Duyck Jenlain Bière de Printemps
In 1991, the brewery decided to revive an old custom harking back to the 14th century when there were no means of refrigeration. Beer was then traditionally brewed in early December and stored over the winter under naturally cool conditions. The first barrels were only opened in March, as the days started to become warmer. It has a fresh, springlike bouquet with dominant tones of malt and grains. It is made using a top fermentation yeast, malted barley and newly harvested Alsation hops. With 5.4% alcohol by volume, it is a pure malt beer that is highly refreshing. It has a fine white head and clear golden colour, a dominant hoppy taste with a hint of fruitiness. Best served between 5 and 6°C.
3.1
178 reviews
Jenlain, France
Community reviews
Originally rated March 2008. Seasonal offering at the LCBO, with a best before date that is written: 14/12/2008 on back label. Pours a clear golden colour with a white foamy head, that disappears at a medium pace. What is clearly noticeable, is that this brew has hardly any carbonation, and after a few minutes, no bubbles are to be found. Malt is dominant in the aroma, with a little grass and mild honey. The mouthfeel is pretty flat, but has a little stickiness in the mouth. Grain malt is most of the flavour, with the mild grass and honey coming out in the aftertaste. The ring of lacing stays all along. Not a bad beer, with a light difference to other beers that look the same, but nothing too outstanding either.
(bottle). Clear gold color. Small off white head, with good retention. Light musty aroma with light sweet honey. Sweet caramel flavor, with light toast/malt and moderate alcohol. Avg duration. Smooth finish. Slick texture. Moderate carbonation. Good lacing.
Pours clear golden color with white head. Fruity aroma with some grassy hops and cereal grains. Sweet and fruity flavor with some mustiness. Light body with crisp carbonation.
bottle from Auchan Illkirch-Graffenstaden. Clear golden colour, small bubbly white head. Malty nose. Solid malty base, a bit sweet perhaps, with good grassy hoppy flavours. Quite nice.
Bottle 75cl. A clear light amber beer with low head. A very basic beer, slightly fruity and malty, just too bitter, very disappointing. Nothing really interesting, just sweet.
750ml bottle with caged cork. Pours a glowing gold colour, very clear with a tall white head that lasts. Aroma and flavour of sweet caramel apples and light spiciness. Crisp finish and light on the palate, but the maltiness still finds a way to shine through into the finish. The combo of the rich malt flavours and floral and fruity finish made this really enjoyable.
Lemongrass aroma, not strong. Clear golden, medium head. Light body, grassy, slightly sweet. Refreshing and enjoyable, but generally weak.
Bottle @ home. Fairly pale yellow appearance with an off white head. Aroma is a like a pale malty Pale Lager. Body is somewhat thin, a bit sour, and pale malty with absolutely nothing reminiscent of a Biere de Garde. Without a doubt, the poorest attempt at a Biere de Garde that I’ve ever tasted. That side apart, it’s a decent, somewhat sour pale malty beer.
Bottle, from a Brown Derby, Springfield MO. Golden orange pour with a modest top of fine white. Lots of cooked corn in the nose, then a touch of butter. Under that, some rustic barn notes that are pretty nice. Flavor is slightly rancid butter, spritzy dry toast, sawdust. The buttery quality interferes with an otherwise pleasant touch of brambly hops in the finish. Not sure if this just didn’t travel well or what, but this particular example is not so good.
Fresh and clean smelling with light honey, doughy malts and dusty yeast (I’m surprised this isn’t a lager actually). Lightly sweet with a light herbal bitterness, some crispy malts and a touch of orange in the finish.
Aroma of citrus, coriander, honey and leather. Appearance is transparent gold with white head. Flavor matches the nose, with lots of honey, white grape and light tart raspberry. Palate is bubbly and creamy. Very nice.
750mL bottle. Poured slightly hazy medium golden with an easily-resuscitated, dense white head.. looked good in the glass. The aroma was soft dusty, dirty yeast, earthy notes, and a touch of lemon zest.. bready backing.. smelled quite refreshing. The flavor found more of the lightly sour bread and a pinch of honey at the core.. lemon zest, dusty yeast, and a little spruce around.. dry and a tad soapy on the finish. Medium-bodied at most with low carbonation on the palate (could’ve used more).. lightly tart and quite refreshing.
Bottle. Pours lightly hazy orange to light copper with a medium, bubbly and rocky off-white head, fair retention and lacing. Aroma is woodsy, cellar notes with earthy and spicy hops. Peppery phenols are light. Fruity esters of pear and apple. Light nuttiness and caramelization is present. Flavor is sweet caramel and nutty malt, tea-like with wood and earthy notes. No hop bitterness. Toasted malt character with some residual sweetness though it stops short of being cloying. Balance is toward the malt. Medium body, medium carbonation.
Draft at Churchkey. Clear golder pour with lots of bubbles and a thin white head. Light funky aroma with some cereal. Bitter flavor dominated by cereal and moderate barnyard funk . Light sweetness. Bitter hop finish. Crisp and clean.
Draught at Churchkey, courtesy of Nahem - thank you, my friend! Clea yellow, edge head. Aroma of bitter dust and white pepper. Taste is bitter and metallic, and not too pleasant. Best skipped.
Earlier Rating: 5/18/2010 Total Score: 3.3
Draught at Churchkey. Bright yellow color, massive cottony head, massive lacing. Aroma of white pepper and white bread. Taste is both bitter and sour, light body. Average.
Bottle. Pours a clear golden yellow with a small white head. Aroma of straw, pale and bready malts. Flavor of pale, light malts, some sweet corny/bready notes, perhaps a touch of light fruits. Pretty basic, tastes like a pale lager really, but drinkable nonetheless.
5/4/6/3/12 [3.0/5]
Bottle. Aroma of pale malts, a bit of nuttiness, something vaguely sulfur-like, a generally chemical feel. Flavor a bit peppery with cardboardy pale malts. Troubled and fairly offensive.
Tap at CK thanks to Travlr. Pours a clear to translucent, glowing, light yellow with a thin, wispy white head. Decent lacing. Aroma is air freshener, laundry detergent, somewhat artificial light tropical fruits. Taste is grassy hops, mostly mineral water, some pale malt, white corn, very slight tartness. Very average.
more of a rauchbier than a schwarzbier, but eh.... Very good, if misleading. Poured with a light tan head and a little lace. Color is an opaque black. Aroma is mainly smokey, plus malty, spicey, yeasty. Flavor is like aroma plus a hint of a tart tang. Perhaps the most smokey yet drinkable beer that I’ve had. Great body and carbonation. Finish is very good although a little boozy.
Clear golden beer with a nice white fluffy head that unfortunately disappears quickly. Aroma of crisp hops and tropical fruit. Pilsener malt dominates. Clean finish.
750mL bottle, purchased at Bottle Barn. Pours a deep, slightly hazy, honey-golden color; modestly effervescent; creamy white head with intricate lacing and solid retention; attractive, vibrant pour. Lots of honey, cereal, and soft, lightly grainy malt in the aroma; minimal hops; a touch of a tea-like character; while this should ultimately be, and is, a restrainedly malty nose, there’s a touch of stale cardboard and a bit of too much sweet honey; restrained, but not quite enough to my nose; still enjoyable. Medium body: reasonably smooth, lively carbonation; the tea-like character found in the nose reveals itself even more prominently in the mouth, to the degree of astringency (almost) - at least to the degree of light, persistent tannins that don’t necessarily balance out the sweetness, but just roughen the palate; as in the nose, plenty of honeyed cereal notes (certainly a takeaway note here) along with a medium, spicy hop bitterness that plays out nicely; a very malty, intricate core, with some doughy and bready notes appearing as well, but the tea and slightly unbound sweetness of things really detracts, for me. For a style that has to so delicately balance itself on the malty edge of things, this one stumbled for me. Lasting finish of toasty grains, honeyed cereal, lingering sugar.
750 ml corked and caged bottle poured a clear yellow with a lasting white head. Aromas of straw, skunk butt, bread dough and spicxy hops.
Palate was light bodied and crisp. Flavors of straw, bread dough, light spicy hops and light skunk butt with a crisp lingering moderatly bitter finish. Bottle says beer de mars but tastes like a skunked fizzy yellow lager to me!
Bottle thanks to Mar. Poured a yellow gold with white head. Aroma was skunky with honey. Taste was fruity with floral notes. Ok beer.
Bottled. Gusher. Hazy goldenrod pour without much of a head, but a mild wispiness sticks around for the duration of the beer. Kind of minty, very vegetal aroma, sweet and malty and reminiscent of the countryside. Mint, tobacco flavor with a load of sweet corn, aluminum, and rice. This was nice at first but as it breathed it kind of lost its better qualities.
Earlier Rating: 8/11/2008 Total Score: 3.3
Shared from a bottle. Very sweet floral aroma loaded with a murky yeasty grassiness. Sweet flowers in the flavor with a clean, vegetal finish. A bit sharp in carbonation.
Bottle thanks to mar. The smell is skunky, grains, hops, and floral. The look is golden in color with an ok white head. The taste is grains, sweet, medium body, and some fruits.
Bottle thanks to mar. Gold in color with a decent sized white head. Aroma is of sugar, lots of tangy citrus, grain and a light skunkiness. Taste is of honey, sugar and cardboard. The citrus does not carry over at all in the flavor.
(330ml bottle thanks to mar) Apparently I am rating this beer higher than everyone else, but I loved it.
Pour is very pale with some bubbles, extremely flavorful despite the color. Nose has a tart smell (cherries?) and funky. Lightly spicy bite here, fruity but not identifiable, hoppy with no bitter finish.
(750ml bottle, courtesy of mar) Pours a clear yellow body with a small white head. Aroma of metal, grain, mustiness, grass, and lemon peel. Flavor of grass, grain, sweet malt, florals, and some lemon.
Earlier Rating: 1/10/2006 Total Score: 3.1
(750ml bottle) Pours a clear yellow body with a large rocky white head and great lacing. Aroma of lemon, malt, yeast, and florals. Flavor of malt and light spices with a touch of lemon and soap. Soft, creamy mouthfeel.
bottle, thanks to mar, clear yellow in color, slight wispy foam, aroma has a light sweet skunk/funk flavor, flavor is like a sweet corn lager
bottle thanks to my brother. nose is very aromatic with esters and yeast. light gold with a thin ring of white. nice on the palate with a plain flavor with hints of peach.