6.3

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5.5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6

Blonde ale flavoured with juniper berry, developed for a Turkish dayshop in the Lammerstraat (running upwards from the Zuid quarter in Ghent), where half of the total shop window is currently dominated by a whole wall of bottles of just this beer. Bottle bought at said shop; the label does not mention the brewery, but the mention that it is brewed at exactly 9 km from the centre of Ghent says it all. Snow white, moussey, thick, frothy head on a misty golden robe with vague khaki tinge. Aroma of unripe apricot, field flowers, dry bread crust, some iron (confirmed by the 'hand test'), dried apple peel, celandine rather than actual juniper berry but this probably is just the juniper berry speaking, spoiled pumpkin, stale urine and sweat when warming up. Sweetish onset, a bit fruity (unripe apricot, apple peel) but generally clean at first, softishly carbonated with slick, smooth body; white-bready malts and soft floral hops, balanced, with not too much malt or other sweetness in the finish. The juniper berries add a vague and difficult-to-pinpoint herbaceousness, but remain subtle enough not to disturb me as I hate them in beer (or any other beverage for that matter). Unfortunately though, and possibly related to the juniper berry addition, the finish is marred by stale sweat- and urine-like off-flavours which only gain momentum as the beer warms up. Too bad, I really wanted to like this - but who knows, maybe the three Turkish gentlemen behind this beer soon realise that it needs more character as well as some tidying up - and that selecting another brewery to execute it may well be the answer to those issues.