6.6

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

330ml bottle. Cloudy, yellow-ish golden colour with average, frothy, osteoporosing, minimally lacing, white head. Piney, slightly citrusy fruity, hoppy and slightly funky, yeasty aroma, pale and slightly wheaty malty background, hints of lemon peel, old lemon peel. Taste is citrusy fruity hoppy and slightly biscuity, minimally spicy, pale malty, minimally funky yeasty, notes of lemon, lemon peel, a touch of lemon biscuit, mild citrusy tartness, mild hoppy bitterness.
Oily-watery texture, smooth, minimally dry palate, medium, mildly prickly carbonation.
Light, fairly refreshing, way more Belgian than New Engl(and)ish - nice.

6.8

Appearance - 5 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Bottle at home. Hazy pale yellow color, white head. Aroma and flavor are lightly malts, lightly bitter, grassy bitter, only lightly sweet. Quite nice actually, but the body is quite thin and light. Not bad though.

5

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4

Se dire, en buvant cette NEIPA, que la brasserie Viven sait brasser d'excellentes IPA est peu croyable tant cette bière est insipide Le terme NEIPA est d'ailleurs inappropriée et nous sommes davantage sur une Session Hoppy Blond. Le visuel est sur un blond limpide avec de grosses bulles, une effervescence moyennement soutenue est une mousse blanche nappant la surface. Le nez est faiblement expressif sans être désagréable sur les agrumes (orange et citron notamment), de la pomme, des céréales et de légers fruits exotiques. En bouche, ce n'est pas le feu d'artifice, loin de là avec une présence très limitée, comme l'amertume où l'expression fruitée. Nous sommes très loin des standards du genre. L'attaque est quelque peu insipide, avec de la fraîcheur mais des arômes arrivant réellement qu'en rétro. La deuxième bouche est à peine mieux, sans trop d'arômes, ni d'amertume ou présence. L'alcool à 4,1 % n'est pas efficace. L'arrière bouche est inintéressante et le final est sur une amertume légèrement herbacée. Est-ce une blague ?

5.6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

33cl can. A clear pale yellow golden beer with a white head. Aroma of sweet yellow fruits, pale malt. Taste of sweet pale malt, yellow fruits, apricot. Mild bitterness.

4.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 5

Getreidig hopfiger Beginn auf ziemlich schwachem Niveau. Leicht grasig, wenig fruchtig, langweilig. 10/6/8/7/6/7

7.3

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

The Viven brand, under its present-day ownership (since 2006), has been dabbling in foreign craft beer styles for years and with success (think of their smoked porter or imperial IPA), in my opinion; now let's see what they made of the ubiquitous New England IPA style. Thick, frothy, textbook cobweb-lacing, egg-white, rather irregular but stable head, initially near-clear pale straw-yellow blonde robe with a column of lively sparkling in the middle, turning a bit more misty with sediment but never acquiring the overall haziness that would at least make it look like a NEIPA. Aroma of lemon zest and dried lemon peel, some lemon-scented hand soap even, lemon verbena, paprika crisps, Granny Smith apple, green banana, white bread, cold French fries, leek, freshly mown lawn, gypsum, moist white pepper, spring onion, tulips. Crisp, restrainedly sweet onset, hints of green apple, unripe banana and a vague dash of lime, lively carbonated with minerally effect; slick body, bread crust and crackers but in a thin, grainy way, faint soapy or chalky notes here and there, gradually bittered by a long, peppery, leafy and slightly quinine-ish hoppiness, adding retronasal dried lemon peel and lemon verbena aromas - but none of the luscious sweet fruitiness expected from a NEIPA. The peppery bitterness lingers for a long time, whereas a real NEIPA would show only brief and light hop bitterness, if any. In all, a refreshing, hoppy Belgian blonde, even 'Belgian IPA' if you must, but by no means a NEIPA - not in looks, not in aroma and not in flavour; the number of NEIPA-like elements I find here is literally zero, which is even less than in several similar attempts at this style made in Belgium by generally more traditionally oriented brewers. Point off for that - with pain in my heart, because if seen as a quenching, light, summery hoppy blonde, this beer actually performs very well... Note: considering some of the earlier ratings below and the fact that my sample had an orange label rather than the blue shown here, perhaps the first batch was closer to the real thing than this one?...

6.8

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

Hazy yellow colour, white foam. Sweet nose of ripe fruit, some citrus, light tropical flavours, a bit bready and floral.

7

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

Premium Collection Ed. Blue Label
C: Slow starting, but then huge white head, bit fluffy, over faintly hazed, finely carbonated golden beer, light green sheen; rings of lace.
N: Citrus, grapefruit, hopoils; resiny nose, attractive.
T: Light bitter, fruity esters, again resiny. Light fruity sweetness in the background, strengthening warming up.
MF: Light body, good carbonation, bit slick.
O: Nice, light, refreshing, and tasty.
Thanks to Stef!

Craft Collection Ed. Orange label
C:Finely carbonated, veiled golden beer to variably bubbled, just off-white head. 8
N: Grapes, green spring leaves, but also a bit cardboard, faint rainwater. 6.5
T: Bitterish to bitter, finish being a tad metallic, but almost completely lacking any fruity esters. 6
MF: Dry, but also bit bland, watery. Good carbonation, light body, empty finish. 2.5
O: I don't like the term "Belgian IPA", but this would fit better than New England. Can do better. 6

Bottle at home. Pale yellow. Citrus 🍋, floral, light biscuit 🍪 malts. Not much going on, not very offensive either.

Purchased at Vinoteca Las Barricas