De la Senne Taras Boulba

Brewed by Brasserie de la Senne
Style: Belgian Ale
Brussels, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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Une de mes bieres favorites. Si pas la favorite. Belle couleur blonde. Tres legere. Une tres belle amertume rafraichissante. Une legere note fruite en fin de bouche. Les nouveaux brassins sont beaucoup plus subtils. Une adorable petite biere de soif et de degustation.

Perfect beer when you are thirsty and you don’t want to be drunk or you are already too drunk :) Good taste, nice bitterness, a lil bit unbalanced but it is because of the light alcool she got.

Non filtered, dry, refreching, hoppy, one of the best beer we have in belgium.

UPDATED: APR 1, 2012 Provided by mj. Cloudy, very pale body with a large chunky white head, thick sticky lace. Big herbal, floral hop nose with great, doughy, cracker malts and a touch of citrus fruit. Taste is dry, light to moderate bitterness with cotton candy, grass, herbs, lemon and cracker. Medium body is very soft with light carbonation. Definitely most awesome.

(Bottle) Pours light hazy dark golden with a large white head. The aroma is fantastic and lively with tones of minerals/wet stone/dew, spices/mild white pepper, bread dough, hay, roses, perfume, wood, green apples, grapefruit, unripe tropical fruits, almonds, melon, grass, penicillin, mint/fruit/vanilla bubblegum and crackers. Clean and fresh, yet some dirty undertones. Almost no phenols and only a whisper of esters. The flavour is light sweet to dry, near medium bitter and light acidic. Tones of spices, grapefruit, light tropical, minerals, dew, crackers, dough and grass. The mouthfeel is clean, bright, silky and soft with near medium carbonation. Minerals, grapefruit and mild cracker notes on the finish. Light bodied. Rustic but fancy. A perfect balance beer, there is nothing to dislike.

This is excellent. A "wonderful" aroma, according to my wife, this is very crisp, has a nice tasty light hop, a hint of sweetness. Really top notch.

Fresh 2007 bottle, 750mL, drunk on 9/27/07
Perfect appearance in every way. Sheets of lacing coat the glass, and a dense layer of white head is immovable atop a sparklingly clear pale-golden body.
One sniff and I know this is something special. Clean, fresh yeast is soft and elegant, with muted esters and very low phenol production. An ever-so-slight corky-mustiness hangs in the background, giving the beer a rustic charm as well. The malts are deliciously dry and snappy, adding sparse bits of honey and hints of vanilla. The hops burst forth, incredibly resilient and very dry. Not the lush grassy, juicy type at all, but more dusty, hay-like and peppery. It matches the overall dryness of the aroma, and even increases it. Aroma strength is second-to-none, with yeast, hop and malt all sharing space and complementing each other. Just when you think the hops might get too starkly dry, honey-vanilla sweetness jumps in to balance. Meanwhile, the yeast adds complexity to the finish. No alcohol or flaws.
I’m always much more impressed when a beer of such a low gravity can put forth such massive flavors, and leave such a supple impression on the palate as well. Taken to the perfect attenuation, it’s near bone-dry, but never are the malts scratchy or washed out. The soft, almost nutty yeast nuances help soothe the palate, while the simple, but very effective hoppiness throws out an appropriate bitterness and plentiful pepper and hay notes that add to the farmhouse feel of this beer. Absolutely exquisite, tight carbonation (but it needs a LOT of time to breath), no wateriness and no letting up on the flavor. I think this is probably as good as you can make a beer without multiple yeasts. It’s extremely dry, flavorful, perfectly hopped and both clean in its presentation, but still rustic in its overall character. I’m not saying it should have gobs of brett and lacto falling out of it for it to be perfect, but I would like to see a little extra charm from the yeast. That’s the only leg-up that I think Orval has on this one. And to be sure, this one certainly is better than 90% of Orval bottles out there, it’s just those absolutely stunning bottles of Orval that make me hesitate to give this one a perfect score. I still might....more samples in order for sure.

750mL bottle. Head is initially huge, frothy, rocky, white, fully lasting. Body is hazy medium yellow, bottle conditioned. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (toasted grain/bread), moderately hoppy (herbs, flowers), lightly to moderately yeasty (cobwebs, barnyard), with notes of lemon zest, Juicy Fruit gum, pepper, and an entire pencil (wood, graphite, and eraser), hints of dried pineapple and mint. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly to moderately acidic, moderately to heavily bitter. Medium body, velvety texture, lively carbonation. From the first whiff from my glass, I knew I was in for an amazing experience. This is an extraordinarily complex and balanced beer, and a single summary phrase for this might be "De Ranke XX BItter’s little brother". But little only in alcohol...otherwise this is loaded with similar aromas as that beer, which come from all components of beer production...malt, hops, yeast and fermentation effects are all equally weighted and just drop-dead gorgeous. Fluffy mouthfeel that’s much more substantial than expected, yet still ideal for quaffing. Beautiful clean bitterness that avoids the aggressive tongue-scraping character one might get in a similar attempt from American brewers. And all this at only 4.5%?! Unbelievable. This is a very special creation. Kinda like an extra-hoppy saison. I need a case of this.

Aroma of Wet grass, lemonzest, earthy grassy hops. Hoppy, crisp, refreshing, saisonesquue. Taste is toast, lightly burnt earth. Sharp. Lemon toasted earth dirt taste. Rustic. Dry. Refreshing. Awesome beer. Right up my alley.

This is a lovely beer. It’s labeled "extra hoppy". the hops are there but not overpowering. With it’s lower alcohol content and clean taste, it’s a wonderful summer beer. It’s light amber in color, the taste has a touch of citrus. It pours with a nice long lasting head.