Leireken Amber (Buckwheat Blond Ale)

Brewed by Brouwerij Strubbe
Style: Specialty Grain
Ichtegem, Belgium

(Bottled, BBE 2007, rated 4/2008) Very hazy yellow-orange with a huge, foamy head. Sweet candy aroma with pear, yeast, and sourish hints. Sweet-honeyish, malty flavor with lemon, hay, and some yeast. Medium-bodied, quite thick and slightly sugary - but still refreshing - palate with medium carbonation. A sweetish, but surprisingly balanced and fresh brew - even though it was past its BBE.

Bottle @ Zythos Bier Festival 2008, Sint Niklaas, Belgium. Clear yellow color with a average, frothy, fair lacing, mostly diminishing, white to off-white head. Aroma is light to moderate malty, toasted, wheat, light to moderate hoppy, citrus. Flavor is moderate sweet and light to moderate bitter with a average duration. Body is light to medium, texture is watery, carbonation is soft. (010308)

750ml caged and corked bottle. Poured a medium and hazy golden color with a huge sized white head. Some floaters. Aromas of yeast, lemons, spicy, and wheat. Tastes of lemons, peppers, yeast, and honey sweetness.

Bottle, at ZBF 2006. Hazy gold, thin white head and gentle condition. Gentle sweet malt and yeast in the nose, sweet and malty in the mouth and low yeast notes in the finish.

750 ML Bottle MJ’s Rare Beer Club 10/6/07: Light golden, hazy, w/ a lasting huge, meringue like head. Laces well! Peppery yeast up front and very strong, as well as dried apricot fruit. Pils malt w/a hint of toffee and a "wheat" malt aroma is also strong. Toasted shows up when it warms. Well balanced but not as spicy as the aroma. Peppery yeast, a slight herbal taste, lighlty sugary sweetness up front, some dried apricot mid palate. Dry finish w/ an herbal/spicy wheat aftertaste.. Oddly refreshing. Higher medium carbonation, lighter body, dry m/f, Nice beer! Nicely complex from malts and yeast for a 6% abv beer!

Bottle, 6%. Watery fruit aroma, some CO2. Cloudy orange colour, small stable white head. The flavour starts off sweet, turns a little sour with some acidic fruit. Late plasticky flavour. Not too bad.

Name: Leireken Buckwheat Ale
Date: January 26, 2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Appearance: cloudy yellow, wipsy white head
Aroma: sweet banana aroma with a hot spicy edge
Body: light creamy body
Flavor: nice sweet banana flavor, light bitterness, a nice sweet beer but not what I expected

Name: Leireken Buckwheat Ale
Date: April 05, 2007
Mode: bottle
Source: Ale Atlanta
Aroma: sweet spicy and estery aroma, creamy
Flavor: spiced banana flavor, same as it ever was

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.1/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: *4

This beer made a mess in my kitchen. After I removed the wire cage from the top of the bottle the cork popped itself and started to flow over the counter. Needless to say it was a very carbonated beer. Dark amber in color, long lasting head. Nice fig and dough flavor with a somewhat sour finish. A very good beer.