Gribousine

Brewed by Brasserie La Binchoise
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Binche, Belgium

One of the lesser Belgian golden strongs. Slides down easily enough but it’s as forgettable as a Belgian strong can be. Also, be warned: these beers are gushers. This is the second sample from this brewer to spray my kitchen. Once in the glass, it was a bright gold with a tall, lasting head that left great reefs of lace. The aroma has an unappealing chalky quality that tends to mask the underlying tangy hops, lemonade and dry ginger notes. Very yeasty. I found the mouthfeel a little flat, undercarbonated and thin but it develops a nice syrupy swallow. Restrained sweet flavour of lemony hops and hard candy, with a gently phenolic sourish finish. (33cl bottle, best before 23/8/06, IBS, Perth)

Dangerous, devilish brew this one turned out to be. Sessionable, easy drinking ale with a kick that could make things messy late in the night. Tasted form the oddly labelled bottle, it erupted with vigour and made pouring a decent head a little easier. Head formed, but dissipated back quickly to leave islands of white bubbles. The body of beer a summery hazy yellow-gold with a flourish of fine carbonation. Big, clean, spicy and tangy citric nose with a light hint of candi. Smooth, yeasty, treacle-like body, the light biting carbonation moved things along quickly. Flavour was quite subtle, banana, vanilla and cantaloupe with a little candi sugar upfront. Herbs in the back, slightly sour and a little grassy before a long sweet and sour finish. The alcohol remained completely undetected, even as it warmed, which made for an easy drinker with ’bite’. Nothing complex about it, but it was still a nice drop. (33cL, 23/08/06)

Hazy blonde color. Oranges, pineapples, peaches, wood and a bit of yeast in the nose. Mouth starts mildly hoppy, then comes some sweet malt with pineapples, peaches. Sweet malty tropical fruity finish. Nice tropical fruit like beer.

Hazy pale, dull straw body with an average size white head. Smooth taste of orange, rockmelon, coriander and a little zest. The body is medium and the alcohol is well hidden. Thought this was a good drop, it had good balance, the aroma was pleasant and it was very drinkable.

Cloudy yellow with a medium sized white head. Citrusy, bready aroma. Sweet malty fruity flavour with a light bitterness in the finish. Medium bodied. Nicely carbonated and drinkable. Very good.

Aroma:sugar,spicy.... appearance:clear gold with a light head... Flavor:belgian malt,spice and ligh shampoo flavor....

Sample at the Mondial, from 330 ml bottle. Bright gold with decent retention of the foamy snowy topping...lots of vanilla, cookie-yeast, orange in the sweet nose redolent of pastry shops...low carbonation, light alcohol presence, moderately sweet and fairly yeasty body...creamy front and middle, thins a bit and dries out considerably towards the finish.

Lightly spicy yet sweet vanilla aroma. Clear blonde body is topped with a decent cover of fine-bubbled white head. Grassy, herbal hops, sweet vanilla and a light alcohol punch chased by light bitterness in a flavour that seems dominated by citrus and spicy yeast characteristics. Medium-light body with moderately prickly carbonation that is dangerously drinkable considering the ABV. Sampled at the Mondial de la Bière 2005.