Malheur Bière Brut (Reserve)

Brewed by De Landtsheer
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Buggenhout, Belgium

750 mL bottle (11% on the label): explosive pop releases the cork…expansive head – starched white with thick, symmetric lacing, dies into a medium thick, creamy foam. Flowery, alcohol aroma with soft hop flowers, honey, and sweet grass. Dry, though sticky palate, full of yeast, spicy pepper leaves, and soft tannins. Smooth, velvety carbonation and a wonderfully long finish. Perhaps in the same category as the Deus, but far, far superior…Jokes, thanks a bunch for sharing, and Jacob Lövenlund for the bottle…

Pours unclear dark yellow with a frothy lasting white head. Lots of tart fruit in the aroma, grapefruit and a tone of spontaneous fermentation. Sharp and biding flavor. Fruity and yeasty with citrus notes and a dry end. Extremely sparkling. A nice and different beer.

75 cl bottle w/ foil; corked & wired. Served chilled in Gouden Carolus chalice. This is something else. Appearance is heavenly: slightly hazy gold color and an absolutely gargantuan, stable, fine-bubbled head that just keeps going and leaves sublime lacing. Without a doubt the best-looking beer I have had. The aroma is very enticing: citrusy, fresh and very full. Very Belgian and very balanced. The flavor is just as good: citrusy and fresh, spicy, ever so slightly alcoholic and impressively balanced. Warming, soothing finish. The mouthfeel is out of this world: amazingly sparkling, very full, and yet light on the tongue. Drinkability is good, although I suspect the alchohol may begin to get a bit overwhelming at cellar-temperature and above. Drink this the way the brewery suggests, though, and it goes down sooo easily. A unique, wonderfully experimental beer that exceeded my wildest expectations. Very expensive, at twice the price of most other Belgians, but certainly worth it. Now I know what I will be drinking on New Year´s Eve.

Golden body with a big frothy white head. Yeasty aroma with some fresh fruityness. Very sweet and fruity flavor. Nice one.

Golden color with a nice white head. The taste is sweet and fruity with light yeast and very spicy sharpness. Nice.

08.14.04 Bottle @ HW 5th anniv. Cloudy light gold with bits. Monstrous head will not quit. Smells fresh and a bit champagne-like. Hints at gym-sock, bitter apple skin, sweet apple skin, green grapes, cotton candy. Sweet but dry. More apple on finish with a hoppy spice. Magnificent beer.

Aroma is floral, perfume-like, yeasty, clean and fresh and quite hoppy with notes of marzipan and fruity esters. Cloudy, golden yellow with yeast in suspension and strong white head that recedes to a thick cover with excellent lace. Really sneaky, strong floral hop flavour and bitterness with notes of pine, orange and a sweet almond malt character. Very complex. Gently effervescent and lively on the tongue. Definite alcohol warming though alcohol is never apparent. Bottle. Enjoyed with MartinT and Rastacouere.

Golden body with a huge spectacular carbonation level. Enormous white head keeps climbing the glass sides instead of going down and this lasts for a good 2 minutes. Aroma is desert-dry, very floral and yeasty. It does smell spritzy. Wild fruitiness (apples, pears, orange, apricot). Superb soft mouthfeel, bubbly, smooth with every bubble tickling the tongue. As soon as it enters the mouth, the barnyardy and hay compenents get transported everywhere in the mouth. The dry bitterness hits immediatly and develops in a complex manner during the long finish. It didn’t seem all that complex in mouth though. No alcohol gets felt ever, but this is warming all the way through. A masterpiece of the brewing art. Cheers Martin.