DBB Text Banner

Notes on beers brewed by

Brasserie De La Senne / De Zenne Brouwerij
Zinne Des Flanders

Zinne
Des Flanders

It's a beautiful color. A fantastic golden hue. A lovely white head, some lace and decent retention. Nose is sweet, light and simple. Very, very refreshing. Clean as a whistle and simplicity itself. Light bitterness sits on top of the easy malts. A bit like a 'malty pilsner' if that makes any sense and is not an oxymoron. Lots of bready notes and some spice from the hops, Feels a little Noble. Mouthfeel is certainly clean, and also nicely carbonated to give a little creamy feel. Very...

Zenne Pils

Zenne
Pils

A slightly hazed pour. Not a great head, not good retention or lace. Looks little NEIPAish - oh God ... Good aspirin bitterness up front, bites quite hard initially, and then backs off way too much.. Nose and mouthfeel are both too full and round for me. It's a bit flabby. A distinct lack of really clean lines, and that's a huge issue in a pilsner of any type for me. Soft, not well-defined. This way too yeasty, malty and rounded for the style, and although it sports some decent bitterness in...

Zennegash Wheat Beer w/Brett

Zennegash
Wheat Beer w/Brett

11.2oz bottle, BB 24 NOV 25, Dry Hopped Wheat Beer with Brett. Difficult to resist a collaboration between these two, but it has to be send that collaborations very often fail to meet the (often unrealistic) raised expectations. Clouded, lemon colored body with a small, but quite persistent head. The thin film lingers and there is a little lace. Looks goos. Light acidity on the nose with some gentle funk. Cider-like. Smells cleanish, and pretty tight. Very soft mouthfeel opens up to light...

Saison van de Bruwer

Saison van
de Bruwer

Lovely lemon colored, clouded pour with a dense head. Excellent retention and some lace. Looks classically well-made. Nose offers a dry funky note, as expected, simple and requisite with the style. That has the potential to sound trivial, but as we know, ids far from guaranteed. The initial tastes are surpringsly bitter. There's a nice does of floral hops too. I was expecting the bitterness to back off a bit as the funky notes cut in, but if I'm honest they didn't. The funk element lingers,...

Bruxellensis Local Brett Beer

Bruxellensis
Local Brett Beer

33cl bottle, imported from Belgium. Orange, hazed pour with a modest head. Nice retention but not a great deal of lace. Nose is immediately apparent with a serious dose of funk right off the bat. A touch of white pepper up front, but it's mainly a a funky cheese note. Big cheesy funk in the tastes too, but the beer is surprisingly light to drink. Very light on its feet in fact. The funk brings some lovely residual bitterness that turns into hoppy burps, and a dry, satisfying bitter aftertaste....

Ameriken Pis

Ameriken
Pis

33cl bottle. Recently shipped in from Belgium. A complex collaboration between La Senne and Perennial, Yazoo, Little Animals, Keeping Together, Off Color and Somewhere Else Beer Project. Beautiful, deep orange golden color. Medium head, that has a bone-white color with tremendous lace. Light stickiness to it. Plenty of sweet hops on the nose. It immediately reminds me of an old style, DIPA from the West Coast (please note I'm not using the horrible, dumb term 'WCIPA'). Perfect balance in the...

Jester Zinne

Jester
Zinne

Brewed May 18th 2016. Barrel-aged Saison, bottle-conditioned. Bottled on 7th, August 2017, Best Before 7th August 2019. Well, it is what it is. Brewed in 2016, this is likely a minimum of three, maybe more, years past its best. That didn't stop me buying it late in 2022 when I saw the last bottle, hanging out, lonely on a shelf. Happy to take a punt on a beer brewed by these two guys, full in the knowledge that this likely won't be good/great/drinkable. Pour is quite acceptable in terms of...

De La Senne Taras Boulba

De La Senne
Taras Boulba

Hazed, honey colored pour. Fantastic head, white, high and sticky with lace and persistent. Looks great. The light balance of this beer is second to none. Bitterness is there, but it is so very tempered with a fantastic, creamy body and the light Belgian malts that hold the whole beer together. Tempered alcohol, and then the dry, quite astringent bitterness, that could feel American In its aggression, BUT because the beer is so balanced you just don't view it in the same way. Mouthfeel and...

Saison du Meyboom

Saison du Meyboom

33 cl bottle, imported from Belgium. 2021 Vintage. Dare I say it? It looks a little like a NEIPA. Hazed, light orange body with a fluffy, large head that creates decent lace and retention. Nose offers some light hops, and a grassy freshness that feels lightly rustic. Very slight soapy bitterness, and a little light citrus, but not much. Finish is pleasingly, lightly bitter. It’s very soft, light, and airy. The beer opens up on warming with further orange experiences, including a touch of zest...

X-Mas Zinnebir

X-Mas Zinnebir

330 mL bottle from Green's on Buford, Atlanta, GA, USA. $3.99 for the chance to try this. Errr....Belgian Pale (as per current BA db designation), NO. Much more like a Brune. Head and lace a quite poor and the body is a chestnut, deep brown. Nose has a lot if peppery yeast. Lots of pear and pineapple in the taste (along with a few other esters) which give the impression that the beer is going to be very fruity, however the character changes right at the end and in the finish and aftertaste....

X-Mas Zinnebir

Equinox

750 mL capped and corked from Duke's package up on US-41 in Marietta, GA, USA. Green, heavy glass with a champagne dimpled bottom. Dark brown, hazy pour with a decent amount of head and lace. VERY Dubbel like as opposed to BSDA, and lacks the sweetness and fruity nature of a typical beer from the style. Lots of yeast sediment in the final pour from the bottle. Quite bland in the grand scheme of things and lacks any winter spice element or significant Belgian yeast tastes. Distinct lack of...