Troebel oranjebruin bier met weinig schuim. Smaak is bitterzoet en fruitig met iets van ananas, wat hars, passievrucht en sinaasappel. OK.

NEIPA by Cabardouche in Antwerp, found - oddly perhaps - in canned form in a supermarket in Ghent. Now six months old. Snow white, medium thick, uneven-bubbled but quite stable yet dissolving all but completely in the end, membrane-lacing head on a hazy yellow blonde beer with warmer apricot tinge. Aroma of ripe papaya, yuzu, jasmin blossoms, ricotta, lemon butter, stale sweat, 'diesel' dankness, pear juice, canned guava juice or guava-flavoured soda, olive oil, mangosteen, something very vaguely minty in the background, soap. Exotically fruity onset though not over the top, impressions of ripe pear and pineapple over mangosteen, carambola and a dash of passionfruit, sweetish but only aromatically so, meeting expectations; spritzy carb, perhaps a tad sharp for the intended style. Smooth, barley porridge-like core, babyfood-like almost but with a grainy edge, deeply soaked in the recurring aromatics of papaya, mangosteen and sweet exotic citrus (honey pomelo) that fill the retronasal department completely. Side hints of overripe pear and 'diesel' linger, while the hop bitterness down below remains soft and mellow, but noticeable faraway in the background, briefly surging during swallowing, with a pleasant peppery feel to it. A bit over its prime already, no doubt, but ticking all the boxes for a modern New England IPA - even offering an agreeable hop bitter element lingering in the finish, next to all the typical exotic fruit and sweet citrus aromas and soft porridge-like maltiness one tends to expect from the genre. No hop burn, no 'Belgian' influences and no complaints - this is indeed a textbook example of its intended style. I have always liked Cabardouche even from the start (when I lived much closer to Antwerp and was thus confronted with their beers more frequently), so it is pleasant enough to establish that years later, they manage to deliver a NEIPA meeting the international standards of the genre.

Draught Very dense & fine yellow head, leaving lace over fully hazy ochre-ish beer, lively carbonated. Fresh C-hops, straw, nectarine, citruspeel. Very inviting indeed! More of the same in the oral cavity. Absolutely excellent and intruiging choice of hops with clear fruit(peel) flavours, just a touch of resin, bit straw adn not a trace of asafoetida, ureum nor hopburn. Well carbonated, spritzy, bit slick, medium bodied. This is without doubt one of Flanders' finest true IPA's.

Bottle @ Cabardouche. Hazy golden body under a white head. Refreshing fruity in aroma and taste. Prety average NEIPA style beer with a thin body and strong fruity aroma.

Bottle, at Cabardouche. Fruity, juicy, citrusy. Hints of herbs and orange zest. Refreshing, but nothing special going on. 747414 251108