Jopen Adriaan

I was pleasantly surprised by this gruit. Most gruits seemed to be overly spiced and end up tasting like Chai. Not this one. Done lightly on the herbs, it has a delicate floral nose and a beautiful clear coppery color. No yeast or protein haze, even after a swirl. Head was white but fell instantly. Flavor was unique, without the bitterness of hops, but without the sweetness of other gruits. Perhaps they use some acidified malt to make it tarter.

While I thought this was okay it may very well be the most overpriced beer I’ve had at $5.99 / 12 oz bottle. Pours copper / orange with a small white head. The aroma is similar to a wit, but a bit richer with different spices and more orange. Medium body that is quite smooth and has very little carbonation. The flavor starts with smooth lemongrass, light orange and smooth malt. The finish is lightly spicy and sharply lemony. An alright beer, but for the price I expected considerably more from this.

Pours gold/orange with a thin head. Aroma is somewhat acidy, has what I call a cork-quality akin to Lindeman’s Lambic beers. Very wet mouth feel, some what thinnish there. Very refreshing taste, somewhat orange-like. A little musty in a strange way. Good beer!

Bottle: Poured a golden amber with a white head. Soure citrus and spice aroma. Orange malt flavor that was diffrent.

Cloudy and golden in appearance with a small but creamy head, which vanished quickly. The most apparent feature is the spice that comes across as citrus and orange. It’s also somewhat sweet with a bite like honey and ginger. More beers should have this amount of character and balance. Lots of earthy elements like hay and some sort of root spice.

Pours a cloudy dull yellow ochre, low carbonation and a thin fizzy white head and no lace. Aroma is oxidized with paper, lightly spiced with juniper, and other minty herbs, and even greem mint jelly and lemongrass. Flavor is grainy, wheat, more oxidation, herbs and a minty bitter and very dry finish. Wierd astringent and grainy aftertaste.

Bottled at Monk’s Café, Stockholm. Hazy golden, small head. Lemony vegetable aroma. Sweet and perfumy with light body and clean mouthfeel and dry finish. With an interesting and unusal spicyness, but also with an unpleasant touch of boiled vegetables and a too clean mouthfeel.

Slightly sour aroma of stone fruit. Otherwise a bit unusual. Color of ripe apricot with no head. Starts a bit of unripe stone fruit, followed by a hint of sweetness. It’s basically dry and a tad tart. A principal flavor apparently comes from Bayberry, aka English Bog Myrtle, and that’s the badge of the Campbells. The Swedes use it to kill insects, and the dried berries are used as spice - so it’s good we are not insects. This is what ale was 600 years ago or so, and it still holds its own. Mind, it’s not a DIPA, but it makes a change.