Bruegel

Brewed by Brouwerij Van Steenberge
Style: Belgian Ale
Ertvelde, Belgium

330 ml bottle. Clear amber colour. Medium-sized white head. Nutty caramel aromas. Notes of burnt caramel. Hints of physalis. Light-bodied. Some mellow caramel malts, but overall t is not really particularly interesting. OK, but nothing more.

This is an ok Belgian Ale. Somewhat bland, tart, and yeasty. Finishes crisp, smooth, and dry.

Aroma is lemony. Appearance is cloudy orange with a large head. Taste is sharp and sour. Flavor is citrusy lemons and grapefruit. *pucker* This is like Bavik except more sour. Its ok I guess.

Appearance is promising, nice head and colour. Aroma is okay, taste is quite simple, but okay.

Ruby amber with a white head. Medium bodied. Mild fruity nutty aroma. Nutty sweet malts with a yeasty twist.

Pours a slightly hazy amber with a monsterous frothy head. Interesting sour and apricot aroma. Medium body. Taste, again interesting. kind of like a lightly peppered apricot and a slice of bread. Certainly a different beer.

11.2 oz. / 330 ml. brown Belgian stubbie bottle. Cryptic date code on the back label, and that’s about it for a freshness date. Part of a Belgian six pack sampler I got at Rips. Poured out a dark caramel color, with a decent, but short lived white head. The head slid back to a decent matting of lacing floating on top of the beer. Thick aromas of malts along with the spicy Belgian yeast makes for a delicious experience. This is a decent beer, even though the ABV is lower than it’s bigger brothers. The tastes are definitely there, and leave you wanting more. More than decent in my book. Try some for yourself.

The first time I tried this, I wrote the following: Big, billowy, creamy white head, cloudy pale amber color. Aroma is fresh and slightly spicy, taste is blase. A fine, easily drinkable ale, but nothing to shout about. Is this the sort of thing that the revellers in Bruegel’s paintings were drinking (as represented on the label)? Did they have to drink a lot of it? 5.2%, with very little spark or flavor. On my second visit with this beer, my opinions didn’t change much. I discerned a fruitiness in the finish, found the palate to be smooth and refreshing, and complimented the balance. Moreover, I recognized the folly in my facetious remark, and realized the beer for what it is meant to be : a light "peasant" beer. Your party’s over pretty quick if your beer is something like Gulden Drak, and same for your aspirin supply! Of course, they drank a lot of it, they’re REVELLERS. At least they had better beer than you’d find at a contemporary American house party, where you’re likely to guzzle on a High Life, or sumpin’.