Alengrin
Gent, Belgium MemberOptions
directions_run Activity
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Ypra (2010)
brewed by Brouwerij Omer Vander Ghinste (Bockor)
7 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5
One of an apparently still continued series of flavoured Berliner Weisse variants by Alvinne, Belgian’s great specialist in barreled sour ales rather than kettle sours – but I have good memories attached to earlier variants so I was curious about this one, with an (at first sight) unlikely combination of flavours. Steinie bottle at Edelrot in Ghent. Medium thick, moussy, quite large-bubbled but fairly stable (if slowly opening), pale pink coloured head, hazy fiery-glowing ruby red robe with deep fuchsia tinge and strings of lively sparkling. Aroma of fleshy ripe cherries, even candied cherries or cherry pie, less mint but still very present and oddly not really clashing with the cherry ‘overdose’, sourdough, raspberry vinegar, raw rhubarb, redcurrant jam, lemon juice, faint background notes of lavender, cinnamon and gingerbread. Crisp, tart onset but sharply focused, the expected truckload of cherry juiciness, tartness and fleshiness, again with a background echo of candied cherry (rather than actual sour cherry) but embedded in hints of lemon, red apple, redcurrant and purple plum; lively carb, minerally, supple cereally-wheaty core under lactic sourness – in a fruity, yoghurty way, blending well with the acids from the fruit. Retronasally, the mint shows up in the end, peppermint tea-like and in that sense quite herbaceous and ‘ethereal’, but strangely matching well with the fleshiness and sourness of the sour cherries, without overwhelming everything. Indeed everything comes together perfectly in the end, in a kind of ‘double focus’ without much further ‘dead weight’ or distracting flavours – just concentrated and utterly pure, polished sour cherry and peppermint, refreshing each other. Brilliant little beer, in this particular segment.
Alengrin
updated a beer:
Berliner Kriek-Munt / Cherry-Mint
brewed by Brouwerij Alvinne
7 months ago
Alengrin (10989) reviewed Imperial Stout Woodford Reserve from Totem 7 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8
New Totem stout according to the most classic of barrel aged formulas: aged on bourbon barrels, Woodford Reserve in this case, which is what the whole barrel ageing hype started with a couple of decades ago. Sampled at Gents Bierfestival, cheers Klaas. Very thin and open ring of tiny beige bubbles but otherwise no head to speak of, black robe with thin mahogany edges. Aroma of clear bourbon, vanilla-scenting oak, toffee, chocolate-coated hazelnuts, latté macchiato, nougat, porcini fried with brown sugar, fig jam. Sweet, dense onset, light umami notes of black olive and porcini but primarily candied dates and fig compote, if clean and focused; oily mouthfeel, on the edge of becoming syrupy but not quite so that drinkability remains dangerously high. Layers of toffee, black chocolate, latté and nougat follow, drenched in warming bourbon with a slightly astringent edge, alongside woody tannins and vanillin from the oak; the finish further adds a spicy hop bitter twist and some coffee-like roastedness, but bourbon, toffee and bitter chocolate remain the main factors. More (but not too much) carbonation could further improve the flavours, but this is clearly a very deep, rich and complex stout as it is, with no discernible errors or even imbalances, not even on a 'micro' level. Klaas and Liesbeth remain at the cutting edge of U.S. style brewing in at least Eastern Flanders, but things like this convince me each and every time that they deserve their place in the international pantheon of inspired and artistic craft brewers as well. Nothing more I can add!
Alengrin (10989) reviewed Salted Maple Stout from Totem 7 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
New Totem stout containing sea salt and maple syrup, created for beer festivals (with, obviously, the Gent Bierfestival getting the debut) and so far only available from keg - apparently there are no intentions to can this one. Creamy, stable and firm, pale greyish beige head, black robe with hazy mahogany edges. Aroma of indeed maple syrup running through it all but not overwhelming notes of toffee, dark chocolate, macadamia nuts, cappuccino, hazelnut purée, vanilla, cognac, caramel, old brown honey (probably just the maple syrup again) and bayleaf. Densely sweet onset, 'candied' with clear maple syrup effect though again it remains well in balance with the other flavours, ranging between blackberry coulis, dried fig, plum jam and a brief touch of black olive-like umami; soft carb, thick and oily mouthfeel - but not so syrupy that it hinders drinkability. The salty aspect is there and blends well with the toffeeish side of the malt bill to create a 'salted caramel'-like effect, but does not overpower and remains a spicy detail rather than a determining flavour. Layers of toffee, bitter black chocolate and molasses ensue, still subtly sweetened by the maple syrup and even more subtly salted, ending with a citric hop bitter edge and warming, bourbon-like alcohol, which remains firmly in place. Another Totem masterpiece, too bad it will not be made available in canned form like their other beers!
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8.5
Most Most Premium, a RIS by old familiar Gigantic in Portland, Oregon (founded 2007), a brewery which charmed me already back in my early discoveries of U.S. craft brewing, aged in port barrels - there is no way this can go wrong. From a stubby 50 cl bottle, 2022 vintage. Medium sized, deep mocha-beige, densely creamy head, slowly opening but leaving a creamy ring and flat 'islands' in the middle until, after about a quarter of an hour, it has vanished completely; opaque black robe, allowing no light to shine through even when held against a bright lamp. Aroma of melting 'fondant' chocolate, cooked blackberries, tawny port piercing through but never dominating the beer, toffee, bayleaf, ground walnuts, liquorice (quite pronounced), molasses, brandy, vanilla-scenting oak wood, elderberry syrup, fig jam, sirop de Liège, chewing gum or even acacia gum, nougat, reduced red wine sauce, venison, sweet teriyaki or even a touch of oyster sauce, red wine-poached pear, almond, wet leather, ketjap manis, hint of rainwater, tobacco leaves and tar. Densely sweet onset, candied cherries mingled with fig jam, candied dates and medlar, with this sourish undertone adding a vinous touch and continuing all the way through a softly but adequately carbonated, very full and oily, 'heavy' body of toffeeish, black-chocolatey and nougat-like malts, remaining sweet yet acquiring a dash of coffee-like roasted bitterness further on (I guess this is the 'Russian' part of it, in the current Anglo-Saxon meaning). Notes of umami, primarily soy sauce and oyster sauce, accompany everything without pushing themselves too much onto the beer; meanwhile this underlying sourish (blue grape) streak gains momentum and combines with the residual sweetness in the end to indeed form a flavour combo reminiscent of tawny port - the oaky vanilla and drying tannins also unfolding at the right moment, further accentuating the vinous 'subcharacter' of this many-layered beer. Some citrusy (orange peel) hops are noticeable, too, not even in flavour but even in retronasal aroma - we are very clearly in good old U.S. territory here. Intense and demanding, but at the same time very classic for an U.S. style 'impy': this is exactly what I was longing for when buying this expensive bottle. It does not disappoint: the port adds more sourness than sweetness in this case (a basic red wine flavour, so to speak, even with a certain degree of grape skin astringency after swallowing), but this is still far removed from the 'sour stouts' sometimes resulting from wine barrel ageing. I guess port, contrary to wine, still contains enough sugars (and not enough bacteria perhaps) to keep the beer in the sweeter side of town instead of going all sour stout-like and though I suspect that this Most Most Premium is more than solid enough to withstand actual wine barrel ageing too, I am glad that this variant conveys everything I was expecting from a good old-fashioned barrel aged U.S. imperial stout - and more. Not the easiest one around to pour down on a still benign summer night, I guess, but so rewarding and complex. Gigantic, in spite of being now over a decade old, is still going strong in these challenging times, that much is certain.
Alengrin
added a new beer
Most Most Premium Port Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout (2022)
by
Gigantic Brewing
7 months ago
Alengrin (10989) reviewed Kumburák from Pivovar Nová Paka 7 months ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7
Czech 'světlý ležák' (Bohemian Pilsener) from a keg generously shared by Jasper Pollet at Gents Bierfestival, cheers man! Snow white, moussy, quickly opening but otherwise stable head on a clear pure yellow-golden beer. Aroma of dry cereals, grass, touch white pepper, apple peel note, dried garden weeds, bread crust hint, minerals. Lightly fruity onset (in spite of being a filtered Lager) with a hint of unripe pear somewhere, minerally but nowhere harsh carbonation, slick cereally pale malt sweetish core - very supple and a tad thinnish perhaps, but still with a nice white bread-like lacing and its sweetish core balanced by a floral, grassy hop bitterish finish. Gentle and elegant, on a soft brewing water 'soil' and with a simple but genuine and pure character, unpolluted with corn, hop shortcuts or what have you in industrial standard lager - the difference with its countless 'strange children' which have conquered the world long after Josef Groll came up with the first Bohemian Pilsener in 1842 is clear for those familiar with Pilsener history, even if this one is essentially a straightforward and accessible example so not even the best in its particular subcategory...
Alengrin (10989) reviewed Mondello from Stroom Brouwers 7 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8
One of Stroom's newer beers, a kveik IPA hopped with Magnum, Idaho 7, Triskel (a somewhat obscure French variety developed in 2006) and El Dorado. Can from the Hopduvel, since a couple of years located in a much more spacious shop at the Dok Noord site (and in that sense, perhaps, deserving of a new place rating here?). Thick and frothy, egg-white, regularly shaped, densely moussy, firm head on a hazy apricot blonde robe with pale orangey glow. Aroma of orange zest, rambutan, kumquat, green mango, unripe pineapple, indeed some blood orange, lime blossom, lemongrass, apricot purée, maguey leaf, lychee, meringue. Fruity, crisp, juicy onset, sweetish with a sourish undertone, finely but quite actively carbonated for a hazy IPA with some minerally side effects; carambola, lychee, some mango and outspoken citrusiness (pomelo, kumquat) accompany a soft-edged, 'full' maltiness with a doughy and wheaty character. There is a crisp citric-sour edge to it all, which I assume is meant to evoke the blood orange association, but the sultry, overly juicy sweet-sour flavour of actual blood orange is kept relatively subtle. The hops provide a brightly tropical-citrusy finish, adding a soft but long and effective bitterness to a wave of yellow-fruity and lemongrassy aromas, where citrus keeps dominating the sweetness of tropical fruit. The kveik does support the exuberant fruitiness but does so in a 'controlled' and measured kind of way which does not overwhelm the hops, so in spite of the blood orange tag and the kveik, this remains, in its essence, a citrusy, radiant hazy IPA, maintaining enough bitterness to keep it interesting and refreshing. All things considered, this is actually a really good 'Ghentian' fruit IPA even with Dok's stiff competition in the backyard - and to me one of Stroom's finest so far.
Alengrin
added a new beer
Mondello
by
Stroom Brouwers
7 months ago