Duyck J Absinthe

Brewed by Duyck
Style: Strong Pale Lager/Imperial Pils
Jenlain, France

Serve in Lager glass

from this dandy piece of spun metalwork issues a "beer" the dirty yellow of a humid sunset over a traffic clogged midwest city-- or, more charitably if you prefer-- perhaps like summer grain waving in undulating blurs and heat waves in the provencial hinterland. the product has very little sustainable head; what i saw was white and smooth-- which was reassuring since i anticipated a soda-poppy alco malt beverage. i’m not an absynthe expert by any means, and i have no idea if this contains wormwood or it’s accompanying mind-bending chemical thujone; but allow me to conject that this aims more to exploit a pop-mythic allure than it has any desireable flavor deriving from absythne. i do enjoy ricard 51, and this has no resemblance to that. from jenlain’s absinthe i get little conspicuous anise. rather, i get the woodruff which is associated with retsina, a greek flavored wine. both in aroma and flavor it’s sweet green tea, wheat, and rather medicinal. it’s a fairly simple and unoffensive light lemony beverage, with an almost creamy feel, nearly medium bodied. it does push my limits of palatability with a moderate sweetness that has little balancing depth or bitterness. it’s not really my cup of tea, and i didn’t experience any vincent van gogh-ish dementia causing me to paint brilliant landscapes and annoy girl friends with gifts of ear tartar. however, as a change of pace, as silktork says, it’s amusing, and i love a bit of innocent amusement-- just don’t get in my way when i’m ready for a real beer.

33cl. aluminum bottle: This pouts a pale, golden color. Also a bit fizzy. There is a bit of a white head. The aroma is interesting and a bit odd. Nothing in there that I would call beer. Spices and licorice are the most prominent. Perhaps this is what Absinthe is supposed to smell like. The taste is mildly spicy, with hints of the licorice. I can’t really taste any beer. Some bitterness in the aftertaste, but nothing at all from hops. A different bitterness. I don’t think that I could take more than 1.

Sweet spicy fruits in the aroma. Pale golden color, white head, good lace. Very special flavors, anis, spices, sweet, compact, little sticky. I was wondering if I liked it or not. As it’s not really chemical tasting I decided to like it.

Yellow colour, medium head. Aroma and flavor is sweet in an odd way. The flavor finish bitter/astringent. Dry.

Attractive bottle shaped tin bought at Carrefour. A simple fun beer of little quality. A lager with an odd bitter taste in the finish. Best drunk from the bottle while adopting your most interesting pose. A raised eyebrow would help.

Deep gold; irregular just off-white head. Usually I smell this in a place where they manufacture hardboard, wallpaper or linoleum. Some child’s green sweets smell like this too. Those child’s sweets return in the taste - with an extra chemical edge. Slick, oily MF, medium bodied. This is beyond words.

Very odd aroma. Olives, sassafrass, pungent meat. Chorizo sausage and morbiere cheese. Hops and no malts. Horrible. Beer is clear amber yellow, with no head to speak of. Medium-heavy watery body, with light to medium carbonation. Starts with slightly salty melon-liquer taste, medicinal. Finishes with melonball sweet/acidic notes, like muskmelon that's gone south. After is an odd metallic bitter. Horrible taste, not refreshing. Actually left a bad feeling in my stomach after drinking. Drain pour.

UPDATED: JUN 8, 2004 Bottled. Golden colour. Ouzo aroma. Sweet and very aromatic. Salty licorice along with anise dominates. There is a decent maltiness to back the flavours up. Kind of an interesting gimmick.