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Brasserie de la Senne Taras Boulba

Brasserie de la Senne Taras BoulbaBrasserie de la Senne is one of Brussels’ newest breweries with their doors opening in December of 2010.  However, owners Yvan De Baets and Bernard Leboucq have been brewing together since  2003 when they established their first brewery in Sint-Pieters-Leeuw.  The two brewers decided that they wanted to establish a brewery in their home city and began working towards that goal.  As they ran out of space in their first brewery, they began renting time in the breweries of friends to keep production increasing.  Once they were ready, they doubled the number of breweries in Brussels to 2: Cantillon and Brasserie de la Senne.

The brewery is named after the famed river from which Brussels sprang.  Their focus is to create great beers of varying alcohol strengths with a bitter edge.  Taras Boulba is definitely on the lower end of the alcohol spectrum.  They simply refer to it as an extra hoppy ale.

Appearance: Cloudy pale blonde, white head, good retention.

Aroma: Pepper, lemongrass, pine, herbal, thyme, woodsy.

Taste: Herbal, with lively carbonation and a creamy/velvety mouthfeel.

Overall Impression: Taras Boulba has a nice refreshing hop bitterness and crisp drinkability that would make this a perfect summer session beer.  American hop fans could almost think of this as fitting into the category of session IPA.  The hops are nicely present but still have a nice European character to them that is balanced by some good Belgian yeast notes.  Keep an eye out for this beer and brewery, I’m excited to try more of their offerings.

Availability: In small quantities where available.  This is still a very small and expanding brewery.  Imported by Shelton Brothers.

4.5% ABV

Notes: This was one of the featured breweries in the Belgian Beer & Food magazine’s first issue.  Check the magazine out to read more about Brasserie de la Senne.  You can read my review of the magazine here.

8 thoughts on “Brasserie de la Senne Taras Boulba

  1. I don’t know what the hell is going on on that label, but I love it. It appears from google translate that the guy with the keg over his head is calling the other guy a “bastard”. He looks pissed, too. I think that other guy is about to get it. That label is awesome. If I see this, I’m getting it.

  2. The label is a reference to Taras Bulba by Nikolai Gogol. In that, the son of Taras is in love with a Polish girl inside the city they’re besieging. Here, the text says Taras is red with anger because his son married a Walloon.
    Thanks for the hat-tip here. I wrote the article in Belgian Beer & Food referred to. I heartily recommend BdlS to everyone; as BeerGeek says, they’re unable to make a bad beer.

    1. Thanks for the label information, Alan! Their labels all seem to be pretty great. I really liked your article. It made me want to try the beers and visit their brewery. After reading it, I went out and bought several bottles of their various beers.

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