Leffe Brune

Leffe Brune
750ml 6,5%
InBev Belgium

Called an abbey dubbel by rate beer, this big bottle was the second of the beers I got from my boss for my birthday. Marketed as a traditional abbey beer, the brewery is of course not belonging to the poor monks like e.g. the Trappistes but to InBev. (Which reminds me that I should buy some stocks from the folks ...)

Ratebeer gives it a 91 which I guess is good. (As I mentioned last time I seriously cba to try to understand their rating system...) I remember being ambivalent about the last Leffe I had (Yeah, the one that I ended writing about twice...) But I do like my beers dark and / or in this case brown. So we shall see.

I decided against a Trappist Glass just for the fact that well.. this isn't a trappist beer.. :P So instead my good old Widmer Brothers glass shall be put to usage again. It's a wide tulip and I do like it, especially for darker beers.

The bottle is a big good old champagne style bottle with cork.. something that always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. (Though I know that the cork harvesting is bad and stuff)

It pours nice and easy, no oily qualities like some beers, and I really like the foam. It forms a nice medium to pig pored head that doesn't dissipate too quickly.

Leffe Brune is dark brown, almost Walnut and holds some red tones.
It emanates a very fruity warm smell, that can be smelled even when being further away.
On a closer nosed examination, I find fruity, marzipan tones with hints of wood. The yeast can be guessed but isn't taking over all the olfactory sensation like in other beers. Indeed very appealing, fruity.

The carbonation is harsh if not too strong for me, as it allows me to almost not taste anything else at first... almost stings my tongue, then it makes room for very warm bread tones with a really nice malty aftertaste. It is bitter but not too much, although enough that I know that my mum will not like it. It gives a very nice composition of fruit and bitterness, though the malty bitterness prevails.
Definitely a great beer!
Thanks Nathalie!

Prost!

DMW

Ceres Bering Bryg Havskum

Ceres Bering Bryg Havskum
Royal Unibrew
0,33l 5,5%
Sweet Stout


One of 2 bottles I got from my boss as a birthday present. She admits that she picks beer by the sheer criteria of how the label looks but that is more than fine. I must admit I have never heard of the brewery, the beer nor the idea that Denmark makes drinkable beer but I am open to almost anything so yeah.. My Danish skills are close to non existing which is why I tried some intarwebz research. Ratebeer seems not too convinced of it but then again I never could be arsed to actually try to understand how their ranking system works... Royal Unibrew owns Hartwall which is one of the major players on the drink section in Finland ... bonus points from me .. hey I have a soft spot for FI.

So well yeah... the label is small and holds nautic elements on it. I'm expecting something sweetish and sticky from the description... But hey it says Luxus on it so it must be like using Palmolive instead of generic cleaner or.. well äh something.
Glasswise this called for a Tumbler so I picked my sturdy old Corsendonk and off we went.

It pours nice and easy with a fine stout foam that sadly dissipates faster than I hoped it would.
It's nicely brown and shimmers with a ruby hue when held in front of a light source.
It smells really fruity and peppery... frak this makes my mouth water. It reminds me of straw and spring and vacation at a farm and lemon zest. And yes I'm rambling but hey if they would make a perfume outta that smell I might buy it. That's what Beeradvocate says about Milk Stout by the way.
Though it could use a bit more carbonation it tastes coppery sweet (Don't ask why I have to think of blood..) with elements of tree sap and somehow reminds me of one of the Scotland Series I sampled last year.
All in all this makes me wish I had a whole pint of it and not just a small bottle but I am truly amazed at having been introduced to something new. Om nom nom! Thanks Boss!

Prost!

DMW