Brouwerij Affligem / De Smedt (Heineken)
Opwijk, Belgium
Imported by: Total Beverage Solutions, Mount Pleasant, SC
Brewed for the 950th Anniversary of the abbey, 950 Cuvee is a blond ale “quadruple hopped” for added spicy/grassiness with a dry, slightly bitter finish.
ABV: 6.8
ABW: 5.44
COLOR: N/A
BITTERNESS: N/A
ORIGINAL GRAVITY: N/A
AVAILABLE: N/A
It takes a deft hand to marry Belgian yeast funk with a heavy dose of hops, but brewers are showing it can be done with spectacular results. Affligem’s Cuvee 950 presents a hazy, golden body with a off-white meringue head that clings to the glass all the way to the end. Lush notes of apricot, peach, lemony citrus and a touch of cherry give way to an interesting dryness from the hops, despite a rather sweet body. Finishing dry by Belgian standards, the 950 Cuvee ends with a slightly spicy flourish.
This “quadruple hopped” beer is rather bitter for a Belgian blond and surprisingly lean for a smartly packaged celebratory brew. Generous carbonation lifts to the nose an aroma filled with bubblegum, aniseed and pine, with apricot and mango also in evidence. Then the hops control the taste, bringing lots of bitter herbs, aniseed and pine to the palate. Fruit is quite restrained here, strangely, and sweetness is also held firmly in check. Consequently, the finish is particularly dry, with more aniseed and pine from the tangy hops and a little tingly warmth. Unusual.
Lisa Morrison, aka The Beer Goddess, writes about beer whenever and wherever she can and also gets to talk about it on a weekly radio show in her hometown of Portland, OR.
Author of the Good Bottled Beer Guide and The Book of Beer Knowledge, Jeff Evans is an eight-time editor of the CAMRA Good Beer Guide. More of his writing can be found at www.insidebeer.com.
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