De Koninck

Brewed by Brouwerij De Koninck (Duvel-Moortgat)
Style: Belgian Ale
Antwerpen, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Medium to dark maple syrup amber with a light laced head. Aromas of candied banana, grain, slight caramel, and vanilla. Flavors of grain, grass, and s slight yeastness. Slightly bitter, dry, and lightly sweet.

On tap at Kafie Belgie, Utrecht. Amber color with a frothy antique white head. Slightly fruit aroma, Slighly sweet flavor, a bit of grassyness. Thin body. A great seeions beer, and much better out of the tap then out of the bottle.

UPDATED: OCT 3, 2007 It seems a bit precocious for any one beer to be called the “king”, but it’s downright rude for a beer to assume the throne itself. I don’t care how much elegance, tradition or primogeniture the beer claims a right to; no one could be the king of them all, especially something like De Koninck which is much more appropriate as a jester than as a self-professed member of regal stock. Still, it’s no serf, and makes a pretty presentable beer to people who wouldn’t know the difference between itself and something more elite, like Orval or a Rochefort. The occasion on which I had it was at the famous Denver tap house Falling Rock. My friend desperately wanted a bottle of his faux-highness on tap, even though I remonstrated vociferously. Still, he was a guest of sorts, and would have been rude to insist he drink the better stuff when his heart was wrapped around De Koninck, so we agreed to split a glass. It reverberated a warm, deep red in the pale light of the taphouse. The head cast an illusion, looking almost pale green like a light pistachio shell. Between fusillades of words coming from across the table I took casual whiffs of De Koninck, detecting raspberries, blackberries, watermelon, apple, banana and, a little later, Bosc pear. Though it did present itself as an ornately fruity beer, the taste failed to live up to the aroma’s promises. De Koninck’s flat and watery texture fails to help the semi-sweet apple, malts and caramel flavors to make for a palatable drink. The character by itself doesn’t make for a bad beer, but it doesn’t make it a good beer either. I’d expected something more drinkable from a tap at Falling Rock, but I guess you need riff-raff to make the real fine stuff shine.

from tap, nice clear amber colour and small but stable white head. Malty and a bit fruity smell. Taste: roasted malts, malty, fruity, grainy, watery, unpleasant bitterness and a bit artificial. No complexity at all but also not a bad beer.

Pours a clear reddish brown. Thin off-white head that dissipates quickly. Slightly skunky aroma. Flavor is Belgian yeast and candi sugar. Nice smooth finish. I don’t know if "session Belgian" is an oxymoron, but this could be it.

330ml bottle. Clear copper colour. Malty, with a slight bitter aftertaste.

Bottle into tulip glass at De Garre cafe in Bruges. An orangey-red beer with a good sized off white head and nice lacing. The aroma is grainy malts and mild lemony citrus. Taste is similar with a medium to light body and an easy drinkabilty. The finish is bittersweet and uncomplicated providing ample refreshment. Better than average.

Pours an amber colour with a beige head. Aroma is fruit, caramel and malt. Taste is also lightly fruity with some caramel leading to a moderate bitter finish. Medium bodied. Not bad.

Deep amber colour, minuscule head and some unexpected sediment. The nose is quite enticing with its full-on jammy raspberry profile. Curiously, very little of this raspberry expresses itself in the flavour. Rather than fruity, the flavour is bitter and woody; if anything it’s raspberry seeds, not raspberry fruit. Regardless, the flavour is still quite pleasing and the juxtaposition between aroma and flavour makes for an interesting experience.

330ml bottle, Safeway, room temp. Frothy, off-white diminishing head, fair lacing. Clear red/amber body, filtered, lightly carbonated. Nutty toffee aroma. Medium mouthfeel, nutty malt taste with nice dryish hop finish.