Brouwerij Roman lays claim to being Belgium’s oldest family brewery, dating back to 1545. But the Ename Abbey dates back much further to 843 and the Treaty of Verdun where a fort was built in Ename on the bank of the Scheldt River.
In 1043 this fort fell into the hands of the Benedictine Monks who converted it into an Abbey and brewing began shortly afterward.
After centuries of brewing the Ename Abbey was destroyed during the French Revolution, and it was never rebuilt. Fast forward to 1990 and Brouwerij Roman started brewing beers under the Ename label. So again, we have an example of a Belgian Abbey Ale in the Ename beers.
The beer pours a lovely clear golden colour, and has an aroma that is all about the Belgian yeast with lots of banana with come citrus in behind.
There is a little sweetness early on, with ripe yellow fruit flavours and a bready malt backbone. After the initial sweetness the beer dries out quite quickly. The finish is long and really quite bitter making this a very refreshing Belgian blond.