Straffe Hendrik Bruin
Brouwerij De Halve Maan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had on tap at the Brewery in Brugge about 3 weeks ago. Possibly this is unfiltered as the Brugse Zot blonde is at the brewery? Anyway, poured into a Brugse Zot labeled glass by the bartender at De Halve Maan. Review from notes.

A Dark brown body. Light gets through edges but fairly dark indeed. Light brown head without too much lacing.

S Not much smell to me. Malt, minimal hops.

T Nice light malt taste. Certainly thinner than a porter, reminds me of a nice brown ale. Little to no hops tasted.

M Thin for a Bruin I thought.

D Great, and better than the Blonde for drinkability as it was not as bitter.

Notes: A pleasure to have poured from tap (possibly unfiltered?) at De Halve Maan.

Bottle.

***Gusher - when opened, gushed all over my bar***

Poured a medium, hazy brownish/amber color with an averaged sized off white head. Armoas of sweet malts, brown sugar and fruits. Tastes of dark fruits and swet malts. Lively carbonation (as evident in the gushing opening). Sweet.

Notes from: 5/9/05

2001 vintage keg, Sampled May 2007 at The Stuffed Sandwich
Pours with a frothy , light tan crown of foam. The beer is quite hazy and a dark amber brown color. The aroma is quite malt focused with notes of caramelized aged malt leaning towards notes of prunes and concentrated raisins. A spicy note is here as well and mixes with notes of dusty toasted malt towards the end of the aroma. The age of this beer is certainly evident in the nose, but it is not to the point of being harmfully oxidized / aged; in fact it probably adds to the complexity of this brew.

Sweet flavors of prunes and raisins meld with notes of toffee and browned caramel; both of which accentuate the malt flavors of this brew. The beer finishes with a light spiciness that reminds me of ginger, clove, some notes of caramelized orange and even a touch of something like cola (the last seems to be a contribution of the age). This beer is note going to get any better, in fact it will probably only get worse. Right now it is at that tipping point and I am glad I got to sample a 6 year old version of this beer.

Tons of brown foam and malty and chocolate malty body left behind. Drying aftertaste. Malty and some booze aroma. With spices, like a spiked traditional hot chocolate and cherry. Very nicely carbonated and understated yeast.Satisfying, on the sweet side.

Brownish, watery, oily, its hard to describe it, it reminds me of a porter diluated with water. The head was abundant and stayed all the time(I didnt finish the beer, 6 hours later there still a head on that beer!)

Smell of syrup and sweet, a tiny bit of malt nothing much to say.

taste strong, the alcohol take over then the syrup taste follows.

Not a great beer, not a bad beer.

This is the "Rousse/Brown", and definitely a Brown Ale. There is a huge, tan, flat-top, fizzy head that sticks clumpily to the glass as I drain it. The beer is clear and a gorgeous red-brown. Nose is sweet candy sugar, citrus, spicy with pepper and bold Belgian yeast. Excellent. Fruity bubblegum and candy sugar start it off. The middle is fruity, malty and smooth, turning nutty, grainsy, crackery in the dry, bitter, alcoholic finish. Bubblegum burps. Aside from the almost-too-sweetness up front, this is a very enjoyable beer.

I hate to employ technical beer jargon in this forum, but this needs to be said precisely: this beer is yucky.

First off, it's ugly. Plain-jane reddish brown in color, with a spotty head reminiscent of a sick dog's quickly thinning coat.

Second, it smells bad. Or, if it doesn't smell bad, it just smells, well, kind of empty. Watery-like. If you really strain the ol' factory, you might detect some malt. But don't hurt yourself.

And finally, it's nasty tasting. Not just boring, but positively nasty. Overly-sweet, soda-pop like flavor. Very artificial. One detects a bit of pepper flavor, from the alcohol, I suspect. But that's about it. The nasty sweetness quickly smacks any dissenting flavor back into its subservient place and reigns unchallenged in the aftertatse, leaving one wishing for some listerine, or everclear, or Coors Light for crisssake, with which to cleanse one's palate.

My bottle (12 oz, capped, on lees) was only labeled as containing 6% ABV, unlike the 8.5% listed on this site. I'm not sure if that's a change in the beer or an error. If it's a change in the beer, they ought to bloody well consider changing it back. A little more malt would do this brew a world of good.

Oh, and thanks to Rastacouere for the bottle. It's the thought that counts, man. :-)

25 cl capped bottle...

Appearance: dark reddish-brown, good clarity, a medium layer of tannish foam that disperses quite quickly to a thin film

Aroma: slightly caramelly malts, nail polish, clove, dark bread, and a distan sour note

Flavor: mildly sweet with a big hit of alcohol, touch of darker malts and a hint of wood, passing tanginess, hint of musty spice, the alcohol verges on dominating the flavor, finishes semi-sweet with a vegetal aftertaste and some residual malt sweetness

Mouthfeel: medium body, spritzy carbonation, alcohol warmth in the throat, teeth get slightly "fuzzy"

Overall Impression: The carbonation isn't as dominant as in the blonde. This time the alcohol is demanding most of the attention. Not a bad beer, though. I'm glad I tried it, but I don't know if I'd seek it out again. The taste does improve and become fuller as it warms.

The color on the pour a beclouded deep garnet and the head smallish in size also off white in color, bubbly in texture, lace patchy and thin, loaded with dross, suspended and coating the bottom of the bottle. Nose is that of over ripe plums, sweet and somewhat tart, earthy, start is lightly sweet, fair to middling malt profile, top is a bit thin but tolerable. Finish benignly carbonated, hops pleasant and subdued in their spiciness, aftertaste vinous, dry and a real noticeable belly warming, a so-so beer, and I think the quality control lacking as this could be on the verge of being bad.

On tap at the brewery in Brugge: Served in a trappist glass with a good 1 ½ inch of head with good retention. Aroma is very interesting with some sweet notes mix with a nice choice of malt. It seems that the beers from this brewery are way more interesting when drank freshly from the tap then when they are bottled and sent overseas.

Corked and caged 750 ml bottle with an official looking label. Poured free of any carbonation, a deep, thick brown brew with strong aromas of rum, dark fruits, and raisins. Alcohol is present in the aroma and flavor, but does not overpower the senses in either. It is definitley more subtle in the aroma than in the taste. Feel and taste of this beer are very much like a fine wine or sherry. Not only is the appearance similar, but the smooth, creamy, uncarbonated mouthfeel remind me of this as well. Fruity, a tad spicy, and has a heavy, chewy maltiness that is just delightful. Not a beer I would want a lot of, but a great way to finish things off for the evening.