Van Diest Früli Strawberry Beer - Brouwerij Huyghe

allergictomacros

Ontario (Canada)

2.88/5  rDev -15.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Smells like a whole lot of strawberries. Looks like unfiltered apple juice. Taste is quite sweet and strawberry-y, but a touch artificial. Slight bitterness doesn't go well with the fruitiness of the berries. Supposedly this has coriander and orange peel in it as well, but I don't really taste it. I guess this is what one would expect from a strawberry beer, but really, it's just a novelty. Not really a good idea...

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2006 00:50:47 | More by allergictomacros

Orrshow

Alberta (Canada)

3.65/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - Pours a peach color that somewhat reminds of of apple juice. ..just a touch darker.It leaves an average amount of white frothy head on top. Not a bad looking beer.

Smell - This smell is so strong. I could catch whiffs from a few feet away after pouring this beer. Its all sweet strawberries. The aroma is very nice.

Taste - The taste is all strawberries as predicted. Almost reminds me of some type of fruit cola as it is so sweet. Can tell there are small hints of wheat there but not much. This beer tastes nice but is too sweet.

Mouthfeel - Syrupy. The sugar causes your mouth to feel sticky after this one. Carbonation was slightly high as well.

Drinkalbility - Not bad...there is just too much sweetness in this beer for me. This does make it hard to go down.

Fruili is definitely worth a try or two. Not quite my thing but still a worthwhile venture.

Serving type: bottle

03-14-2006 22:37:57 | More by Orrshow

Mandrake

Nova Scotia (Canada)

3/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 1.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Pours a cloudy orange-brownish pink which reminded me of what you'd get if you mixed orange and cranberry juices in roughly equal proportions, with the exception of the fairly small light pink head. Honestly, I could barely bring myself to taste it. Smell is, unsurprisingly, dominated by strawberry, but was very sweet, and had yeasty undertones. Not bad, but not beery. Taste is sweet strawberry, like yogurt, but with a slightly tart yeast in the finish. Mouthfeel is flat, rather like the aforementioned juice combo, and drinkability is okay, but I'm put off by how utterly disgusting it looks.

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2006 03:20:17 | More by Mandrake

Brewfan

Connecticut

3.43/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

250 ml. bottle topped with red foil.
Poured into my Pioneer Brewing Co. Dopplebock tulip.

Rich frothy pinkish resiliant head. Pink lace stays throughout the beer.
Cloudy pinkish/orange color. Medium carbonation.
Has the aroma of strawberry yogurt starburst smoothie with some over-ripe bitterness. Very sweet, no discernable hops or malt.
Has the taste of very ripe strawberries. I'm surprised I'm not finding any little black seeds in my teeth after drinking this. Less a beer and more a fruit smoothie.
Slight bitterness towards the end of the beer, and finishes a bit dry. Cloying, but not overly. Still no hops that I can tell. Much lace still present.
Sweeter than any fruit beer I've had to date. Very tasty. Would have been nice with some chocolate covered strawberries.

My wife said that this tasted like what rotten fruit smells like. What does she know.

Serving type: bottle

01-03-2006 22:27:33 | More by Brewfan

funkengruven

Ontario (Canada)

4.3/5  rDev +26.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This poured to a slightly pink champagne like look in the glass. Smell is sweet and delicious, like very fresh strawberries. Taste is wonderful, Strawberries and Witbier, quite a nice tasty combination. Mouthfeel is pretty well equal to other witbiers with it's slightly fizzy but slightly weighted feel, that is very very easy to drink. Girlfriend really liked this one, and so did i. Quite a nice change from the ordinary.

Serving type: bottle

12-17-2005 04:21:02 | More by funkengruven

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.73/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pink milkshake colour with lots of foam. Very strawberry aroma, enough real strawberry with the actual fruit bits, that the beer is disguised. Satisfying, well carbonated. Good fruity dessert aftertaste.I am not running after fruit beers, but this was the most natural of the many presented this summer in Ontario.
Over 6 years later when i had it again, and clearly extract. Not as good.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2005 22:05:13 | More by northyorksammy

elricorico

Alberta (Canada)

3.93/5  rDev +15.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a pale red colour with a bubbly off-white(very faintly pink) head. The head fades to a thick ring around the edge of the glass. The smell is strawberries. Lots of fresh strawberry. Fairly sweet and tart.

Taste is, much like the smell, strawberry! Surprise surprise. It's good though, a fairly natural strawberry flavour. The witbier to this beer is fairly well hidden. The finish is tart, not the distinct ending you'd expect from a belgian white.

Mouthfeel is thick in a syrup way. Almost a bit sticky. Carbonation is fair and works well for the beer. The only thing keeping this beer from being exceptionally drinkable is that I can't see myself wanting to drink a strawberry drink all night.

Pretty tasty brew, I don't regret picking it up.

Serving type: bottle

03-30-2005 04:24:47 | More by elricorico

BigBry

Alberta (Canada)

3.58/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Small 250ml bottle with red foil around neck served from my BelleVue tulip glass.
There was a huge hit of strawberry aroma the second this one was uncapped - fresh scent, not artificial smelling. Pours a pinkinsh apricot color, with same pink hue foam. Huge head, filled 1/3 of the glass, thick lacing. Beautiful presentation.
Taste is mostly a fruity strawberry flavor with a sour finish. Can taste the wheat beer underneath, but hidden under the sweetness. The beer is well carbonated, giving quite a lively mouthfeel.
Similar to Belle Vue Kreik, but even more fruitiness. Would go great as a dessert, reminds me of an ice wine.

Serving type: bottle

02-13-2005 18:57:43 | More by BigBry

Cwrw

Alberta (Canada)

3.03/5  rDev -10.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

The red-foiled 250 ml bottle opened with a puff of strawberry smell...surprise. Poured, the beer is a definite orange colour; carrot juice colouration. Extremely unclear, with a tomato juice look. The lees are a sludgy near-purple. 1 cm of cream-head, bone white, which evaporates quickly to a thin layer. For me, the best part of this beer is the unique appearance. The aroma is basic and painfully uncomplex: all I sensed, besides the most ephemeral sniff of malt wheat, was strawberries; strawberry jam. Sweet to the extreme, and the aroma really is that simple. The taste is much of the same. Extreme strawberry extract. There IS a little yeast and some faint wheat. Perfumy in the middle, along with some tangy citrus. Soapy licorice, and sour candy. The finish is tart, with hints of the coriander under the cloying strawberry. The taste, like the aroma, is unbalanced with very limited drinkability, unless you love strawberries, and nothing else in a beer. Medium carbonation. As a strawberry drink, this might rate highly; but it is deficient in what it purports to be: a beer. I am a sweet-beer lover in the extreme, but this needs to have SOME complexity and balance.

Serving type: bottle

12-08-2004 07:17:25 | More by Cwrw

trevorwideman

Manitoba (Canada)

2.73/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Beer poured a murky brownish-red colour with a sticky head that left little lace. Tough to find a hint of beer in the aroma, mostly the strawberry jam that appears to be mixed with this beer. Taste is not far off from a punch that might be served at a picnic with a very small hint of the Witbeer that is well-hidden under all the fruit juice. Soft feel in the mouth, smooth. Alcohol is hard to find as well, but I guess this is only 4.1% anyways. You could drink a lot of these on a summer day, just don't try to convince me that I'm drinking beer. My girlfriend loved it, and she dosen't like beer, so that says something.

Serving type: bottle

10-22-2004 16:38:24 | More by trevorwideman

putnam

Michigan

3.2/5  rDev -5.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

A very beery, sulfrous, puke-like surge of aromas release from the freshly cracked lid. The color is brownish rose. The head is curled and gurgly. As it airs out, the aromas become more of a straightforward ferment of ripe strawberrys, strawberry juice and strawberry jam. Toasted malts and beer aromas seem to clash there. The flavors are quite sweet and juicy. Low-acid, unbitter and strawberry juice flavored -- this is not for the "beer" purist. Sweeter than the Lindeman's fruit beers, not to its credit.

Serving type: bottle

09-28-2004 21:14:57 | More by putnam

IronDjinn

Alberta (Canada)

3.4/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Comes in a 250 ml brown bottle, red foil around the neck and cap. Pours out a dense cloudy light red, nearly pink, with a large pinkish head with good retention, plus some lacing. At first the nose is a big hit of strawberry Hubba Bubba, but some weak notes of wheat can be picked up underneath. The flavour is also predominantly strawberry, with lighter notes of wheat and coriander becoming apparent near the finish. The mouthfeel is sparkling and refreshing. Very sweet as a whole though. A nice little bevvy for those into this kind of thing, I don't tend to mind them in small doses. But lets put it this way, if you don't like fruit beers then stay away, as you'll despise this.

Serving type: bottle

09-26-2004 23:59:13 | More by IronDjinn

baiser

Massachusetts

3.28/5  rDev -3.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

On tap at the biermarkt. Review is based on drinking some of my gf's drink. Poured a cloudy pink, with almost no head but good amounts of lacing clinging to the glass. Nose was primarily super sweet strawberries and sugar. There must've been some sorta fruit juice added.

Taste is strawberries, sweet and tart finish. Points were knocked off all around because this just wasn't much of a 'beer' at all. Tasted more like a strawberry wine/cider. Not a beer, but delicious nonetheless.

Serving type: on-tap

09-10-2004 22:10:52 | More by baiser

Shiloh

Ontario (Canada)

3.38/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Now this is a very interesting brew, in that I am pleased that I tried it and happy that I bought just one.
The appearance is very nice with the colour mixture of strawberry and orange.
The crown was short but ended with a nice glass ring.
The body is full.
The carbonation is undetermined due to the cloudiness of the brew.
Aroma is strongly of the strawberry.
The taste starts very sweet but is quicky offset by the orange peel.
Initially strawberry and finishes to the orange peel.

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2004 18:52:58 | More by Shiloh

CAMRAhardliner

Ontario (Canada)

3.88/5  rDev +14.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

pours a murky brown color with a big billowy head, both the body and head are slightly tinged with pink. Theres a lot of lace on the glass. The aroma is dominantly of sweetish strawberries. Theres also some koolaid sugaryness and a slight bit of wheat malt in the nose. The taste is very sweet but theres a bit of residual tartness. It kind of reminds me of Lindemans or Morte Subite Framboise. This is just a little too dry to taste exactly like strawberry jam. The mouthfeel is very sugary and actually akin to koolaid. The drikability of this beer is ok, but a bit corrupted by the intense sweetness in the finish.

This beer is not very beer like, its super sweet but also quite tasty.

Serving type: bottle

09-02-2004 02:36:00 | More by CAMRAhardliner

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

2.55/5  rDev -25%
look: 1.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Bottle: Poured a red colored beer with almost no head or even carbonation. Taste is overpowered by strawberry and sugar. Taste is also taken over by the strawberry and the sugar, or maybe I should say the strawberry juice since I have hard time believing real strawberry were added to this mix. No malt or hops are noticeable in this mixture. Overall, I guess if you don’t expect to drink what is usually known as beer, you can enjoy this somewhat refreshing drink on a very hot summer day.

Serving type: bottle

08-03-2004 20:10:28 | More by Phyl21ca

the42ndtourist

Ontario (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

I suppose if you go into a beer with low expectations, you can be surprised. Strawberry seemed to me to be too weak a flavour to make a proper beer. I was expecting this to fall into the Chapeau style of fruit beer. Not quite.

First surprise at the pour: this is cloudy, with a thick colour that seems too real to be the product of artificial colours or syrups. It's a middling pink, pulpy, the colour of crushed strawberries! It's looking up.

the taste: it's respectable. Sweet,yes. Certainly so, but there's a tartness there, and a bit of roughness that's the base wheat beer showing through. Finishes well. It's not too cloying at all. An enjoyable and pleasant enough beer for those hot muggy afternoons.

Serving type: bottle

07-09-2004 14:47:09 | More by the42ndtourist

TerryW

Ontario (Canada)

3.45/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Well, what's to say? It's a beer spritzer. Good cold sittin' on the patio, but not a serious drinkin' beer.

Hazy red-pink colour, no head or lace to speak of. Lots of strawberries on the nose and on the palette, just enough in the background to remind you that it's built on a beer base. Everything works together well enough.

I like strawberries and this was tasty enough that I'd do it again. Frankly, I'd rather drink one of these before tipping up a Belle Vue Kriek. It is what is is – a tasty summer novelty beer. Have some fun with it, but don't expect anything serious to develop.

Serving type: bottle

06-08-2004 23:16:06 | More by TerryW

rastaman

United Kingdom (England)

1.73/5  rDev -49.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

Hmmmm, strawberry frozen yoghurt, strawberry Starburst, really sweet and candy-ish, way too sweet to be taken seriously, but not a total loss, some tartness, but its too sweet, like Belle-vues sweetened fruit beers. Too much of a candied cheery flavour, too sweet.

Serving type: on-tap

09-17-2003 00:50:59 | More by rastaman