16 November 2009

Frankly Brunehaut

More organic Belgian beer in squat bottles today. The Brunehaut range are from the Wallonese town of the same name and won't win any prizes for originality of styles, being a witbier, a blonde and an amber ale.

Brunehaut Wit is intensely dry, with an almost powdery mineral character. When coupled with a strong lemon flavour the overall sensation is like drinking Lemsip, straight from the sachet. The Blonde is a bit better with pleasant peachy notes and a full body, though one which is in danger of tipping over into syrupiness.

Best of the lot, though, is Brunehaut Amber. It tastes hotter than a mere 6.5% ABV and complicates the booziness with some really interesting pear-like ketone flavours. Yet despite this, there's a lightness of touch which renders the whole very drinkable.

I don't think I've had many self-styled Belgian amber ales, but I'll be looking for more for comparison.

6 comments:

  1. Sounds like we had the same oppinion and the only one worth drinking for me was the amber.

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  2. Now I do like the glassware. Stylish without being as gay as the boy Avery's

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  3. It's a proper beer glass. I only use wine glasses for wine -- the clue's in the name, see?

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  4. Looks very hazy in the photo. Did it pour like that from the start or did you swirl up the sediment to get some extra B vitamins into your diet?

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  5. It remained pretty cloudy all the way through.

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  6. The Norwegian wine monopoly, for reasons that are obscure to me, insists on stocking a full range of the Brunehaut beers. I guess my conclusion is similar to yours: I could drink the Amber, if there was nothing better on offer, but the rest of the beers I really can't imagine any reason to brew, stock, or buy.

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