New beer conceived as an IPA, a term which is more and more becoming loosely used for just ’hoppy’ pale beers in Belgium, thereby losing its true meaning. This one had a firm, creamy, off-white head and orangey blonde colour, hazy with yeast bit floating around. Aroma has dried orange peel, hay, earth and unripe peach, but is completely ruined by a very strong presence of butyric acid (stale sweat and rancid butter). Restrained fruity taste, sour berries and pineapple, yeasty and grainy, slight salty accent, cheesy and floral hops in the finish, bittering and quite long, with some warming alcohol. Not well balanced, lacking the aromatic qualities of a true IPA and above all, ridden with the very off-putting odour of butyric acid, this was probably the least pleasant beer I tasted at ZBF 2015. Update: had this again at BBF 2016 where it still had a whiff of rancid butter to it, but far less vigorously than at ZBF; still it could do with a fresher, more elegant aromatic hop bouquet. This rating is an average of both.

33 cl bottle. Pours hazy brown with a small tan head. Aroma is toasted malty. Light breadish and malty. Bitter, herbal, citrusy and toasted malty. Dry and bitter, toasted far finish.

33cl bottle at De Bierboom, Brugge on 5th Feb 2015. The original beer was brewed in a 20 litre kettle at a craft and produce fair, then dry hopped back at De Bierboom. I got to try that at as well, split between Rudy, my wife and me. The commercial brew uses only two hop varieties, the first brew three. All the ingredients are Belgian. The pour was slightly hazy orange affair with a thin head. Plenty of hops in the aroma and dry taste, not too sure why others are scoring it so low: I thought it interesting and different for a Belgian IPA, even though the initial brew a little better.

Triple-B stands for Brugge, Bryggja & Bierboom. One of the guys who commissioned this beer, described it in an interview as a bitter beer. Thanks! 330 ml. bottle sampled @ BBF 2014. Hazy orange, little white head. Nose is sweet honey, malt, caramel, sugar,… Taste is metallic, dusty old cereal, agave, something, rotting bitter aftertaste, plenty of malt,… Body is a touch sticky,… Not really what an IPA should be & not really a very enjoyable beer in my opinion. I know that they were probably aiming for a mainstream audience but this takes it too far.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Bierboom / Bryggja Triple-B IPA (by Bryggja):
Aroma: 6/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 10/20, MyTotalScore: 2.8/5

7/II/15 - 33cl bottle @ Brugs Bierfestival - BB: n/a (2015-147) Thanks to the Belgian RB crew for sharing today's beers!

Clear copper orange beer, small aery off-white head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: very sweet, sugary, bit spicy. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: chemical bitterness, soapy, little fruity, very bitter. Aftertaste: dry, chemical bitterness, medicinal, little fruity, bit resinous. More like a bitter tripel than an ipa...