Urthel Hop-it

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

Pours golden orange with a nice frothy white head that stickes around for a while. Aroma is floral hops, banana, wheat notes, spices, and citrus. The aroma is fairly complex. I would have expected this aroma on a wheat beer, not a Belgian strong ale. Mouth is thicker than I was expecting, and has plenty of carbonation. The flavor is also aligning itself with a wheat beer. Has hops, spices, wheat, yeast, and a little citrus. The finish is mildly bitter and has a bit of alcohol in it as well. This was a suprising and very good brew.

Pours a golden orange color with a white head. Aroma is of yeast, citrus and floral hops, spices, and a hint of banana. Aroma is similar to that of a belgian witbier almost but with more hops. Flavor starts off with the citrus and spices and finishes with banana and yeast. Just as the aroma it tastes similar to a witbier but with more hops. Has a slightly bitter finish with some alcohol warming. Thicker on the palate then I was expecting.

750ml. Slightly hazy orange pour with near white head, towering towards the lip of the glass, similar to Houblon Chouffe, without the crazy thunderhead cloud formation-like shape. Aroma is a sweet array of very floral hops, candy sugar, crisp malts, lavender oil, fresh-cut wood and yeast. Flavor is surprisingly balanced, malt taking a back seat at first to the pouncing hops, but only for a short stint are they the stand alone player. The first quaff also brings to light a lovely spiced and vanilla component, fresh and tasty. Palate is medium, finish is long and pleasant. A well done Belgian IPA interpretation, one that brings hope of more experimentation in this vein of brewing style. Hildegard is a good brewer who deserves more recognition for her fine brewing prowess, not to mention her influential nature. Good twist on a style that is too often subjected to more ridicule than appreciation.

Draft at Toronado. Beautiful looking brew, with a hazy golden color and a nice head. Delicate aromas of hops and citrus, very delicate flavors as well. The hops is there but quite well balanced with fruity notes and a bit of bread due to the Belgian yeast. The alcohol is completely not noticeable, that is dangerous.

Small Bottle. Effervescent yellow pour. Head is quite large, white, fluffy and of varying bubble sizes with nice lacing as the head recedes. Aroma is spicy, flowery and yeasty. Flavor is light and peppery. A light and easy drinking beer for 9.5%. The hops are of course of the european variety, but still quite potent. Complex, dry and earth. A very nice beer that could be consumed easily in winter or summer.

(Bottled, 0.75l, from a large Tripel Karmeliet glass) Very hazy orange-golden color with a huge, firm, duvely (also forms the clouds!) and lacy head. Aromatic-flowery-hoppy, yeasty and crisp, juniper-genevery aroma with toffeeish caramel and fruit. Very interesting and quite complex, earthy and lightly sour-acidic, dryish flavor of aromatic hops, herbs, spices, honey, yeast, malt, fruit and warming genever. Yeast empasizes the genever and earthiness, while making the flavor less crisp. Both the alcohol and the 80 IBUs are well hidden. Medium-bodied, quite crisp and refreshing palate with smooth carbonation. A very pleasant, complex, dry and earthy Belgian hop juice. I wish they would experiment more with hops (and send me the samples!;)...

Pours golden with a dense, rich, foamy head. The aroma is lighly spicey, floral, and fruity. The flavor has a light initial sweetness and becomes more spicey in character but not over the top. Despite the labels statement of 80 IBUs the beer’s hop quality does not overpower. The finish is slighly astringent.

Bizarre mix of phenolics, esters, and hops. Smooth hop flavor, not too grassy or bitter. Balanced well with lots of malt, nice mix of characters. I’d buy more if there weren’t so many beers in the world.