Tropicaal
Brasserie iLLeGaaL in Forest / Vorst, Brussels Capital Region, Belgium 🇧🇪
IPA - New England / Hazy Regular|
Score
6.87
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La Tropicaal est une hazy IPA dont la très grosse charge d’avoine développe douceur et glissade. Le houblonnage à chaud et à froid, que nous nous efforçons d’affiner d’un brassin à l’autre, permet aux houblons de produire très peu d’amertume et de faire émerger une belle dose d’arômes exotiques. Soyeux.
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Alengrin (11675) reviewed Tropicaal from Brasserie iLLeGaaL 2 weeks ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5
Hazy IPA by this Brussels brewery which has been active as a socio-cultural project for ten years now; apparently belonging to their core range and shifting colours, as I my can - with the beer canned a day before my fiftieth birthday earlier this year apparently - has a red background, but I have also seen photos of green and brown versions. On this variously coloured background, the artwork at least partially seems to depict living organisms (or subparts of them), including tropical fruits which may be associated with the aromas of the beer... Audibly crackling, egg-white, coarse and large-bubbled, shred-lacing, frothy and stable head, milky pale straw blonde robe with beige hue. Aroma of guava, freshly cut cactus, pitaya, granadilla, honey pomelo, meringue, touch raspberry ice cream, crushed lemongrass, very ripe Early Desire pear, fruit porridge, milk, minerals. Colourfully tropical-fruity onset, sweet with a citric edge, hardly any esters but all coming from hops: guava, pineapple, pomelo, granadilla - highly aromatic from onset to finish. Meanwhile a sharpish carbonation stings on the surface of the tongue a bit - perhaps a tad much for this style, but adding a refreshing minerality at the same time; smooth, doughy, mushy pale malts are completely soaked in both the tropical hoppiness and this spritzy minerality. The hops act as a tropical fruit cocktail, with all the lychee, pitaya and pomelo from the bouquet returning retronasally, lending a sweet impression while still depositing a mild, superficial bitterishness on the root of the tongue - in itself a bit accentuated by the minerality of the carbonation, which remains sharp till the end. A whiff of hopburn is there, but not to the extent where it becomes bothersome. The kind of tropical fruit hop bomb one expects from a postmodern IPA I guess - overcarbonated for many, sure, but in my experience this spritziness adds a nice contrast to the sultriness of the 'tropical-fruit' hoppiness one rarely sees (otherwise put, I guess I am condoning a brewing error here...). Some very late grapefruity bitterness lingers at the back of the throat seconds after swallowing so in spite of its initial creamy sweetness, there is more to this beer than first observed. Very 'international' and postmodern craft beer, far below the true greats in the NEIPA genre but still holding its own very well. Enjoyed it.
BlackHaddock (17491) reviewed Tropicaal from Brasserie iLLeGaaL 4 months ago
Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Can in 't Brugs Beertje on 11th November 2025. Lively clouded orange body, white crust. Tropical fruit aroma and taste (what a surprise given it's name). Bit too 'fizzy' for me, but it does what it says on the can!