The Ale
Urthel Hop It
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?
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 5th 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.
The Cigar
Blend Lab CI XJ–4554
Wrapper: Costa Rican Habano
Binder: Habano Nicaraguan
Fillers: Honduran ligero, Nica Seco and Viso, Costa Rician ligero
$5.00 a stick
Off the Light: wow, have you ever had one puff and it being the first off the light and you say to yourself, “self, this is one good cigar,” actually it was a terrific puff. All the flavors on the first, okay two, puffs; sweet creamy soda and touch of oak. I sure hope it is not all downhill from here.
As the smoke continues there a coffee with cream note, a medium roast coffee, there seems to a little sweet note floating around here, as I think about it I’ll call it a sweet pecan note, interesting here now for a moment I get the idea of cedar and then a few puffs later oak. I think I am getting cedar on the delivery and oak on the aftertaste.
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| the wrap job is like a work of art |
Mid-Point: right now I am thinking about a specific wine to drink with this cigar called the Predator and this would also go with milk-stout beers.
As the cigar enters the second third, there is a wonderful earthy quality that reminds me of sweet mineral soil, there is a touch of dry herbal tea, and now I am enjoying that oaky note.
The mouthfeel is semi-creamy and smooth in texture.
Damn, I was enjoying this so much I forgot the final third.
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