De Koninck Anno 1833
Brouwerij De Koninck NV

 

This is an odd one. On draft at Cafe Den Turk in Ghent. A tasty amber with a good malt profile, slightly sweet, rich body and finish. Not a bad beer. Especially on a beautiful Saturday evening in late May.

 

 

 

Color: amber, clear.
Foam: fine bubble gently beige, short-lived.
The aroma is a Belgian spices, yeast, sugar plums, a little liqueur with dark fruit, grapes.
Taste: Slightly acidic and seasoned, grapes and plums, which was similar to the aroma, this little bit of alcohol. The whole quite calm and seated. De Koninck is a little bit watery.
Bitterness is low, dry, so if yeast.
Saturation average, adequate. Alcohol only slightly perceptible, do not bother, gives a delicate sharpness.

Enjoyed from the bottle in a snifter. This Belgian amber pours a brilliant clear reddish amber with a nice tight beaded foam head that lingers long finally resting to a thick ring and very nice lacing. Nose of light grains, light caramel malts, and light floral hops. Flavors follow the nose with a light grain flavor mingling with caramel malts, a dash of brown sugar, and a very light bittering hop characteristic. Grain bill comes through on the finish with hops all while resting upon an underlining sweet malt. Smooth and easy to drink, moderate carbonation and a light creamy mouth feel that finishes lightly dry. Good table brew to be certain, and excellent for a session ale.

 

L - Poured copper with a full head that dissipated quickly. S - Grains and hops. T - Malty with Carmel and biscut and some citrus and hop character. M - Lighter body and a mild bitterness O - Balances the hop and malt flavors

 

330ml bottle poured into a Troubadour tulip glass

Look: Pours dark, clear amber - almost brown. Slightly off-white head with good retention and lots of lacing.

Smell: Very malty with a slight sharpness to it. Peculiarly one-dimensional on first pour, but some hoppy aromas start coming through as it warms up. Some caramel/sugar notes too.

Taste: Follows the smell - very malty; sweet but not cloyingly so. Some hop character but otherwise very malt forward.

Feel: Quite a heavy mouthfeel, almost chewy, due to the malts. Quite a dry, hoppy finish but still dominated by the malts.

Overall: This is my kind of beer - easy to drink and hasn't been hopped to death. There's some hop character there, but it doesn't dominate in the way that hops tend to in IPAs. If you like your beer malty, this is a good shout.