Beer – #318 – Tuatara – Ardennes

I’m a simple man, but Tuatara Ardennes, strikes me as being something Belgium related, of course.

Brewed by Tuatara Brewing Company this is in the style of a Belgian Ale and they do that in the metropolis that to me an you is known as Paraparaumu, New Zealand.

500ml bottle (Pint-ish) of a 6.5% ABV beer, or 2.5 standard drinks to me and you, 195 calories a servings.

Tuatara Ardennes is a strong, Belgian-identified ale. There’s no missing the strong bit – 6.5% alc/vol should be fairly self-explanatory – but the Belgian half of the equation is the result of our obsession with the style. In creating his own version we’ve named it after the Ardennes yeast that gives it all those spicy orange notes. We were also fairly obsessed with making it drinkable, so drinkable in fact that we may have to redirect your attention to the 6.5% alc/vol bit. Avoid heavy machinery.

They say.

I have to cook on the BBQ I hope that at least on of the things works out ok for me

Thats fairly yeasty and a bit sour on opening, vinegary. Very pale, and I was surprised by that, I was expecting darker, or different. No head, at all. But it looks fairly well carbonated.

Aroma settles to more yeast, which would be what you might expect.

Pours a great golden colour, and has a decent head, but this is very carbonated on the tongue. To the nose this is a Belgium style yeasted beer, and the sourness of the up front note is of Belgium. But that’s all there is.

Does look nice in the glass though.

So where are we at? This is a beer that is made to, at least, smell and initially taste like a Belgium style beer. Which for me it does.

What else does it do?

Frankly not a lot. And honestly as it warms it gets more ‘iffy’ the warmth that you’d expect from the malts appear to be a bit off centre, and they clash with the sourness. It’s a challenge.

This might make for a fairly decent domestic beer, but it’s hard to look past the way that it appears to have rapid changes of personality. The over-riding sourness makes this less than a winner, but not by much

The pdubyah-o-meter – the arbiter of arbitrary- says 7 – which is ok, makes this beer that you shouldn’t avoid or skip on, it’s ok at what it is an what id odes it’s just, again, not setting a benchmark or bar that other beers would beed to meet or beat.

Smells like Belgium beer should, tastes like a Belgium beer should, but that shouldn’t be all of it, or perhaps they’re showing off and it is, As an extension of their Dubbel and Tripel this is nice rounder.

Musically , the Vinyl gave away to the iPod and some Elbow, and this on the loudness.

Belgian Ardennes

is one of the great and versatile strains for the production of classic Belgian style ales. This strain produces a beautiful balance of delicate fruit esters and subtle spicy notes; with neither one dominating. Unlike many other Belgian style strains, this strain is highly flocculent and results in bright beers.

BELGIAN ALE

Belgian-style ales seldom fit neatly into classic beer styles, but this category represents those “session” ales (in Belgium this means under 7% abv!) that do not fit other categories. Colour ranges from golden to deep amber, with the occasional example coming in darker. Body tends to be light to medium, with a wide range of hop and malt levels. Yeastiness and acidity may also be present.