen. Pale mocha-beige, dense, medium thick but breaking and opening head on an ink black beer. Aroma of melting fondant and milk chocolate, chocolate ice cream, latté macchiato, hazelnut paste, candied dates, toffee, cocoa nibs, Ovaltine, vanilla, pecan nut pie, peanut butter, hint of black peppercorns. Sweet onset yet nowhere sticky, hints of yellow raisins and candied dates with an ever so slight sourish edge, softly prickling carbonation in a full, oily mouthfeel. Chocolate malts with a nutty and toffeeish edge under a heap of actual sweet chocolate (coffee ice cream – evolving into mocha ice cream as the more roasted part of the underlying malt base grows stronger). Something plum-like and sourish keeps running underneath, balancing out the sweetness; hops remain virtual and go by almost unnoticed so that apart from some warming alcohol, nothing additional seems to happen in the finish. The chocolate flavours fade away in the end. Bit of a one-trick pony, indeed delivering a very chocolatey experience without going all cloying and sticky; slender, well-measured and to the point, nothing too complex but certainly qualifying as a delicious chocolate stout.