Alken-Maes Judas

Alken-Maes Judas

Style: Golden Ale

Alcohol Content: 8.5%

From: Waarloos, Kontich, Belgium

Purchased From: Brought back from Calais by my Friend Jon

http://www.alken-maes.be/fr

Alken-Maes was created out of the 1988 merger of two small breweries, Maes located at Kontich-Waarloos and Cristal-Alken located at Alken. Both had specialized in pils (Maes was producing Maes pils and Alken Cristal pils) until Maes purchased the Union brewery (based in Jumet) in 1978, which produced Grimbergen beer among others.

After the merger, the group continued to purchase other breweries to expand their offer to a larger panel of beers. In 1989, the new brewery purchased a 50% stake in De Keersmaeker brewery, which specialized in spontaneous fermentation beers such as Mort Subite. In 2000, it bought Ciney and Brugs Witbier as well as the other 50% of De Keersmaeker.

In the same year, the brewery was bought by British company Scottish & Newcastle, which in turn was bought by the Carlsberg/Heineken consortium in 2007.

Rising from the depths of hell?

Judas was first brewed in 1986, probably as a Golden Ale that could compete with the highly successful Duvel  beer made by its rival, Moortgat Brewery. The similarities in title, label and goblet are evident. Can this drink live up to its devilish name? Lets find out.

Colour: From the bottle, this drink pours a bright golden colour with a thick white head. The head will dissipate slightly but it does stay around for the duration of the drink.

Aroma: Slight hints of lemon mixed with sweet lavender honey. There are also lovely spicy aromas that burn the nostrils slightly if you hold the glass close to your nose.

Body: Very light  mouthfeel for such a potent drink. Once poured into the glass, the drink will fizz up rapidly due to the high level of carbonation. This then dies down very suddenly to leave a very smooth liquid which when drunk, slides down very easily.

Taste: The overwhelming taste is that of wholemeal bread mixed with fresh lemons. This lemon sensation can be quite sharp so be careful if you take a large gulp (I did, and it was not a pleasurable experience). This beer has a slight sour ending due to the pre mentioned lemons mixed with freshly cut grass notes. As the drink warms, the strength of the alcohol become more apparent and the beer takes on whiskey like qualities. Slight hints of peat move to the fore of the flavour profile. That being said, the drink is not as potent as the the Duvel I reviewed earlier in this blog. It tastes like a more refined version of the original strong golden ale. Just be careful the drink doesn't stab you in the back with the alcohol content!

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/duvel.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/kernel-brewery-ipa-columbus.html

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Ommegang Hennepin

Ommegang Hennepin

Style: Saison

Alcohol Content: 7.7%

From: Cooperstown, New York, USA

Purchased From: Real Ale Shop, Richmond Upon Thames, London, England
http://www.ommegang.com/

Brewery Ommegang is a Belgian brewery located near Cooperstown, New York that specializes in Belgian-style ales. Ommegang began brewing Belgian-style ales in 1997. Founded by Don Feinberg and Wendy Littlefield, owners of Vanberg & DeWulf beer import company, and three family owned Belgian breweries including Duvel Moortgat. Ommegang started up in a purpose-built building based on a traditional Belgian farmhouse, set on a former 136-acre (0.55 km2) hopfarm in the Susqehanna River Valley, four miles (6 km) south of Cooperstown, New York in the Town of Milford.

Since its opening, Ommegang has grown rapidly — in early 2005, its owner said they have been unable to meet demand for their ales and as a result would add 40 percent to their production capacity over the next year.

By 2003, the Belgian breweries had all been absorbed into large corporations. Feinberg and Littlefield sold their share of Ommegang in 2003 to Belgian brewer Brouwerij Duvel Moortgat, brewers of the world-renowned Duvel Golden Ale. Duvel Moortgat brewed limited amounts of beer for Brewery Ommegang in 2006 to help meet demand, but has not brewed any since then. Ommegang have also started to brew a series of special editions based on the successful HBO series, Game of Thrones. The latest in in this series is the Take the Black Stout. However this review focuses on Hennepin Farmhouse Saison

Colour: Pours a straw yellow with a luxuriously thick white head. This head clings to the glass like its life depends on it and stays with you throughout the drink. Another point of note is that the drink is opaque. Looks like a treat to drink.

Aroma: The label calls this this drink a farmhouse Saison and you can certainly smell why. Big, bold aromas of hay and the farm yard will rise from the glass. There are notes of cracked black pepper mixed and a warm spiciness which will fire you up.

Body: This drink is actually thicker than it looks. The body is very reminiscent of a Belgium wheat beer, nice and creamy. This sensation will cover your throat making you think your drinking a pint of milk. In the glass there is a low level of carbonation which helps to add to the smoothness of this drink.

Taste: The interesting element to this drink comes from the taste. All the flavours a very well balanced which helps to create a very pleasurable and smooth drinking experience. Notes of spicy ginger, peppery coriander and zingy orange peel present themselves straight away. At 7.7 ABV, this drink hides the alcohol very well by introducing a sherbet lemon finish. I will certainly be getting another bottle of this when I pop into the real ale shop this week.

Must learn how to use a flash!

Similar to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/tripel-karmeliet.html

Different to: http://beefsbrewery.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/moor-beer-company-old-freddy-walker.html

For the latest news on reviews follow me on twitter @beefsbrewery or like me on Facebook at Beefsbrewery

Duvel

 Duvel

Style: Golden Ale

Alcohol content: 8.5%

From: Brussels, Belgium

Purchased from: Tesco

OK so far on this blog i have reviewed ales from the US, UK and Germany. Its time to mix it up a bit and review a brew from Belgium. Now i will be the first to admit, ( and to my shame) that i have not drunk may drinks for the low countries before. However, from reading Melisa Cole's Let Me Tell You About Beer, i realized that i was missing out on a world of aroma's and flavors. So while i was in Tesco's at the weekend, i reached for a bottle of Duvel as i had never tried it before.

Duvel is a forth generation family brewer based in Breendonk, Belgium. Duvel (in its current form) was created  in the aftermath of World War One, when a large number of UK troops were deployed on the front in Belgium. As the troops arrived, they brought with them bottled beer to numb the pain of this terrible conflict. Belgium brewers soon got hold of a few bottles and attempted to re-create the beer. After the war the son of  founder of Duvel; Albert Moortgat visited the UK to meet brewers and some learn new techniques. What he brought back from that visit would lead the family on to create Duvel and from there the rest is history. The word Duvel is Brabantian, Ghent and Antwerp dialect for devil. Lets hope that this Golden ale tastes more saintly than its name.

Colour: As per the style; Golden. Its very clear in the glass but also very gassy. It looks like a golden Kristal Weiss beer. When the bubbles being to settle, the color becomes more straw like and looks more like a traditional Weiss beer. Now Duvel is bottle conditioned, which means that the brewer will add a small bit of yeast to each bottle.This continues the fermentation process and also added to the flavor and body of the beer.

Smell: On the nose you are blasted with a banana and clove aroma. All the signs are screaming at me that this is a Weiss beer.I currently feel that the label on the bottle is a bit miss leading. If this is really a Golden Ale then i will have to eat my hat.

Body: Thick white head which holds all the aromas that i explained above. The drink is very rich and creamy. The bubbles tickle the back of your throat on the way down. A couple of minutes after the pour the bubbles are still going strong. They seem to be never ending. If you drank a lot of this very quickly, I guarantee that you would be burping all night long. After about 15 minutes of conversation and  what can be called erm "dancing" i was pleased to see that the bubbles had stopped. The drink then became much more enjoyable.

Taste: As soon as you have a sip you get the taste of lemon, oranges and banana all washed down with a pint of double cream. You get a mildly acidic/ sour after taste which actually cleans and refreshes your mouth. After my first sip, this after taste was a very pleasant surprise.The more i drank this beer the more i started to enjoy it. Personally i think that the temperature is key to unlocking the full flavor behavior of this brew. This drink is best served at 6 degrees.

Look at the bubbles!

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