Lozen Boer - De Proefbrouwerij (bvba Andelot)

BeerAdvocate

Massachusetts

4.22/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beer review from BA Mag Aug 2007.

The beer geeks have tagged this a Quadrupel, but essentially it's an Abbey-style ale. Lozen boer means "gentleman farmer," yet on the label it says, "Legend of the Cow Smuggler." An inside joke, we think?

The lace is out of this world, surprising for a higher-alcohol beer. It starts off with a good two fingers of light tan head and literally sticks to the glass all the way down. A deep burnished chestnut hue comes through the glass when put up to the light. Brown sugar aroma from sweet malts; then the nose turns to raisins, currants and blackberries from fruity esters and an ever-so-faint solvent alcohol in the back. Lush, creamy smoothness rolls off the tongue with each sip. The alcohol is evident from the get-go, but it's never overpowering, thanks to the muscular maltiness that flexes with notes of dark bread, caramelized/burnt sugar and toasted biscuit flavors. Underlying fruitiness. Modest hop bitterness and flavor, with enough phenolics to balance out the sweetness with light clove. Finishes semisweet, with a plum and toasted grain aftertaste.

Wow, a balanced Quadrupel. You don't see that too often. This one is well worth the hunt. We're curious to see how it cellars.

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2010 13:59:00 | More by BeerAdvocate

deac83

Texas

4.26/5  rDev +15.8%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4

A little perplexed by the lack of carbonation. Intentional or cork problem? I ventured ahead anyway.

Minimal head with small amount of carbonation present.

Dark brown in color.

Fruity but on the sour side.

Smooth in the mouth but agree more carbonation would improve overall.

FWIW, I had no point of reference for this beer and therefore low expectations but was pleasantly surprised.

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2013 03:43:20 | More by deac83

dalepryor

Kentucky

3.75/5  rDev +1.9%

05-07-2013 22:32:37 | More by dalepryor

dieBlume

Pennsylvania

2.55/5  rDev -30.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

S: Served in a chalice from a 750ml bottle.

A: No foam, no lacing, no carbonation. The beer itself was dark brown in color.

S: Very boozey, chocolatey, and fruity.

T: Overwhelmingly alcoholic, which would have been fine if it has some sort of carbonation. Tasted like a thinned out chocolate with darker fruits infused.

M: Flat, a bit off - reminded me of a liquid candy bar.

O: I was really excited to try this, but it was certainly a letdown.

I was told by two people at the shop where it was bought that it was a good beer. When it was opened, I was already disappointed. No typical pop when opened - we then knew SOMETHING had to be wrong. I'm just thankful that my boyfriend doesn't mind flat beers...

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2013 21:50:06 | More by dieBlume

Pensfan0782

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -4.9%

03-16-2013 01:16:04 | More by Pensfan0782

ommegangpbr

New York

4/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I likes me some quads and this one is a pretty good one. Some red wine tannins, some burnt sugar, some boozy cake. Something in this reminds me of marshmallow and bubblegum but only slightly. Mostly it's rich, dark ale goodness all around. I'll be happy to sit with beer for awhile and enjoy my evening.

Serving type: bottle

03-13-2013 00:34:41 | More by ommegangpbr

uturn

Florida

3.75/5  rDev +1.9%

01-16-2013 02:20:16 | More by uturn

DrDemento456

Pennsylvania

3.66/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Well shit looking at the latest reviews this beer is kind of crap. Ow well I at least only paid like 5 bucks for a 10% Quad bomber.

A - The cork is quite strange like made of some kind of rubber or plastic. Could this be what caused the off flavors and low carbonation people are reporting? Opening the bottle I get a very lively full inch of mocha colored head, fizzy from ABV but still sticks around for a bit. Beer itself is a very deep chestnut brown almost pitch black like a stout.

S - Strong alcoholic esters with some sugary malt and very little actual fruit. The booze is strong in this one.

T - Has a very weird herbal woody flavor that seems to be a mix of oak and stone fruit. Next the fruity yeast kicks in giving a sweet malt flavor and then mild sherry kind of boozy taste. Finish has a touch of hop bit and a warming character.

M - Medium to heavy, rather syrup like ABV shines in taste which is kind of offputting.

Overall a very boozy quad that has rather weird flavors than your typical fruity/low ABV lasting counterparts (ST Bearnard 12) Worth getting if you like boozy Belgium's.

Serving type: bottle

01-16-2013 01:32:28 | More by DrDemento456

rolive

3.75/5  rDev +1.9%

12-02-2012 20:42:05 | More by rolive

halo913

Connecticut

2.75/5  rDev -25.3%

11-18-2012 03:33:15 | More by halo913

t0rin0

California

3.75/5  rDev +1.9%

11-16-2012 00:43:18 | More by t0rin0

superspak

Michigan

2.3/5  rDev -37.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

750 ml bottle into chalice, 5/10/2009 stamped on the cork. Pours very hazy dark reddish brown color with a nice 1-2 finger dense khaki head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice soapy lacing clings to the glass. Aromas of huge raisin, prune, red wine, molasses, light chocolate, earth, pepper, yeast spices, and slight booze. Decent aromas with ok balance and complexity. Taste of big raisin, prune, chocolate, toast, molasses, toffee, biscuit, nuttiness, earth, yeast spices, and light booze. Lingering notes of dark fruits, toast, biscuit, nuttiness, molasses, chocolate, earth, and yeast spices on the finish for a good bit. Large amount of cloying sweetness and odd off flavors after the finish. Feels very unbalanced and rather unpleasant in the taste. Light carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a slick, oily, and chalky mouthfeel that is not pleasant. Alcohol is well hidden with nearly zero warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a pretty horrible quad. Don’t know what happened to this over the few years since bottling, but I could not finish this one.

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2012 02:59:22 | More by superspak

b_sid

Illinois

2.5/5  rDev -32.1%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

Let's start with the most obvious issue here. This beer is flat. Dead flat. Like a 2 liter of soda flat, that's been opened numerous times and stuck in the back of the fridge for you to unfortunately come across when your totally craving a fizzy thirst quenching beverage.

Anyway, it's hard to review something that's so off from the start. I love Belgian beers, and I was really hoping for something special here (it even says Brewers Reserve on the bottle), but it was not to be. Immediately after pulling out the cork you could tell something was off. No pressure. No champagne bottle pop. Actually, no pop whatsoever. Barely even a hiss. OK... but there were subtle bubbles forming after the pour, so initially thought, "OK, well at least we have some life here." Kinda wrong there. No life, just dead beer (and it had so much potential).

The beer actually smells great, and leads you on to thinking this may still actually be amazing. The aroma reminds of a nice Barley Wine with a strong fruit character, but that's where the promise ends. The flavor (while initially hopeful) is actually quite disappointing. It's brevity is unmatched (not a good thing). Since it lacks any carbonation, the flavor lasts for a nanosecond, followed by burning, which if you're drinking a nice whiskey is great, but not here. Not at all.

It's actually quite amazing that I've even devoted this much to review this beer. Probably cause there was so much anticipation of greatness, followed by unprecedented weakness. Maybe it's the plastic "cork" they used here. Maybe if they used a real cork the beer could have actually developed and kept (or begun to develop) it's carbonation. Cause underneath the overwhelming lack of carbonation there is an exceptional beer lurking, but unfortunately it's just not here.

Serving type: bottle

08-19-2012 01:18:33 | More by b_sid

JohnK17

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +8.7%

08-08-2012 18:36:32 | More by JohnK17

zachary80

Indiana

2.85/5  rDev -22.6%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Cellared for 10 months. Poured into a Globe. Cork opens with a really really weak pop.

Dark brown, some reddish highlights, looks good. No real head, some whitish bubbles that persist; not normal for a quad.

Aroma is fruity and complex. One of the better smelling quads, reminiscent of La Trappe.

Flavor is a let down. Starts off tasty - follows the aroma, finishes pretty bad, tastes more like a liquor, and the finish is extremely short. Reminds me of bad alcohol flavors, big turn off.

Carbonation is too low, mouthfeel is off.

Overall I like the smell and taste but the alcohol is harsh and I think its negative side is combining with another character in the beer that I'm not fond of. Perhaps its very oxidized, although it is less than a year since purchase and doesn't have as much of the cardboard type taste. (Might be worth noting that I shared a Baller Stout earlier in the evening...and its 13.8% didn't show half as much as this beer's 10%)

Serving type: bottle

06-25-2012 05:37:16 | More by zachary80

impending

California

3.9/5  rDev +6%
look: 2 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

B+

750ml into a tulip. Pours a bright cola copper, low carbonation, little head lasted briefly, insubstantial lacing.

A strong vinous quality as if port split upon dark fruits that have begun to rot. Thick and sweet with caramel. Wonderful

Taste is in accord with the scent, again wine notes with a long phenolic aftertaste. Medium bodied. Medicinal in a nice way. Shines at room temp.
cheers
jd

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2012 06:53:37 | More by impending

barleywinefiend

Washington

3.13/5  rDev -14.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

A: Poured a cola color with lower carbonation than I expected. Left a small white cap, minimal lacing and some white bubbles

S: I get cola, caramel with some caramelized sugar, toffee and some dark fruits on the nose

T: Taste has an immediate caramel, light candy sugar with some dark fruits, toffee, more caramel and cola midway to finish with some underlying booze. The taste falls flat on the end leaving only a sweetness with booze and sticky flat and bitter taste.

M: Rather thin, plain and medium bodied. Not what I was wanting nor expecting

O: Average

Serving type: bottle

04-12-2012 00:56:02 | More by barleywinefiend

ATPete

New Jersey

2/5  rDev -45.7%

01-18-2012 20:13:57 | More by ATPete

wattershed

California

4/5  rDev +8.7%

01-03-2012 16:13:39 | More by wattershed

Stoffel

Texas

3.5/5  rDev -4.9%

01-02-2012 20:29:20 | More by Stoffel

dbrauneis

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +8.7%

01-02-2012 04:27:30 | More by dbrauneis

metter98

New York

4.25/5  rDev +15.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

A: The beer is very hazy brownish amber in color and poured with a thin layer of beige bubbles covering the surface that died down and left a thin layer of bubbles covering the surface. There are some visible particles floating near the bottom, but it is unclear if these are yeast particles or remnants of the cork that shattered when opening the beer.
S: There are moderately strong aromas of dark fruits in the nose.
T: Similar to the smell, the taste also has flavors of dark fruits. Notes of plums, prunes and raisins seem to stand out in particular.
M: It feels medium-bodied and very smooth on the palate with a low to moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer definitely improves with age as it becomes very smooth and drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2012 23:29:50 | More by metter98

djrn2

New Jersey

3/5  rDev -18.5%

12-17-2011 17:36:10 | More by djrn2

trojankeg

Texas

4/5  rDev +8.7%

12-17-2011 02:50:47 | More by trojankeg

tbeq00

California

4/5  rDev +8.7%

12-12-2011 20:09:43 | More by tbeq00