Jaapie
Kaapse Brouwers

 

 

 

 

On-draught @ Kaapse in Rotterdam.

C / AVERAGE

330ml bottle - haven't seen this brewer in a while, but since we just got a swath of new de Molen products, it only stands to reason that these guys would tag along.

This beer pours a hazy, dark rusted amber colour, with a mere thin cap of simply bubbly dirty white head, which leaves a bit of distant pin prick star pattern lace around the glass as things slowly sink away.

It smells of slightly biscuity caramel malt, muddled overripe black and red orchard fruit, further fleshy orange and grapefruit, a bit of wayward son yeastiness, and more leafy, weedy, and piney hop bitters. The taste is semi-sweet bready caramel malt, toffee candies, some sugary orange, grapefruit, and red apple fruitiness, more wandering yeasty notes, and the same green leafy and forest floor bittering hops from the nose.

The carbonation is fairly inert, just a meek frothiness poking its head up once in a while, the body a decent medium weight, and mostly smooth, a small clamminess inherent from the get-go. It finishes sweet, all that caramel, toffee, and flat fruitiness a foregone conclusion.

Overall, a rather uninspired version of this heightened style - the malt is certainly present and accounted for, but the hops bring their sugary fruit game, instead of a more balancing rounded bitterness. Tasty enough, but kind of hard to drink after a short spell, as my tongue goes off in search of a rasp.

American Strong Ale.
Poured into tulip.
Pours hazy amber/red beer with lots of beige head, truly long retention.
Smell - orange peel, passion fruit, bready malts, grass, strawberry, resiny.
Taste - rotten oranges, passion fruit, red fruits, pine resin, pleasant hop finish.
Viscous, full body, moderate carboation.

Dark orange color with beige head. Aroma has oranges, some fruity hops that seem old and some sweet malts. taste starts bittersweet with orange, curacao and hops. Gets quite bitter on the finish and aftertaste. Body is medium-heavy with good carbonation. Alcohol is a bit present but overall quite well hidden. It's a well made beer but there are some parts about it which I don't like.

 

 

Missus got me this one for my birthday. Thanks babe!

From a bottle into a snifter
21.1* Plato
EBC: 29
EBU: 77
Best Before 6 January 2017

APPEARANCE: Pours a 2+ finger, medium looking, creamy, white head with really good retention. Clear rust orange body with no carbonation evident. Fades to full wisp and leaves lots of lacing. Splotchy wisp remains leaving some dots of lacing down the glass. Looks good.

SMELL: Caramel, toffee, some red fruits, and lots of hops. Grapefruit and pine with citrus aromas as well. Bold and enticing.

TASTE: Light red fruits, caramel and citrus hop notes up front. Big finish of citrus, grapefruit, some bitter pine and toffee sweetness as well. Lingering finish is bitter and flavorful with some toffee and fruity sweetness under the hops. Really nice.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Creamy on the palate, goes down smooth and finishes a touch dry. Nice, creamy smooth feel.

OVERALL: Good stuff. A better imperial red than their imperial stout is an imperial stout. Good malt back, lots of fun hops and a creamy, smooth mouthfeel to support it all. Enjoyed this one very much. Pick some up if you see it. Recommended.

 

Chestnut brown with a small head. HUGE aroma of resinous hops. Taste is full of sweet fruits, like apricot, with toffee and a lingering bitterness. The bottle I had was over a year old so I'm guessing much of the hoppy flavours have gone. This is clearly an American barley wine; to call it an amber is a bit of a joke really. The intense aromas and flavours, the rich fruitiness, the resin from the hops; it all screams barley wine. Overall, very nice. It would be interesting to try a fresher batch for comparison.