Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6

330 ml bottle. Pours a hazy mahogany color with moderate head. Aromas of bittering hops, candied citrus, grass and toasted malts. Flavors of dried fruit, caramel, stale hops and toasted malts. Fruity and bitter finish

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

33cl bottle from a trade with JefVerstraete, thanks! A clear amber beer with a off-white head. Aroma of resinous hops, pine, citrus and caramel. Taste of resinous bitter hops, oranges, tangerine, grapefruit, caramel. Long bitter finish.

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

Brussels has seen an upswing of modern young micro brewers recently but this one, located in Rixensart less than twenty miles to the southeast of Brussels, seems to have been around for several years already - I remember their Non Peut-Être, which seems to have been discontinued meanwhile. This Illegaal is a modern hoppy Belgian ale drawing attention to the political issue of refugees, causing a lot of social debate in this day and age... Bought online, with a different label from the one shown here, but that seems to be normal for this beer. Thick and frothy, egg-white, foamy head lacing in patches and retaining very well, over an initially cristal clear, almost amber-tinged orange blonde beer. Pleasant, very 'American' pale or amber ale bouquet of marmalade, biscuit, dried mango cubes, sweet paprika, stewing green onions, freshly cut grass, dried orange peel, cookie crumble, cherimoya, granola, dried ginger and a subtle but noticeable onset of oxidation hidden in the background. Cleanly fruity onset, dried banana slices, apricot, dried mango, sweetish with a sourish undercurrent, sharply carbonated and in that sense minerally and a bit numbing; smooth, bit resinous biscuity malt body, peanutty, with a slight metallic side effect somewhere but not obnoxiously so. Becomes increasingly hoppy towards the finish, in a New World kind of way without becoming expressively IPA-like; retronasal candied orange, mango and a touch of grapefruit, whilst building a drying, spicy, wormwood-ish bitterness on the root of the tongue, halting most of the biscuity malt sweetness. Ends powdery, resinous and hop bitter, very quenching and elegant really. Way better than expected, with, as said, a profile highly reminiscent of American style amber ale - even the classic Sierra Nevada pioneer ales seem not that far away. Probably a bit too old already, would love to revisit this fresh from tap.

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

F: big, tan, average retention. C: coppery, light hazy. A: tropical fruits, tangerine, grapefruit, passion fruits, hint of caramel. T: malt, tropical fruits, grapefruits, lemon, nice long lasting bitterness on the palate, good balanced and tasty modern Belgian ale but for me close to IPA style, medium body, medium carbonation, 0,33l bottle from BelgoMarkt in Brussels.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

04-11-16 // bottle at La Porte Noir, Brussels. Murky orange beer with a small white head. Typical belgian ale. Yeasty with light hop bitterness. Ok but nothing special. --- Beer merged from original tick of Illegaal on 04 Nov 2016 at 01:47 - Score: 6

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

Good yellowish head over bright copper beer, big-bubbled. Caramel, herbs, marzipan; bit of sweat, mashed peas. Quite bitter, burnt flavour, nearly acrid. Finish acquires gradually some sweetness, which refers more to the nose than before. Bit flowery, hint at esters. Medium bodied and quite slick, making it appear more than 5.8% only. Even a tad sticky. Acrid flavour keeps hanging. This burnt flavour is not my idea - I prefer hopbitterness. But what chafes most here - is this a beer, or a political statement?

First "Beer of the Moment" of this new bar.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 9 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

Bottle from Geers. Hazy orange colour, beige foam. Sweet tropical fruit in the nose. Bitter and hoppy finish. Very well balanced. Nice surprise!