Entre Nous Belgian Cherry Witbier
Hoyne Brewing Co.

Appearance - Pours a rosy blush with three fingers of soft pink head.

Smell - belgian yeast, bready malts, earthy spicy hops, tart cherries, and other berry aromas (strawberry).

Taste - Belgian yeast and bready malts are the predominant flavours. The tart cherry is there but it is light.

Mouthfeel - Medium bodied with moderate carbonation. Finishes smooth and dry. Dry tartness lingers.

Overall - A nice witbier that could use more of the cherry and style elements to its advantage. As a fruit beer, this is very sessionable.

650ml bottle - nice Rush reference here, even if it's only in my own mind.

This beer pours a clear, bright medium salmon amber colour, with two fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly wanly pink head, which leaves some decent wavecrest pattern lace around the glass as it slowly seeps away.

It smells of bready and doughy cereal malt, some earthy yeastiness, faint red berry fruity notes (could be cherry, I suppose), and very tame leafy, herbal, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is gritty and grainy pale malt, a lesser biscuity wheatiness, some still ethereal cherry essences, buttery crackers, an indistinct earthy spiciness, estery Belgian yeast, and more well-understated spicy, weedy, and musky floral hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly meek in its palate-pleasing frothiness, the body a so-so middleweight, and more or less smooth, nothing really cause for concern at this particular point in the game. It finishes off-dry, the slightly fruit-tinged malt running the lingering after-party.

Overall - yeah, I'm not getting a real 'witbier' feel from this offering, more of a bready, malty, sort of generically frooty ale. Not bad, but not exactly what's displayed front and center on the label. But let's just keep that little detail 'between us', eh?

 

Appearance: It pours a slightly hazy golden-pink-light red kind of like ripe rainier cherries. The head is a 1 finger, pretty fluffy and white, does dissipate pretty quickly, but does leave a good smattered patch of surface foam.

Aromatics: Fresh cherries (go figure)! Light and clean smelling, a slight waxy surface to the sweet and tanginess in the cherry scents. Some yeasty and caramelized malty notes underneath.

Taste: Sweet and savoury cherries and spice… almost reminds me of Thanksgiving stuffing/dressing with cranberries - there is a clove and nutmeg spice infused into the cherry/berry tang. A light wheat and yeasty backdrop and if you wait long enough there is a nice bold roasty finish.

Feel: Light carbonation which is more smooth than crisp. Decent medium weight body with a slightly wateriness once it coats the entire palate, but a very nice and clean finish and some reminder plumes of vaporized cherry that waft around the mouth.

Overall: A very nice fruity witbier. Great cherry qualities and it is light and refreshing. The cherries makes it feels very much like a summer brew, but it’s spice character has a fall and winter aesthetic that reminds one of “the holidays”. I think it’d be a good versatile choice for Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Christmas; but it does have social dinner with guests stamped into it.

Pairing: The great cherry-ness makes me lean towards a chocolate dessert - like a fluffy chocolate mousse, or a lava cake. If you do take this through the holidays, a nice apple crumble or caramel apple; if you do do it with dinner - a cloved up pineapple and honey glazed ham with a side of super cheesy scalloped potatoes - with a super browned crusty top.

 

 

Hoyne Brewing 'Entre Nous' @ 5.1% , a Belgian Cherry Witbier , served from a 650 ml bottle purchased for $7
A-pour is gold from the bottle to clear dark gold in the glass with a small white head leaving a streaky lace along the pilsner
S-wheat malt , Belgian witbier yeast
T-distinct Belgian taste , with a hint of cherry on the swallow
MF-ok/lots of carbonation , medium body
Ov-tasty beer , ok witbier
prost LampertLand

Seasonal beer, liked the subtlety of the cherry flavor, maybe even too subtle for some...