Urthel Hop It: Beer Review

Superior Hoppy Blond Ale

Dutch with a Flemish Touch

9.5% abv

1pt 9.4oz bottle

Bottled conditioned

Hildegard van Ostaden

Ruiselede, Flanders, Belgium

Brewed for Leyerth

Produced in the Netherlands

Okay, I am confused Belgium or Netherlands?

Brewed in the Netherlands for that place there in Belgium.  Got it!  Why? 

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I rolled the bottle before opening to mix up the sediment.  Get that flavor up into that beer.

Appearance: flat golden-yellow with plenty of plankton floating around (remember I rolled the bottle).  Little white foamy head that leaves no lacing on the glass.

Aroma: very faint, maybe a whiff or hops.  Finally, half way through the first glass a whiff of cotton candy.  Maybe as the ale warms the aroma will get better.  

Flavors: kind of strange when it first hits my palate, the flavors are all kind of muddled in some kind of 5^th dimension and then my brain tries to categories the flavors. Time for a nap!  Yes, sitting back and enjoying a beverage is completely different that review the beverage.  The brain is on overload when I do a review.  Actually, reviewing takes a lot of energy and mental preparation.  Yet, I digress; (move on with the flavors) some sweet tasty malts with a lightly toasted almond note along with the typical Belgian yeast.  Let’s see how it is when it warms up and pairs with a cigar.

Down to the bottom third of the bottle and the sediment in the glass is heavy.  It sure does look like a heavy dose of plankton here.  Put a fish in this glass and they could feed all day.  While the malts are non-descript they are sweet and the yeast is full.  The hops seem to be fresh mowed grass, with a touch of lemon grass or is it orange meat? There is a nice mild earthy quality and almond nut likeness that is very pleasing to my palate. While I have to say it seems weird for reviewing; it has an overall taste experience that I like.  This ale is better when it is warmer compared to when I first opened it and it was chilled from the fridge.  Good beer is always better when it gets warm. 

The last glass poured from this big bottle is very cloudy and has a dirty orange color to the body.  The plankton (yeast sediment) is very dense. 

Mouthfeel: smooth and semi-creamy, yes, a hoppy ale semi-creamy, this is not an American IPA,  the bitterness level seems low for a Hoppy ale, but it is from Belgium no the Netherlands.  Whatever.  While Belgian ales usually produce a good head the carbonation level on the mouthfeel seems low as it does on this ale.