Belgian hazy? Sample at the roost. Murky burnt gold, ring of white head. Nose has stone fruits and wheat, dried straw. Something jammy. Flavor is either off or non traditional. Chalky, stone fruits, apricot jam. Something odd.

7.4

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

33cl can, BB 30/08/2026, lot# DOK269. Une signel hop qui et en avant un houblon qui semble avoir le vent en poupe - le Krush.
Pâle, col crémeux blanc épais et bien tenace.
Arôme sur un bouquet fruité - fruits à noyaux, léger tropical, résine délicate en retrait avec un soupçon de goyave. Un malté oscillant sur le pâle et pils arrive en support.
Palais sur une belle base maltée - pâle assez distinct avec une charge fruitée du houblon Krush qui reste bien dominant, ce dernier procure des notes d'agrumes, d'orange amer, pêche, léger résine avec une petite pointe adoucie de goyave qui perce en toute fin de bouche et une amertume qui accompagne tout cela.

7.4

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6.5

Newish APA by Dok and a single hop one, featuring nothing but Krush, a hop variety launched officially only in 2024 by the Hop Breeding Company, operating in the upper echelons of the current hop industry. I have encountered this variety once before but I cannot remember in which beer or from which brewery - in any case this is Dok's first application of it. Irregular, intricately 'sun prominence-like', yellowish egg-white, medium thick, opening but otherwise more or less retaining head on a cloudy apricot blonde robe with beige-ish tinge. Quite distinct and interesting aroma of green guava, pepino, raw Kohlrabi, fresh grapefruit zest, unripe apricot, lemon bread, cut true aloe leaves, hints of young redcedar leaves, green plum, surimi, barley porridge. Restrainedly sweetish, quite juicy onset, citric, with side hints of unripe green fruits - far less 'tropical' than I was expecting, unless of course one counts unripe tropical fruits, "à la" green mango, green guava or green carambola; medium carb, smooth body, a tad powdery, with a basic porridge-like barley 'sponginess' soaked in the Krush hops, adding a range of 'green' aromas in spite of their proportionally low myrcene content - almost as in green kale stalks (or indeed Kohlrabi), cucumber peel and matcha tea, but also hints of freshly cooked shrimp (oddly), parsley, dandelion leaves and pear peel. The hops in question also deposit a late yet persisting, eventually quite 'deep' peppery bitterness. Totally different from what I was expecting from this hop variety based on what is typically advertized for, far less 'sultry' and far more 'green plant-like', but all the more interesting for it - this relative oddity has notes of green house plants and raw green stalks one does not find in just any beer so in that respect it is certainly a different take on the typically sweet-citrusy, mango- and passionfruit-like aromas and flavours of other contemporary APAs. One of those beers that show that Dok continues to be at the cutting edge of international developments in brewing - it takes a very alert and passionate brewing team to maintain this approach especially in times when craft beer seems to be a bit on the wane here in Belgium. A bit of a challenge, this one, but once you get used to it, it keeps surprising with its unexpected, sometimes even downright odd features. I am happy to give an extra point for that.