Author: dpatrickryan

Brasserie Lefebvre Newton Apple Beer Fruit Beer at 3.5% ABV ($5.24 from Crowfoot Liquor Okotoks)

Pours a slightly cloudy pale straw (paler, actually – SRM 1? 0.5?) with one finger of white head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, spotty lacing. Nose is apple juice and sweet cider, faint pale malt and wheat. Taste is strongly sweet apple cider and moderate tart with a little doughy yeast. Very light body, moderate sustained carbonation, with an off-dry finish.

Wow… that’s really… something. What, I’m not sure, but I’m sure it’s something. Let’s face it, I knew this wasn’t going to be anything great before I even opened the bottle. And the first whiff of apple juice and sugar didn’t do much to allay those fears. I was further dismayed to see the ingredients list included “apple juice, sugar, flavours”. “Flavours,” huh? Good to know… I guess, to be fair, it’s not actually bad. It’s just very sweet and very fake. You know those crappy hard ciders you find in every liquor store? Buy those instead. They’re no worse, but at least they’ll be cheaper.

5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brasserie Lefebvre Abbaye de Floreffe Prima (Melior) Belgian Strong Dark Ale at 8% ABV ($5.24 from Crowfoot Liquor Okotoks)

Pours clear amber-brown with cola red highlights, a short and short-lived light tan head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, no lacing. Nose is brown sugar and boozy dark fruit, mild spice. Taste is moderate candi sugar sweetness, apple fruitiness and fruitcake spices, slight sour/tart. Medium body, prickly sustained carbonation, with an off-dry mild bitter lingering finish.

Probably the best of the Floreffe offerings I’ve tried. I’m not going to break my neck trying to get any more, you understand – this is just the best of a fairly mediocre bunch. Kind of a boozy medium-dark fruitcake, that somebody got confused while making, and added apples. (What is it with Floreffe and apples? Every one of those beers tastes like apples. Must be their house yeast.) It’s very, very similar to the Dubbel, except with a little more pronounced nose and a much more noticeable booziness. Definitely falls short of greatness, and there are definitely many better examples of the style to be had.

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brasserie Lefebvre Abbaye de Floreffe Triple Tripel at 8% ABV ($5.24 from Crowfoot Liquor Okotoks)

Pours hazy deep gold with one finger of loose white head diminishing gradually to a thin skim, minimal patchy lacing. Nose is pale malt and boozy dark fruit, candi sugar, Belgian yeast. Taste is moderate candi sugar and apples, mild bitter, slightly tart. Medium body, low sustained carbonation, with an off-dry moderate bitter boozy finish.

Again, Floreffe isn’t getting me too excited. Pretty pedestrian tripel, with both nose and flavour on the muted side after the first short-lived burst of moderately interesting Belgian yeasts. Appearance is again disappointing, short-lived short head and absence of lacing. I can think of better alternatives.

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brasserie Lefebvre Abbaye de Floreffe Double Abbey Dubbel at 6.3% ABV ($5.24 from Crowfoot Liquor Okotoks)

Pours clear amber-brown with cola red highlights, a short and short-lived light tan head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, no lacing. Nose is muted, brown sugar and dark fruit. Taste is moderate candi sugar sweetness, slight sour/tart, low spice. Light to medium body, low sustained carbonation, with an off-dry mild bitter lingering finish.

Fairly boring abbey dubbel, with both nose and flavour on the muted side. Appearance is also disappointing, with the short-lived short head and absence of lacing. Not unpleasant, but there are lots of better alternatives out there.

6/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brasserie Lefebvre Abbaye de Floreffe Blonde Belgian Pale Ale at 6.3% ABV ($5.24 from Crowfoot Liquor Okotoks)

Pours clear pale gold with one finger of loose white head diminishing gradually to a thick cap, moderate patchy lacing. Nose is pale biscuity malt, faint apples and Belgian yeast. Taste is mild sweet, mild bitter, faint apples and pepper spice. Light to medium smooth body, prickly sustained carbonation, with an off-dry moderate bitter finish.

A few notches better than an adjunct lager, but it’s got some of the same character. Not a lot going on in the nose, other than a crackery, biscuity kind of malt, with everything else pretty far in the background. A very workaday pale ale, with not a lot to distinguish it.

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brouwerij Van Eecke Kapittel Watou Tripel Abt Tripel (?) at 10% ABV ($4.84 from Willow Park Wine & Spirits)

Pours clear gold with one finger of dense white head diminishing gradually to a thick cap, minimal lacing. Nose is pale malt and dark fruit, candy sugar, Belgian yeast. Taste is moderate candi sugar and fruit sweetness, mild bitter. Medium body, moderate sustained carbonation, with an off-dry moderate bitter boozy finish.

On the one had, my kind of tripel – balanced slightly more to the bitter, yet with enough pale malt/candi sugar sweetness to keep it easy-drinking despite the double digit ABV. But on the other, hints of characteristic Belgian yeast flavours – bubblegum, bananas, cloves – layered behind what basically amounts to a light fruitcake, means the flavour basically bridges the gap between tripel and quadrupel. It’s definitely fruitier than your normal tripel, but much lighter than a quad, so I see why they call it a Tripel Abt. It hurts my OCD when things defy easy characterization, but I guess I can’t really blame the beer for my own shortcomings, can I?

8/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brouwerij Van Eecke Kapittel Watou Dubbel Abbey Dubbel at 7.5% ABV ($4.27 from Willow Park Wine & Spirits)

Pours clear amber-brown with a short light beige head diminishing rapidly to a thin skim, no lacing. Nose is brown sugar, dark fruit, spicy herbs. Taste is moderate candi sugar sweetness and mild spice. Medium body, slightly oily texture, and moderate sustained carbonation, with an off-dry mild bitter finish.

Not a lot to say about this one – decent enough abbey dubbel, but nothing really leaps out. Nose is a little on the muted side, and the appearance is a little disappointing with the short-lived short head and absence of lacing. Pleasant enough, but not all that memorable.

6.5/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

Brouwerij Van Eecke Kapittel Watou Prior Ale Belgian Strong Dark Ale at 9% ABV ($4.55 from Willow Park Wine & Spirits)

Pours clear amber-brown with a fat finger of light beige head diminishing gradually to a thick cap, no lacing. Nose is brown sugar, dark fruit and cloves. Taste is moderate caramel malt sweetness and mild spice, slight sourness and hop bitter. Medium to full body and soft mouth feel with alcohol warming on a slightly tart finish.

Well, that’s all right. Sure, I’ve had better priors, but I don’t think I’ve had better for the price. Really the major problem with this one is the near-complete absence of any hop character to balance out the sweetness. Not that the sweetness is overwhelming, and there is some tartness offsetting it, as well as the alcohol drying, but a little more bittering would help the overall balance. That said, being a monk might not be so bad if this were the daily drink.

My 113th from the 2010 Edition of 1001 Beers (retired from the 2013 Edition) and 116th overall.

7/10 #1001beers   #ryansbooze  ryansbooze.com

Brasserie Lefebvre Blanche de Bruxelles Mannekin Pis Witbier at 4.5% ABV ($5.24 from Crowfoot Liquor Okotoks)

Pours slightly hazy, pale straw with a short finger of loose white head quickly diminishing to a thin skim and minimal lacing. Nose is banana, bubblegum, coriander, citrus, floral hops. Taste is similar, with a little peppercorn. Light body, low sustained carbonation, and an off-dry, slightly spicy bitter finish.

Pretty middle-of-the-road wit. Definite Belgian character, but fairly muted and bland. Bought it in a Brasserie Lefebvre variety 8-pack (1/2 Mètre de Bière) that was probably not worth the price at almost $42 plus tax and deposit. Seven more to go…

7/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com

De Proef Brouwerij / Mikkeller Hop Burn High  American Double/Imperial IPA  at 10% ABV ($5.95 from Highlander Wine & Spirits)

Pours slightly hazy, particle-laden pale amber with one finger of loose off-white head quickly diminishing to a thin skim and patchy lacing. Nose is aggressive citrus and tropical fruit, mild caramel malt. Taste is moderate caramel sweet, intensely bitter pine resin ahead of citrus and tropical fruit, building spice. Medium body and slightly oily texture, low sustained carbonation, and a dry, spicy, lingering bitter finish, with an immediate warming in the gut from the high ABV, the high IBUs, or both.

Three hundred IBU. I dunno whether it’s called “Hop Burn” because of the heartburn I expect it’ll cause, or because I think it singed my nose hairs at the first sniff. I’m fairly convinced the particulate is pure alpha acids settling out of solution. For all that, it’s very drinkable. I don’t know if it’s my years of abusing my taste buds with spicy food or what, but on the tongue, this isn’t unmanageable at all. It smells scarier than it tastes… but it also burns in the gut like high proof whiskey or spicy peppers. I like it. A lot. As the glass progresses, the subtler flavours become more pronounced, presumably because the biter receptors have given up and shut down. That being said, it lacks a certain subtlety and polish… but then again, so do I. So I like it more.

9/10 #ryansbooze ryansbooze.com