Helse Engel
Stadsbrouwerij De Hemel

 

 

easy triple layered still good talk show full of barley and wheat malt firmly hopped but also a gentle bitterness, I recognize in the best triple ever, this is perhaps its roots Raven

 

 

 

 

 

This beer manifests a colour somewhere in-between a very dark golden-yellow and amber. Too bad there hardly is any head or carbonation to speak of.

The smell is very malty and kind of dry and grainy. A fruity sourness and a pretty strong spicy/herbal note (coriander seems to be in there) accompany it, or better put: dominate it. Strong alcohol vapours are present too. A pungent and slightly agressive aroma altogether.

For me, the taste is very hard to get used to, mostly because the sourness is very strong and intense; it actually borders on conflicting with the sweeter side of the brew. The finish is bitter and rather herbal (menthol-like almost), with the tart sourness still lingering.

Mouthfeel is all right, nicely carbonated and thinner than expected.

Comparing my experiences to other reviews, it makes me wonder whether I'm drinking the same brew. Has the beer over-evolved during the past year the bottle has been waiting to be opened? This beer is giving me a hard time, also because the alcohol is very effective. I can hardly believe this has only 7.5% ABV (which is what the tag states, not 8%). Furthermore, I don't see why this is classified as a tripel at all....??

I drank this beer at the brewery in Nijmegen.

Appearance was good, yellow golden with a big stable head and some visible carbonation.

Smell was loaded with very aromatic coriander. It dominated the underlying malt backbone which was somewhat grainy. The yeast could not work it's way around this coriander violence.

Taste was also quite coriandre-like, but in a mild way. The malt could shine now and the yeast gave some bready and slightly fruity notes. I have to take some points of for the coriander. Mouthfeel was silky smooth and drinkability was great.

Had this at 'De Blauwe Hand' in Nijmegen. First beer of the evening, and my first encounter with a local Nijmegen brew. From a De Hemel stemmed glass.

Appearance was a lovely, light straw-gold color. Fairly high translucence. Started with a full head, rather rapidly shrunk to a film, with not a lot of lacing.

The smell was a bit of alcohol, mixed in with some spiciness; almost a pumpkin-pie scent, but dampened heavily by grains.

Fairly smooth taste, with only hints of alcohol, but both I and my drinking partner agreed that the main taste was of water. A hint of some light fruitiness - maybe citrus, splash of grapes - and a fair bit of grain flavors, but overall certainly a disappointment.

Mouthfeel was very light, with medium-to-high carbonation. Sat quite comfortably on the tongue.

Drinkability is hard to pinpoint; it's a bit of a depressing beer to drink, because of the wateriness. However, it isn't particularly disagreeable in any way, and it makes for an acceptable chatting beer.

Quaffed a couple of these to cap off a nice eve at the Cafe in de Wildeman in Amsterdam last week....
Engel has a medium-to-dark golden color, and is clear throughout. Head is a frothy white mass which lasts well and laces things up in a fine fashion. Verry mild nose; some light fruitiness present. It is medium bodied, but the carbonation makes for a slightly prickly voyage on the tongue. Starts with some toasty malt followed by a light, tropical fruit leaning (mango?). Doesn't have much in the way of spicy/peppery qualities found in some Tripels though. Has a light hoppiness at the finish...pleasing and floral. Quite drinkable, all-in-all.
Zum Wohl!!

overall: 3.9
appearance: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | mouthfeel: 4 | drinkability: 4

732

Sweet and malty. Soft yeastyness, with some citrus, menthol, and i've also got written here some notes of mushrooms, but i can't actually remember this too clearly. Fairly light, soft creamy texture. Not bad. But where did the mushrooms come from? (Draught- GBBF-03)