Leute Bok
Brouwerij Van Steenberge N.V.

Nice fruity malty beer that pours a deep plum color. Smell is quite unpronounced but taste makes up for it even if the mouthfeel is let down a bit. Would highly recommend. The glass is a class act that looks great on the shelf.

Bottled in a funny little stubbie that I got as part of a four pack from budget supermarket Lidl as part of there Dutch & Belgian food festival
Pours a dark brown body with spotty off white head
Aroma is sugared plums
Flavour is sugared almonds and chianti

 

This one pours a hazy deep plum topped by a small caramel froth. Reasonable lacing with moderate dissipation. I like the look of this.

Plenty of fruit fig and plum notes, a real spice to this one too. Some artificial fragrances but does not distract.

Taste is also very good, swap out the spicy aroma for a maltiness in taste.

Feel is a little disappointing, very watery and given its appearance and taste, this seems very wishy washy. A shame.

Overall this beer has me on appearances and taste, just let's itself down in the feel.

Good but not a class winner.

L- Deep chestnut, clear*. Pours with 2mm pale tan head.
S- Deep malts with a roasted edge.
T- Deeply malty then a gentle roasty-toasty edge follows.
F- It is somewhat rich, though thankfully not over into sweetness. A decent ABV% is clear to my palate, though I don't think it's feels as high as 7.5%.
O- Rather disappointing for a 7.5% Bokbier with a 90 year history, I'd expected to find more character.
Bought from BelgiumInABox in Antwerp/BE for home delivery to me in London/UK
330ml bottle BB: 21/01/2021,

* and I didn't pour it particularly carefully. Despite which I see there is a small amount of creamy sediment residue left in the bottle; presumably it settles and sticks comparatively well (vs some others from the same purchase).

 

August 6th, 2015 - I am far too amused with the label art on this beer. Its a little ambiguous, but I am pretty sure the goat is making an adorable licking attempt with his tongue, but that also might be part of the grid. Either way, it's a sweet beer and best served for after a meal. The nose on this is bright, with cherry and hits of cough medicine, and the flavor is semi-sweat with an arc of fruit flavors playing out over the tongue. Pecan, honey, meade and old wood, it reminds me of my early days drinking Belgian ales in college. For that, it gets high marks.

Dark reddish-brown beer цith 2-finger beige head, nice retention.
Smell - hazelnut, toffee, brulee, dark fruits, very rich.
Taste - hazelnut, chocolate, dark fruits, roasted.
Medium body and carbonation, round/smooth traits.

 

Look - Cork explodes from bottle but no gushing. Crystal clear deep brown with chestnut highlights, looks quite proud in its ostentatious glass, possibly one of Belgium's most ridiculous. Thin, off white head with lace persists through the glass. Legs up just a little.

Aroma - subdued but rich - deeply bready, raisin, date, caramel, toffee, cashew, molasses -no D, acetaldehyde, or sulfur, only a whiff of alcohol, only the faintest hint of herbal hops. Damn this smells like a good bock should.


Flavor - Damn. Really tight, smooth flavor just like any good lager. extremely well-attenuated but rich caramel malt base , with biscuit tone and just a hint of chocolate in the finish. Medium-low blackcurrant/ herbal hop flavor is detectable, the though the finish is sweet. No overt fruitiness, No D, or any other fermentation flaws except the alcohol is a little on just the hot side, but not solvent.


MF - This is an interesting aspect of this beer, it is rich but fairly light bodied, just barely getting to medium-light range, mouth-filling soda-like carbonation. I could actually do with less carbonation, I almost never say that, but it hurts drinkability slightly. It does have a slightly long finish with a slightly papery- oxidized tinge to it. Alcohol is a little forceful for only being 7.5%

Overall - Wasn't sure to expect here. When you try a Belgian interpretation of another European style the results can be anything. This seems to be a pretty straight-ahead bock, though I do wonder if it was made with candi sugar. I am also fairly sure this bottle is really, really, old but I've wanted to try this beer ever since I saw a picture of it in a Michael Jackson book from the 80s. I gotta say I'm not disappointed. Was probably even better fresh.

 

 

Pours a hazy red-brown color with a medium top of beige creamy head and it gives some nice lacings on the glass.
The aroma is caramel, chocolate, toffee, dark fruits, roasted malts and bread. The aroma is not particularly strong.
The taste start of sweet with notes of dark fruits and dark chocolate , while in the back is a good presence of roasted malts with notes of caramel. The finish has a slight bitterness with the roasted flavour good in the background. The lenght on the aftertaste is good but the aftertaste itself is a little weak. Then mouthfeel is smooth and creamy with medium carbonation and with a medium body.
The beer itself is good and enjoyable, but it those not have that little extra to make it extraordinary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured into Gulden Draak Egg glass.
L: Turbid dark brown color with creamy thick foam head.
S: Weak aroma of dark fruits.
T: Plums, caramel but nothing special.
F: Medium carbonation, very good balanced.
O: Very nice beer but expected little bit more.

 

 

 

2010 vintage, so rating set to current average.

Prunes, dates, and figs dominate the aroma, with caramel sweetness and a touch of cardboard rounding things out.

Flavor is initially raisiny, then candi sugar, plums, and finishing toffee-like. That toasted malt counters the sweetness to dry out the finish. Maybe just a touch better than 3.77, but there's a bit of a medicinal cherry note.

Dark amber colour with a decent head of foam that keeps the beer well covered the entire session. Smell of malt, liquorice and caramel. These flavours return in the taste, in the company of bitter chocolate and dark fruits. Bitter and sweet seem to be well balanced. The bitter liquorice finish lingers very well, the mouth feel is smooth (creamy) and the body is quite full. Bok beers are usually a risk when made by belgian brewers, but this one is a welcome exception. A good 'herfstbok'.

Appearance: Nothing to complain about here, ample lacing, excellent rention, a finger and a half of head worth on the pour with a dark amber that turns to a deep crimson as it approaches the light boasting steady abundant carbonation. Perfect score.

Smell: The aroma is fairly tame, and warming doesn't really help it's case. Abundant mild toffee malt with fruity yeast notes, specifically figs and cherries with touches of plum.

Taste: Starts with a fruity presence as grapes, figs, cherries and turns to rich toffee malt ending with small brush of spiciness and sandy bitterness.

Mouthfeel: The aftertaste is a touch of the malt and fruitiness that barely sticks around. The carbonation has a creaminess to it, but it comes across as a bit light. It odd strikes itself as held back by the combinations of slightly dry yeast, peculiar carbonation and like something is missing. Still, I found it fairly enjoyable.

Drinkability: A welcome medium bodied note that settles down admirably. Drinks like a snack more then a meal, which is good, and certainly character to stay interesting. Good fall drinker.

Final Thoughts: This is a great beer, that seems to forgo a lot of the winey pretension most Belgian beers suffer from that few do well. Conversely, unlike most Bock's, this doesn't strike me as case of throwing malt at the problem and hoping everything works out. It's a well crafted beer, which while I might have been expecting a bit more complexity, left me more then satisfied. Two thumbs up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

330 mL bottle from a sampler pack picked up at the LCBO; best before June 23 2016. Served slightly chilled, and poured into a goblet.

Pours a dark, cloudy ruby-copper colour, with one finger of creamy, persistent, off-white coloured head seated atop. It seeps away quite slowly, caking the glass with lacing as it gradually recedes into a dense, half-cm cap and foamy collar. The aroma is rather rich in fruity, yeasty esters, including hints of raisin, prune, black cherry and fig. Hints of candi sugar and bubble gum also contribute, giving this beer a highly dessert-like vibe on the nose.

The flavour is mildly saccharine, but a little too subdued for my liking; not as fruity as the aroma suggested. Brown sugar and grainy, bready malt sweetness kick things off, followed up with dates, raisin, banana and some figgy notes mid-sip. Finishes somewhat earthy, with faint clove spice and banana/fig fruitiness lingering into the aftertaste. Medium-bodied, with below average carbonation for the style - very smooth and creamy-feeling in the mouth, but it lacks the crisp, bubbly feel on the palate that I crave from BSDAs.

Final Grade: 3.76, a B+. Leute Bokbier isn't bad, but it simply does not have the assertive, complex flavour profile and lively mouthfeel that I have come to expect from Belgian dark ales. The saccharine, dried fruit flavours and bready malt backbone are both agreeable enough to make this worth trying once - but it's still not something I'd seek out, or recommend as a good example of the style. A decent inclusion in this sampler that I'll probably forget about within a week or two.