Brasserie de la Senne:

Taras Boulba - Belgian Ale

Zinne Bir - Blonde

Jambe-de-Bois - Triple

Brusseleir - Black IPA

Today, I would like to present an overview of the beers made by the Brasserie de la Senne (Thanks to João for making it possible).  

For the introduction – according to their web page Brasserie de la Senne is a small Brussel-based brewery. They are producing five different beer styles – black IPA, triple, ale, blonde and stout. Sadly – I am missing the stout. But here is a word or two about the others:

Brusseleir – Zwët IPA/Black IPA – this beer is a real miracle – it came the moment I have almost lost my hope to find a good Belgium-made IPA. Sadly, for that beer style, local brewers try to enforce the localization of the style, making Belgian IPAs sparkling and rather mild. Luckily these guys understood properly why do you add hops in IPA. It is to make it bitter! And the overall aroma is malt and caramel. Really well balanced and tasty beer.

Jambe-de-Bois – triple. Yes, yes, yes – finally somebody realized that you could hop your triple to be bitter! Apparently there are 49IBU in this beer. For an IPA this would be a joke, but for a Triple it’s a considerable value. And the combination of the spicy-citrus aroma and the bitterness really knocked me down. Awesome beer.

Zinnebir – blonde. Very well made mix of mild floral aromas, bit of citron peel and hops. What is more important – even if there is a strong hoppy taste, the beer is still true to its blonde nature. Not heavy, rather noble. Might be the best blonde I have ever had. Nice.

Taras Boulba – Belgian Ale. Just to be honest – after reading some of the reviews, I start to believe that something was wrong with my bottle. People claim that this is low carbonated beer containing floral and hoppy aromas. Looking somewhat like Weizen. Well – my bottle was freaking carbonated. The level of carbonation was aggressive, Taras Boulba was bubbling like the Vesuvius at the day of eruption.  In you combine this with an overwhelming bitterness and NO other aroma… It was simply horrible. Just ta be sure – I have asked my wife to taste a little – and then we had to pour the rest in the sink.

Summa summarum: 3 great beers and one disappointment. Still – great job guys from Brasserie de la Senne!