Tag Archives: belgium

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Lambic - Fruit, Lambiek Fabriek

Lambiek Fabriek Juicy & Wild Pluri-Elle

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Brewery: Lambiek Fabriek
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.1%
Style: Lambic – Fruit

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Unique unfiltered blend of self-brewed spontaneous fermented lambics, aged in oak barrels and macerated with a fine berry selection (+/- 300g/l).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating:
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in August 2020, with a best before date of bottled date + 5 years. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy pinkish orange colour with a two fingered white head that had decent retention but eventually settled to a nice fluffy cap, while leaving lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Mixed berries, lemon zest, light funk.
Taste: Lightly sour and tart, mixed berries, with strawberry really coming through. Lemon juice, oak, and light funk.
Mouthfeel: Medium to light bodied with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Aroma and flavours are quite subtle, as the fruit and funkiness while there, seemed a bit toned down compared to other fruit lambics. Having said that, I still found it enjoyable.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Lambic - Fruit, Lambiek Fabriek

Lambiek Fabriek Juicy & Wild Muri-Elle

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Brewery: Lambiek Fabriek
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7%
Style: Lambic – Fruit

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Unique unfiltered blend of self-brewed spontaneous fermented lambics, aged in oak barrels and macerated with blackberries (+/- 300g/l).

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.21
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.1

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottled in August 2020, with a best before date of bottled date + 5 years. Poured into a 3 Fonteinen stemmed glass.
Appearance: A slightly hazy pinkish orange colour with an almost two fingered fluffy white head that had excellent retention and left lots of nice lacing.
Aroma: Berries, blackberry, farmhouse, dried sweat, funky, floral, lime.
Taste: Tart, lightly sour, blackberry, funky, farmhouse, damp wood, with a splash of lime on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Slight creaminess, medium bodied, with moderate to soft carbonation.
Overall: Very enjoyable and easy to drink as the fruit and funk were balanced.

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Sour Ale - Smoothie / Soda / Pastry, Totem

Totem Rhubarb Pastry Sour

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Brewery: Totem
Country: Belgium
ABV: 4%
Style: Sour Ale – Pastry
Other Notes: 40 IBUs. Malts – Golden Promise, Oat Malt, Wheat Malt and Dextrin Malt. Hops – Jaryllo. Bitter 3/10, Sour 6/10, Fruity 8/10, Sweet 2/10

Brewer Description: (from can) Rhubarb pastry sour.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.89
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.7

Intro: A 330ml can, with a best before date of September 2022. Poured into a Lost Abbey teku glass.
Appearance: A hazy golden colour with a just over one finger white head that had decent retention while leaving some lacing.
Aroma: Rhubarb, vanilla, milk, candied lemon.
Taste: Sweet, tart, rhubarb, pineapple, lemon, vanilla, dried tropical fruit, slight wheat.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Nice aromas with interesting rhubarb sweet and tart flavours. Not something you usually associate coming from Belgium which in the past has been quite old school. But Totem is one of those progressive craft breweries that are popping up more and more in Belgium, and it’s interesting to see what they come up with.

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brasserie Fantôme, Farmhouse Saison

Fantôme Saison Speciale Amarillo

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Brewery: Brasserie Fantôme
Country: Belgium
ABV: 8%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Belgian Ale brewed with spices

Brewer Description: Not much information I could find, but I assume this is Fantôme Saison hopped with Amarillo.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.04
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, with a best before date of end of 2022. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: Surprised that this was not a gusher considering the other two hopped varieties that I tried were slow gushers that just couldn’t stop. It was a hazy golden orange colour with an almost two finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly to a thin cap, while leaving some decent lacing.
Aroma: Grapefruit zest, candied citrus, lime, orange, honey, yeast.
Taste: Sweet, orange, candied citrus, malt, caramel, herbal, bubblegum notes, honey, yeast, with a spicy kick on the finish.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: Carbonation was too high to make it easy to drink, but the aroma and flavours were quite nice. I think I preferred the Sorachi version just a little bit more though (despite ratings showing this to be higher due to ‘appearance’).

4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgium, Brasserie Fantôme, Farmhouse Saison

Fantôme Saison Sorachi Unic Brewing

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Brewery: Brasserie Fantôme
Country: Belgium
ABV: 7.5%
Style: Belgian Saison
Other Notes: Belgian Ale brewed with spices

Brewer Description: Not much information I could find, but I assume this is Fantôme Saison hopped with Sorachi Ace.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.02
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.8

Intro: A 750ml corked and capped bottle, bottle 260 of 650, with a best before date of end of 2022. Poured into a Holy Mountain tulip glass.
Appearance: Slow to moderate gusher upon popping the cork, it was a hazy golden orange colour, with an almost three finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly, but settled to a thin cap, while leaving only sparse lacing.
Aroma: Grapefruit, citrus zest, lime, candied orange, yeasty, herbal, with a touch of coconut and light funk.
Taste: Sweet and bitter, candied grapefruit, orange, citrus zest, sweet malt, caramel, herbal, coconut notes, and a spicy acidic kick.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: The high carbonation was a bit uncomfortable here, but I still found it better than the Simcoe version with it’s enjoyable aroma and flavours.