Urthel Hop-it

Brouwerij De Leyerth
Brewed at De Koningshoeven (Bavaria - Netherlands)
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Ruiselede, Belgium

Draught at Smokeless Joe, Toronto. This is transparent golden in a ’Urthel’ goblet (shape is a bit like karmeliet) with a large foaming white head. The head really lasted until the beer was finished. There were some fresh hop notes in the aroma, some yeast as in many Belgian style golden ales. I don’t get too much of the alcohol in the flavour. There’s plenty more hop bitterness in there, Belgian golden ale yeastiness; I taste some wood, pine, citrus, especially light lemon, pineapple. Mouthfeel is smooth: light to medium in body.

Bottle, Very hoppy, spicey, a long bitterness in the finish but not unpleasant. Small bubbles in the glass.

Bottle from under the stairs. Brilliant lager gold with a dense white collar, plenty of ominous grey floaties left swirling around at the bottom of the bottle. Juicy peach yeastiness over ripe tanging hop aroma with grass, clementine and juniper. Almond and alcohol as the head dissipates, mellowed beautifully by floral hop and honeyed malt. Mightily hopped for style, and tanging like Poperings Hommelbier. Soapy citrus with bright savoury grass and satsuma tones over a big warming biscuity malt base. Honey, blossomy herbal notes, peach and occasional solvent all in there. Some shampoo and lingering spiritous booze.Quite something.

Bottle - 330ml. Pours a hazy golden body with yeasty flakes and a thin white creamy head. Enjoyable malty/hoppy aroma with honeyish and biscuity hints. Good hoppy taste that carries herbal notes. Alcohol is well hidden. Ends with a sharp hoppy finish. Very enjoyable!

from tap at Volo
Appearance: Bright , clean golden ale with medium plus white top.4-
Nose: Mid , rich nose , wheat like feel , mushy with hopped notes.
Flavor/Palate : Very smooth , light silky body. Yeasty character , Belgian ale … very drinkable. Light spice with warmth. Good.

Looks like molten glassy sunlight in the glass with a heavy bone white head and tons of sediment. Banana on the nose. Very heavy presence of alcohol on the tongue. Burns out any of the hops that I should be tasting. Could detect a little of apple and some more banana. Heavy boozy stuff!

Pours hazy golden color with lots of carb bubbles. Has nice half finger creamy white head. Smells of sweet lime and english hops. Taste is sweet and slightly hoppy with hints of what I would call spearmint. Ok, but I am not all that impressed. Belgians and hops are like oil and water.

Pint at The Kick Off in Waterloo, maybe 500mL but the glass was so weird it was hard to tell. Pours a pale gold with a small white head, just a touch of haze. Aroma is nice, mostly just peaches and banana’s, indistinct malts and booze, but a very nice hop profile. Flavour is very reflective, a touch of wheat malt with spice and fruity esters (peach and banana), really not a whole lot to be honest, though still decent. Fuller body which is nice on the palate if you ignore the ample alcohol. It really is not hidden at all in this beer, and creates a very ’rough around the edges’ aspect to this beer. Again, the ample hopping steals the show and is really the most enjoyabl aspect, adding some really good biitterness to the over-all presentation. Over nice, and a good one to try, though it didn’t blow me away. A little too much rough booze made it hard to fully appreciate; probably ages well.