 SilkTork (3950), Rochester, Kent, England
Dec 2, 2002 Updated: Nov 21, 2005
<b>Dec, 2002</b> I love this stuff. When travelling in Northern Europe it’s readily available in most bars, and is better than a lot of the beer offered (Jupiler or Stella). In France it is regarded quite highly as they have a taste for smooth, sweet malty beer, and this is much better than their own Adelscott or Pelforth. It is an Abbey beer by licence, the Abbey Notre Dame de Leffe hadn’t produced any beer for years and didn’t have the equipment to do so. In the 1950’s they hired out their name to a local brewer, and then the brewery giant Interbrew bought the name. This is brewed less in line with tradition than with an eye to the commercial market. All sourness, rough edges and individual awkwardness are left out of the recipe, leaving a very pleasant and easy drinking beer that still manages to satisfy. There are a number of flavours: apples, cloves, brown sugar, etc, but these flavours don’t shift their intensity from one glass to the next - it is a consistent beer. As such some may find this boring, while others will find it reliable. Each beer has it’s own time and place - if you sit at home sniffing and sipping this on your own you may find it a bit bland; but as an everyday social drink or something to accompany lunch in a French or Belgian bar, it is more than delightful. [3.8] <br />
<b> June, 2003 </b> I love this beer! [4.0]<br />
<b>Nov, 2005</b> Smokey aroma. Clean, sweet, smokey flavour with lingering bitter hops. That strange barley sugar flavour of pasteurised beer. But also, that wonderful harmonious blend of sweet and bitter that is so popular with drinkers in Northern Europe. I know this is pasteurised. I can taste it is pasteurised. But I can’t help myself. I love this in the same way I love smoked processed cheese. Even the odd sharp plastic notes I find attractive. I can’t help myself. Oh - I bet this would be heavenly served cask conditioned. J.D. Wetherspoon - please make this your next cask special! [3.7]
TheJollyOne (46), Kofu, Japan
Nov 29, 2008
Poured a huge castle of frothy head over a reddish brow body. Smelled of roasted malts and brown sugar. The taste had a faint hop bitterness, but was characterized by roasted toffee, burnt sugar, and nice raisins. Quick finish. The palate was a bit oily, but very clean and bubbly. My favorite of the Leffes.
Appearance: 8/10 Nose: 6/10 Taste: 7/10 Palate: 6/10 Overall: 15/20
johnnygm (15), Santiago, Chile
Nov 20, 2008 A light and more commercial version of a trappist beer. Good head, good carbonation. Caramel, toasted malt, toffee and some nuts. Really easy to drink, and delicious. Very good considering it’s an industrial beer.
SeanMacGC (102), Dublin, Ireland
Nov 18, 2008 Bottle, 33cl. Pours dark amber, with short-living off-white head. Malt and molasses on the nose, and similar on the palate with yeast undertones. But not that much going on with it, overall. A shadow of a beer in comparison to a genuine secondarily fermented beer, and added sugar is no substitute.
gearbike (385), West Bloomfield, Michigan, USA
Oct 29, 2008 Deep brown flat color from tap. Complex fruit sweetness. Nice medium body. One glass was great two might be a bit to much.
Kinz (1931), Glen Allen, Virginia, USA
Oct 25, 2008 Had this at the Cafe Leffe in Paris, my only chance to try a new beer in an entire week in the city, a desolate wasteland of Kronenbourg and Heinekin. Deep brown, nice head. Flavor is lush malts, caramel accented, with loads of dark fruit. Quite complex and enjoyable. Would get more love here I suspect if it wasn’t an InBev product. Score perhaps inflated a bit by what the alternatives were during the week.
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