Zinnebir
Brasserie de la Senne

 

hints of satsuma, orange, gooseberry, jam, medium plus bitterness. not very malty west coasty feel. nice beer

Quite foggy amber-orange with a tall khaki foam head.

Verdantly herbal and old world dank, this translates kind of like musty barn wood and drying corn, but not horse blanket. Fresh cereal wort and a tangy, increasingly bitter grassiness come out after the cleanly, softly dry swallow.

 

On tap at Monk’s Cafe in Philly. I do love a Belgian blonde.

 

 

July 2014: Rerate, 330 ml bottle, Cardinal Pub & Bar, Stavanger. ABV is 5.8%. Hazy pale golden colour, large white head. Otherwise as first sample.

Original rating: Cask at the GBBF 2008. ABV was said to be 6.0%. Cloudy golden colour, low head. Lovely aroma of yeast, fruits, spices and honey. The flavour is yeasty and spicy / peppery, fairly dry, slightly medicinal in the finish.

i like it! not the traditional hop bitterness we're accostomed to....

 

Pale gold hazy body, light gets through but not much else, soapy white head that sticks. Malt sweetness starts the nose, quickly fading to herbal, soap, lavender, grassy. Taste is floral bitterness, mouthful of flower spice and some slight sweetness that just barely gets through. Finishes dry and biter like a mouthful of flowers and coriander.

#1709 - Blind-tasted except for the beer's name, brewery, ABV% and country, zero reviews below read (yet!)...
L- Mid gold, slightly hazy (some major sediment left accreted at bottom of bottle). Pours with 1Cm white head. ps 10mins later, holds up very well.
S- It seems mild, I just get a slightly rich aromatic note.
T- Quite hoppy-dry on the front, some malts bringing partial balance follow. The flavour is quite bright with some complexity giving interest.
F- Massive CO2 in the mouth, really unsually so. Overall quite dry, with contemporary hop notes.
O- It's very contemporary but the bright hops are not entirely hard-core/austere as there is some balancing malty richness too. Overall though it's too hop-centric for me, I prefer subtlety/balance. Should suit a younger generation who favour modern hops-forward beers more.
Review/scoring all done, now the reveal, I get to read the bottle lables to see what I missed! ===> Nope, nothing to add.
330ml bottle BB: 08/12/2021 £2.80 Bought from BeerMerchants, Kent/UK as part of a large pick-your own consignment to London.

 

 

 

 

Had on tap at The Beer Temple.
(This avoids StonedTrippin's rant that this beer's obscurity condemns it to not being fresh... or worse, sitting on the shelf well past normal life.) At any rate, I hope to have this on tap again on Monday to confirm this review.

Looks fluffy, but big bubbles... not intense. Zinnebir's moderate yeast also affects the Smells which are grapefruity, but also slightly floral. Tastes are better as there is a nice balance with the bitter, a well-integrated ale. In the mouth, Zinnebir is cleansing and refreshing and crisp and semi-dry. I want to eat this with food.

Along with three others from de la Senne, Zinnebir is among "The 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die" and probably deserves to be on the list since, the reviewer claims, it breaks from the traditional pale and younger, hipper people drink it. I'm glad I found out who I finally am... 66 years later !

7/22/22 Three years later, I again have Zinnebir on tap at The Beer Temple. Its bitter is more prominent and long-lasting and would not be a good accompaniment to food. De la Senne gets good Overall Hugs for continuing the Belgian farmhouse tradition, but the hops here push the envelope a bit too much for me.

Had this on draft 10/9/19 @ the Beer Temple.

Notes of lemon, dry grass & hints of wheat; a mild bitterness emerged as this warmed up. A nice, easy to drink Belgian pale.

on draft, in a tulip glass

fairly clear, dark yellow golden, white head. mild grassy earthy hop aroma, and some pale malt in there too. similar taste. thin to medium bodied.

Pours an amber clouded color, with a stable, big head.

Smells of grass, slightly spicy yeast and dried orange zest.

Has a surprisingly smooth, medium body with a velvet touch to it. The beer manages to be refreshing at the same time, by developing a late effervescence during the finish.

Tastes of sun ripened oranges, unripe mango and bread dough. This first impression gets complimented by blueberries and slightly bitter lime atop a honey malt peak. Finishes a little spicy, with cloves and pepper among wild honey and water melon.

Interesting take on an ipa with a noteable belgian influence, recognizable by the beer‘s yeastiness. The mouthfeel and balance are great in this, while the hops fall a little short on their own.