Bellevaux's lager, or rather a somewhat unclear group of lagers, because it has been around for years now and earlier versions explicitly mentioned various hop varieties on their label (originally Mosaic, later Fuggles); this is no longer the case today, but I have a suspicion that it is still Fuggles which is being used for this dry-hopping. Very thick and rocky, pillowy, snow white, cobweb-lacing, stable head, misty warm apricot blonde robe with pale beige tinge - 'deeper' than usual for a pale lager and certainly not 'clear' as the brewery describes it. Aroma of old straw bales, old herbarium, unripe apricot, green pear peel, dust, dried radish, old bread crust, field flowers and a light sweaty touch. Some unripe fruit in the onset, restrained but still faintly estery, hinting at green pear and unripe peach, remaining very subdued in sweetness; vague sourish edge, fine-bubbled yet very active carbonation through a very soft, fluffy white-bready core, remaining dry and eventually bittered by strong floral hops, long-stretched, earthy and spicy but nowhere too harshly or astringently bitter. An element of bready yeastiness lingers too - adding a bit of perhaps unwanted complexity, as I can imagine the brewery intended this one to be cleaner and more focused on pure malts and hops; in fact I seriously doubt this is technically a real lager: this is, much more likely, a top-fermented blonde stripped of all the usual ornaments in order to resemble a pale lager as closely as possible - there are more cases like this today in Belgium, probably at least partially as a kind of 'aftereffect' of the craft beer movement returning to everyday business in a time when demand for more exuberant craft beers has began to dwindle.

33cl bottle. A clear golden beer with a white head. Aroma of pale malt, some grains and straw, mild floral hoppiness. Taste of mild floral and spicy bitterness, mild grainy malt, straw. Long bitter finish.

Flesje van vakantie meegebracht en thuis gedronken. Goudgeel troebel bier met matig schuim dat snel weg trekt. Heel licht aroma van hop. Smaak is licht hoppig maar ebt snel weg.

10/IV/20 - 33cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: IX/2020, lot: 191729 (2020-318)

Clear dark blond beer, big aery irregular fizzy white head, pretty stable, bit adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: very malty, grains, hay, cow fodder, hint of caramel, smells like a nice Czech pilsner. MF: very lively carbon, medium to light body. Taste: bit sweet, quite some almonds, marzipan, malty, grains, soft bitterness. Aftertaste: malty, slightly sweet, caramel malts, some more marzipan, bit grassy, nice one!

On tap at Brasserie de Bellevaux, Saturday 16th March 2019 en route to our new home in Attenkirchen, Bavaria via a stop off for the night in Heidelberg. Pours good, good clarity with a white head, crisp, bitter and dry. There is a light and sweet fruitiness. A little bit thin but otherwise good.