Liefmans Jan van Gent

Formerly brewed at Liefmans (Moortgat)
Style: Belgian Ale
Oudenaarde, Belgium

Wow, this is the mildest Belgian style ale I’ve ever had. Not always a good thing, being so soft and inoffensive, but in this case it worked fairly well. Light, slightly sour, toasty with a bit of salinity. Hint of yeast and starfruit in the nose. Cloudy and a bit flat. Not much going on, but a good session brew. A viable intro to "those wacky foreign beers," if all you drink is macro.

Hazy dark amber with a frothy white head. Wow, there is almost no aroma to this beer, perhaps a little wheat. The body is very spritzy and sugary and lightly tart, but again the same as the nose, almost nothing to be noted. This could be one of the most bland beers that I’ve ever had.

Dark yellow, medium head. Almost gone after a short while. Yeasty ale, nothing special.

(bottle, vintage 2003) Hazy amber coloured hue with big yeast floaties and a short and diminishing frothy white head. Toastmalty nose with caramel, also yeasty and slightly sour. Moderately sweet flavour, medium body and carbonation. Slightly sweet toastmalty taste with a light fruity and sour touch; dry and slightly woody, sour-fruity finish (14.03.06).

Orange and hazy with a big lasting off white head. Aroma was yeasty and spicey. Flavour had some oak, pepper and yeast with a slight acidity. Some floral and mineral notes as it warms before finishing with a sour taste.

37.5cl bottle from Noel Cuveliers. Amber colour with thick lasting beige head. Yeasty earthy aroma and also a bit dusty. Some banana and lemon. Odd beer. I have had it before and it wasn’t as good as I remembered. Some earthy citrus on end. Bit disappointed.

Hazy light golden in color with a small white head. Odd combonation of fruit,spice, zesty citrus,oak with sour and acidic notes.

37,5 cL bottle, snifter. Purchased at Bert’s Bierhuis in Utrecht, the Netherlands. A massive frothy and foamy white head slowly recedes into the beer, clinging tenaciously to the glass as it falls with almost a jello like wiggle. The beer itself has a brassy amber hue and is popping with carbonation. Soft pale malts are brought forth on the nose with a mineral quality surely imparted by the water. Wet leaves contrast sharply, but pleasantly, to a note of orange rind and light tones of floral hops. The astringent, mineral taste overshadows much of what could be good about the flavor. There’s almost a salty quality to it. The pale malt barely sticks its head out and a taste of raw oak makes its way in as well. The citrus and floral tones seem to be completely absent. Fizzy carbonation and a watery texture does nothing to releave the problems introduced by the mineral/astringent aspect. The body is, perhaps, a bit lighter than one would expect for 5.5% abv.