De Koninck

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

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Pours a rusty light-brown with dark clumps of yeast floating around. No head to speak of. Very low carbonation. Nose is citrus and flowery. Flavor is light with notes of lemon and a little malt. Maybe some bready coriander in the background and some hop bite. A litte cardboardy too unfortunately. Unspectacular for a Belgian, but better than most U.S. mass-market brews by a mile.

Bottle poured in De Koninck glass. De Koninck is a nice, clear amber coloured beer in the style of the ’Speciale Belge’. It has a nice dense head which does not last very long. In my opinion, De Koninck is a great beer for the summer months, it is as fresh as a Pilsener but it has the ’body’ of a good ale combined with the drinkability of a lager. Taste wise, the things that I noticed most were the malt and a taste that I would compare to cinnamon. The taste of hops is there too but it is definitely held back. Brewed from 100% malted barley and Saaz hops, the folks at De Koninck brewery clearly know a thing or two about quality ingredients in it shows in their beer. In all, De Koninck is a beer which I highly regard and especially recommend to those looking for a nice summer refresher without having to fall back on cheap tasting lagers from the large breweries.

Draught. Real Belgian Ale as it should be. Ambercoloured, full-bodied, with a nice hop-bitterness. Very clean beer as well, no hang-over after enjoying too many "Bollekes" one night.

Bottle. Yeasty aroma, pours a copper color, with a one finger white head that disappeared quickly. The flavor is sweet malty up front, then finishes dry and amlost a slight tartness. The palate is thin but that is expected, with a nice lively carbonation. Not the best Belgian I have ever had but at the same time it is very refreshing and drinkable.

Bottle from Rodman’s. Pours a light to medium brown with a thin white head that dissipates quickly and leaves no lacing. Malty aroma with some dried fruit and faint grapefruit hoppiness. Very thin mouthfeel, watery up front and a malty finish. Average. My drinking buddy said, "I’m surprised a Belgian brewery gets away with putting this out there." Not enough hops to be really called a pale ale, and not enough flavor to be really called good.

Clear orang amber beer with small fast disappearing foam. Beer is slight fruity and nutty in the nose. Taste is watery sweet, has a dry caramely caracter, and an unplesant bitterness in the afthertaste.

Something’s missing in this beer. It might be the sugars aren’t finished fermenting. It might be using Saaz hops in a belgian style beer. It tastes a watered down and bland. Nothing exceptional about this beer.

Drinking this out of the proper "bolleke" glass in an Antwerp pub is a wonderful experience. This beer also keeps very well in bottles, so worth picking up a case if you can find them. It is not commonly exported in Europe, one might have to do a little digging to find it in one’s home country.

from tap. I love a ’bolleke’ every day! A lovely color with a super slightly caramel taste.