This year's (2019) special edition of the famed Troubadour Magma, bottled in 33 cl 'trappist' bottles rather than the 75 cl 'champagne' bottles in which previous special editions were bottled, apparently refers back to the origins of this fascinating series, probably under influence of the NEIPA craze, by highlighting the hop component again, in this case hops with a 'tropical' character - we can only guess which ones, as there are many candidates nowadays and the brewery sadly does not mention which variety (or varieties) were used, contrary to the original special editions with 'deviating' hops. Slow gusher with foam peeping out of the bottle after opening, but manageable. Very thick, frothy and foamy, eggshell-white, densely mousy, membrane-lacing, stable head on an initially lightly hazy, warm orange-hued peach blonde beer. Aroma of drying grapefruit peel, kumquat, wormwood leaves, moist white pepper, hard green banana, bread crust, turmeric powder, unripe peach, dried apricots, vague sweet mango accent faraway in the background, fried parsley, spoiled leek soup, soggy crackers, hint of toasted onion somewhere but very faintly so. Fruity, crisp onset, fizzy and stinging carbonation adding a lot of minerality, restrained sweetness with impressions of dried apricot, apple peel and unripe banana, smooth and supple body, softly peanutty edges flanking a bread crust- and very lightly caramel-like malt profile through which a firm, leafy, dried citrus peel-like hoppiness pierces early on; finishes with drying, spicy hop bitterness, quite floral and leafy with admittedly a subtle oniony and grapefruity aromatic aspect - but none of the mango- or passionfruit-like 'tropicalness' I was expecting. Ends dry and robustly hoppy with persisting bread crust maltiness, a very faint metallic touch and a lightly powdery yeastiness with bready effects, as well as some restrained spicy phenols; the hops do get the final word, though, in a very long-lasting, eventually very quinine-like, uncompromizing but by no means 'tropical' way. By itself not a bad beer at all, showing off the technical finetuning of Musketeers' new state-of-the-art brewery in my old home region, but that said, I cannot deny being a bit disappointed as well: the announced 'tropical' qualification evokes visions of a NEIPA-style Magma with luscious, sultry, I dare even say sensual wafts of overripe exotic fruits, but that is not at all what I got. This is a lighter, rootier, drier version of the regular, in which the hop aromatics remain very restrained - even in comparison with the regular itself, a beer that exudes lush aromas of orange juice and mandarin especially when fresh. Why not go all the way and create, indeed in the spirit of our postmodern times, a full-fledged 'juicy' double NEIPA version of Troubadour Magma? Because that is what at least the beer connoisseurs will expect - then again, Musketeers do not typically brew for the beer geeks, they generally brew for a larger audience, and that audience can once again enjoy their technical skills in creating above average Belgian ales with a modern twist in this beer. In all: very decent and tasteful beer, still, but the days of the generously Galaxy- or Cascade-hopped special editions of the great Magma have clearly passed. Missed opportunity is the least I can say here - so point off for promising tropical hoppiness and not delivering it!

Better than the original... More balanced.

Bottle from Deconinck. Hazy blond colour, white foam. Nose of tropical fruit, mango, Belgian yeast. Taste is citrussy, notes of pine, some caramel. Good, but not the best in this series.

Hazy blond with lasting head. Aroma and flavour do have some tropical fruit hop notes and a bitter finish. Not bad but misses body and complexity compared to the mother beer