Ename Cuvée 974

Brewed by Brouwerij Roman
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Oudenaarde, Belgium

Clear darker amber coloured beer with small white head and medium carbonation. Herby spicy aroma. Full creamy bit sparkling palate. Finish is bitter herby ending dry.

Serving date: 2009-02-03. Served in tulip. Presentation: 330 ml bottle with freshness date on the label (Best before 2010-07-21). Deep amber color with shades of brown. Some cloudiness due to yeast. A semi-aggressive pour creates a big, 5 cm ivory-colored creamy head. At first, head retention seems everlasting, leaving a rocky and uneven foam, but after a while it starts to dissipate and then rather quickly settles into a nice layer of creamy foam, leaving chunks of lacings on the glass. Lots of fruit esters in the nose, mainly blackberries and red currants, some earthy notes and a faint smell of yeast. More sweet notes from malts and a general candy-like smell. A quit refreshing smell, but rather light and insipid. A malty sweetness and fruity flavors blends with a faint taste of yeast and a rather unpleasant and too prominent metallic flavor. Mild tartness and hints of lemon in the middle. The finish is semi-dry and tastes of juicy malts and some alcohol. I must say, the finish is rather short, and not that interesting. Actually, there’s not much going on at all here. When I wrote my tasting notes on this one, basically all of them started with the adjective "faint". Every component of the smell and taste of it is too gentle and mild, and the result is a beer with decent flavors - except for the metal - but quite dull, almost bland. Very high level of carbonation. Medium body. This is a decent beer - the different flavors blend well and it’s quite refreshing - but it’s not that interesting and it lacks a distinct character. When everything about a beer is faint, the end result won’t be good. Also, the high level of initial carbonation (it decreased after a while) overpowered some of flavors in the beginning (also note that I served this at cellar temperature and poured it kind of aggressively). There are many Belgian strong ales that are far better than this one. Serving type: bottle (Copy of old Beer Advocate review)

Bottle, 2009-01-12 Göteborg Copper body, medium high head Yeast, fruity, medium bitterness

Bottle from Systembolaget. Such a beautiful beer, copper color with nice lace. Aroma of pears and taste fruity and toasted with tuned bitterness. Excellent emassador for the other Ename beers and beers from Brouwerij Roman.

Bottle at Kulminator. Clear copper colour, steady off-white head. Yeasty caramel, some spicy notes, especially towards the finish. Quite fizzy. Average.

Amber color with a creamy off-white head. Spicy caramel malty aroma. Sweet malty flavor with hints of dried fruit.

Bottle, Belgian Belly, Chorlton. Deep amber colour with a creamyish head. Sweetish aroma of caramel malt. Liked the spiciness in the flavour and my attention was held to the bottom of the glass with more elements of herby fruitiness revealing themselves.. Probably the best from this quiver I’ve thus far tasted and a tasty winter warmer.

Light brown with a huge baige head. Aroma is sweet caramelic and has some definate notes of sweet fruits like banana and figs. Flavor is medium sweet with some fruity esters. Very mediocre but definetly drinkable.