WTF happened to Leffe?!?

[Jayjay1976]

Haven't had one in a while, but this was one of my go-to Belgians. Lately the aroma smells to me like slitting open a vanilla pod and scraping out the seeds. Overwhelming vanilla aroma, to the point of tasting artificial.

Have they changed the recipe?

Have my taste buds changed?

Am I ill?

I USED TO LIKE THIS BEER.

Right now it's tasting like swill.

 

[Rodent]

had a couple Leffe offerings on tap in Paris in mid-Nov, and would say they were just average compared to the many other Belgian style beers I had opportunity to partake of that week.

 

[deadwolfbones]

When I lived in Vietnam, Leffe was one of the few non-Vietnamese offerings you could find on store shelves in my mid-sized city, which doesn't speak very well for it. They were bought out by AB InBev some time back and I suspect some things have changed...

 

[Cyclman]

Owned by AB-InBev. Nuff said.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Owned by AB-InBev. Nuff said.

Well that does it, scratched it right off my "drinkable" list for good. Thx inbev.

 

[applescrap]

Haven't had one in a while, but this was one of my go-to Belgians. Lately the aroma smells to me like slitting open a vanilla pod and scraping out the seeds. Overwhelming vanilla aroma, to the point of tasting artificial.

Have they changed the recipe?

Have my taste buds changed?

Am I ill?

I USED TO LIKE THIS BEER.

Right now it's tasting like swill.

Funny, I brought some to softball for a buddy a few months ago and thought the exact same thing. It didnt taste as good. Didnt go into any flavor detail like you did, so cant comment, but not as good.

This happened with my beloved maharaja. They started selling in 6ers. Couldnt resist the deal. S..., knew right away it wasnt maharaja. Called the brewery and confirmed, yep, they changed it. They might have changed leffe somehow, to save money?

 

[Big Monk]

Owned by AB-InBev. Nuff said.

Well that does it, scratched it right off my "drinkable" list for good. Thx inbev.

Unless you haven’t had one since 2004, when they acquired Interbrew, this likely doesn’t explain it fully.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Unless you haven’t had one since 2004, when they acquired Interbrew, this likely doesn’t explain it fully.

My guess is that my palate has "narrowed"? It's been a full year since I started brewing and 26 batches later, I have not bought beer out of necessity. That is, until now when I've been avoiding bottling so long that my pipeline has dried up. Buying commercial beer again has been a miserable experience; alot of the beers I used to enjoy taste like crap to me now. Leffe is a standout thanks to the cloying vanilla nose, but blue moon sux too, all the sam adams seasonals are gross. I'd give anything for a bottle of the smoked maple stout I brewed a few months back. That was a tasty beer.