De Koninck

Bottle; Nose of caramel, apple, and spice; light brown with not much head; smells better than it tastes; some caramel and pepperiness.

Bouteille de 330 ml, provenant d’un coffret cadeau, achetée à la LCBO (Ottawa, ONT). Arôme: Odeur de malt, d’houblon et d’épices. Apparence: La couleur est ambrée translucide avec une forte densité de bulle. Présence d’un large col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Goût d’agrumes et d’épices. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement crémeuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Légère présence de lait (?) en arrière goût. (Rating #820)

Beer 35 Summer 2006 trip in Europe. Drank on 7/5/06 at a Thai Restaraunt in Amsterdamn. The beer went down smooth it was ok, bu not great by any means.

Bouteille de 33 cl. Ambrée orange, collet mince. Légé arome de malte caramelisé, avec un peu d’épice. Goût de fruits sûrette et d’épice simple.

Dark straw golden colour with little to no head. Apples dominate the nose with light spice and yeast. The body does little to entice or impress, just a light bitterness at the end and little else happening to speak of.

(Tap) Pours amber with virtually no head and medium carbonation. Bready and dry, with some toffee notes as well. A pretty good beer overall.

On draught. Rich copper colour in the glass. Small head for a draught Belgian beer, but good lacing. Sweet, some malt and hopes, but not enough to make it distinctive. Bit of a let down considering all the ’classic Belgian ale’ jive that goes with it, but its ok. *I had a couple of bottles of this last night (29/12/06) and I prefered it to the draught - much more dry and with the hops more evident, but with out the large fluffy head. I had a glass on draught at The Rake (02/02/07) and it was much better than the draught at the Bierodrome. Much dryer and complex - honey flavours, some spice and and well rounded finish. I guess these guys keep their beer better. A Re-re-re rating. I had a half at The Dove on Broadway Market, Hackney and it was the best yet. Such an easy drinking beer, full of flavour. When its well kept, its a winner.

"Hoge Gisting." 330 mL bottle. LCBO gift box. Smells like raw barley malt, with a touch of hops. (Smells like my basement when I’m making beer.) Copper brown in colour. Lightly carbonated. Tastes like it smells; sweet malted barley with enough hops to make the finish interesting. If you’ve ever made your own beer (all grain), you’ll recognize this. Undecided. I’ll have to have another (colder) one.