Jessenhofke

Brewed by Brewery Jessenhofke
Jessenhofstraat 8, Kuringen-Hasselt,Limburg, Belgium

A shared passion for nature and conservationism, and a love of beer, made Gert Jordens and his good wife Christel Putzeys come up with the idea of owning and running a bio and eco-friendly brewery that produced beers with pure flavours and the best of local craftsmanship, with the least carbon footprint possible. This dream became a reality in 2006 in the quiet and peaceful small Belgian village of Kuringen when the couple created their bio brewery, only brewing beers with completely organic products. Jessenhofke, the name of the brewery comes from the street, Jessenhofstreet, where they founded their brewery.

They brew quite a wide and exciting variety of beers, and also some unique collaborations. For example, their PMPRNL (Jessenhofke Pimpernelle) is in collaboration with a herbalist Sanguisorba from Ranst, while they also brew Blueberry beers, Chocolate beers, beers brewed with beautiful Mont Roucous spring water, and so on. That is part of the attraction for the brewery, you just never know what they will come up with next, but as they are a Belgian brewery you can be assured they will be at least quite hoppy!!

Today the brewery is going strong and still keeping to its original remit of producing 100% organic, ecological and environmentally friendly beers. They sell within Belgium and to a number of countries throughout Europe, demand is high. In a market as competitive as beer in Belgium, it is refreshing to see a small Brewer with a great idea shake it all up and compete, offering something different. Many breweries have organic beer, that is not new, but less than a handful offer 100% organic beer.

But what does it mean to be a bio beer? To achieve the bio label is not easy, they don’t hand it out to any brewery that fancies going eco friendly! You really have a lot of tests to go through and reports to be filled in, certain strict conditions in the company have to met, and all the time, checked regularly by independent supervision agencies, and they check on everything from the raw materials to the production process. No chemical products are to used on the product, no artificial smells, colours or sweeteners, and, of course, no genetically modified ingredients. This extra mile that the company goes through results in a beer that is slightly more expensive than a regular brew. But I think most consumers can accept this extra expense when they realise that if more breweries cared about the well being of the environment and ultimately the health of their customers, then everyone would benefit so its really a small price to pay for, in reality, a better, cleaner product. Hats off to Jessenhofke and to Gert and Christel for giving the market a real alternative.

Review: 33cl stubby bottle of Jessenhofke’s RSRV, Belgian Quadrupel: 10% ABV

Coming in a lovely little stumpy black bottle with RSRV in big white distinctive lettering. The RSRV signfies Reserva, i.e higher quality than usual. An organic beer that is of high fermentation.

This beer is a Quadrupel, one leg up from a Tripel, and is an ale that has greater strength and a bolder flavour. Usually darker in look, rich and sweet to taste, and hops to the background.

On pour get a nice creamy head with a reddish brownish colour. Has to be said it looks fantastic. A really great looking beer. Head looks good and the beer has a real depth to it.

Some good lacing and head maintains well.

Was great to swish the beer around the glass, looking at the beautiful colours and the light carbonation fizzing about. A magnificent appearance and great body.

The aroma is slight, of fruits, caramel, the sweet malts, and the hops, ok on the nose.

On the taste, the initial mouthful was lovely, brilliant, creamy and definitely the beer started with the “wow” factor.

Fruity taste with the organic hops lingering in the background. Caramel is there too. Also got a strong taste of the candy sugar.

It is a full bodied beer, rich in taste, like a good hearty meal that takes a while to finish, this is beer to savour.

It is hoppy, it is a strong Belgian after all, but it very manageable and the hops caress your taste buds, smooth enough to drink and enjoy.

For a 10% ABV I thought the alcohol was very well hidden and inoffensive which was some feat.

Overall it was a beer that was pleasant and enjoyable to drink. A nice Belgian beer experience from a bottle.

Review: 33cl stubby bottle of Jessenhofke’s ‘t Bottelke, Belgian Ale: 6% ABV

Again in the nice stubby bottle, t Bottelke, in English “The Bottle” (I think), comes with a logo referencing the past of the old brewery.

On appearance the beer is a light hazy yellowish colour, with a nice white head.

Smell is earthy, and very fruity, get a good dose of the lemons. Nice on the nose.

The taste was very silky on the tongue, smooth, and easy to sip and enjoy while sitting down to view the football.

I got the malts, and can feel the yeast and lemons.

Light and very nice mouthfuls. Could drink a lot of these bad boys.

Not sure how much of this is a Belgian ale as it felt more like a light lager to me, not very bitter, it was very drinkable and went down the throat so easy.

The flavours and tastes were not so strong, lurking in the background, but strong enough to make their presence known.

I really liked this beer, and will definitely snap up a few of these bottles if I ever come across them again. Nice beer, and so clean and fresh.

Review: 33cl stubby bottle of Jessenhofke’s RGLR, a light blonde: 3.5% ABV

With big lettering “RGLR” as the logo on the stubby bottle. I am guessing it means Regular, as in this beer is a regular light blonde.

As a light blonde, you get that usual light pale yellow golden appearance, that one would expect, also a little hazy with some small carbonation. A white head that is small but sticks around. Not a bad looker, looks nice.

The smell is faint, of the yeasts, and malts.

On the taste it is very light, the barely malts to the front and centre of this beer.

Not a huge array of tastes and flavours, but then this is a light blonde, so I guess we shouldn’t expect too many in any case. Apparently this beer was made to serve at lunchtime over a meal, a light accompaniment, which certainly makes things a bit clearer. A low alcoholic thirst quencher to enjoy while tucking into some food.

Is definitely easy to drink, low in bitterness and going down the neck very smoothly.

Review: 33cl stubby bottle of Jessenhofke’s Arvum, Belgian Blond Bier: 6% ABV

‘Arvum’ is a collaboration brew between ‘Herkenrodeboer’ and the Jessenhofke brewery. Organic farming meets organic brewery. All ingredients found as close to source as possible.

Its a high fermented beer, with a secondary fermentation happening in the bottle.

On pour get a thin white head with a nice looking golden yellowish coloured beer, looks ok.

Head maintains well, and the beer turns very hazy after a while.

Smell is quite strong on the nose, very sweet, getting the malts, the lemons and the fruits. Not a bad aroma.

For the taste, found it quite a unique taste. Very sweet with a creamy feeling to the beer, hints of spice as well.

The unique taste is from the eco-friendly produced hops and the organic barley all locally sourced. Definitely stands out amongst the crowd.

Citrus taste, got the light hops, the sweet malts and some fruits. A very well balanced beer that ticks all the boxes when it comes to taste and flavours.

It is light and easy enough to drink, no strong off putting tastes nor unpleasant bitterness.

Tasty for sure, but a Blonde ale, If I am honest, is not my most favourite style, its half way between a lager and an ale, and not quite one or the other for me.

Review: 33cl stubby bottle of Jessenhofke’s BRWN, Belgian Brown Ale: 7% ABV

The beer is re-fermented in the bottle and all ingredients are organic. The little stubby bottle with BRWN spelled out in big lettering as the logo.

This looks lively, a very nice white frothy creamy head appears with a coloured beer of dark brown. Looks nice and solid. Good bit of carbonation.

Head maintains well and some good lacing apparent.

A good appearance to whet the appetite. Good start.

Nice smell on the nose, very fruity and a lovely chocolate, dark malty aroma with some caramel to boot.

On the taste opened up with nice big sweet mouthfuls, got the flavours of malts, caramel, of the chocolate, sugar, the barley, all nice at the start, all very refreshing in the taste.

Also a little hoppy too, quite a bit bitter, lingers on the tongue.

A very nice, tasty beer, loving the chocolate flavours, not too strong but is there in the background as a reminder.

Nice enough, a sweet beer with some bitterness that is manageable. An easy beer to drink and to enjoy. A good introduction to a Belgian Brown Ale, and the 7% is well hidden.

Review: 33cl stubby bottle of Jessenhofke’s TRPL, a Belgian Tripel: 8% ABV

Once again, the beer is re-fermented in the bottle and all ingredients are organic. The little stubby bottle with TRPL spelled out in big lettering as the logo.

On pour get a decent sized white frothy head of foam, and a deep hazy looking orange coloured beer. Not bad, looks the business.

The smell is all fruity and very nice on the nose.

Lovely big mouthfuls to begin with, very nice on the tongue, sweet and fruity.
Not bad, liking it a lot, very tasty and very nice to sip on.
Smooth, very smooth, didn’t feel the 8% alcohol at all, very well hidden

Mild bitterness. Sweet malts, fruity and citrus notes, the hops, all well balanced.
Like it, it did the business. For a tripel I found it was not as hoppy and bitter as expected. Also perhaps not as full of strong flavours and over bearing tastes as I thought but nevertheless a well balanced body, crisp, light and refreshing, that went down very easily and was very savory.

Felt it was quite a perfect beer to watch the football with.

Review: 33cl stubby bottle of Jessenhofke’s Maya, a Belgian Ale: 6% ABV

MAYA spelled out in big lettering on the bottle. A very interesting beer that uses the starchy water of a local seitan factory in Maya, hence the name. Seitan, of course, is a meat substitute, and is a chewy protein-rich food made from wheat gluten.

Looks good on pour, with a nice hazy white head, and a nice golden colour, looks very good in fact.
Some small carbonation going on. By the end of all that it stands tall looking fantastic in the glass.
Frothy white head maintains very well.

Smell was pretty light for me, but I did get a whiff of the malts.

Lovely creamy mouthfuls on the initial taste, very nice, also getting some light tasting fruits.

Hops come into play soon after. Light and very manageable. Well balanced with the malts.

The alcohol is very well hidden, making this a very light beer and very easy to drink.

Also getting some caramel in the background.

A regular Belgian blonde that is all organic.

Review: 33cl stubby bottle of Jessenhofke’s PMPRNL, a Triple bier: 8% ABV

PMPRNL spelled out in big lettering on the bottle, representing the Pimpernelle plant, a plant that is spicy and with well known healing powers, particularly for digestive and stomach issues.

On the appearance I got a cloudy dark yellow coloured beer with a nice good foamy white head. Not bad.

Had some good lacing

The smell was very fruity, banana and orange, plus citrus, sweet with the malts and herbs, all very pleasant on the nose.

The taste was quite unusual to me, full of spices and herbs that I would not be very familiar with at all. Very interesting.
A bit sugary too, initially.

Fruity, yes get a good taste of the banana, the oranges, the lemons,
Light hops, and the alcohol is well hidden.

Alright, smooth enough, drinkable. It is a Belgium triple alright.
It is quite well balanced considering all the differing complex tastes and unique flavours, and it certainly is something different, so hats off to the brewers there.