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

Atypical, new witbier by BOMBrouwerij, spiced with fresh orange peel in replacement of the classic curaçao, coriander seed and camomile, but - more importantly, perhaps - brewed with wheat malt instead of raw wheat, effectively putting it closer to a German Weissbier. Medium thick, eggshell-white, mousy, creamy head thinning in the middle but well-retaining, initially lightly hazy straw-golden robe with somewhat greenish tinge; misty gold with a slightly deeper ochre tinge after adding the sediment. Aroma of green banana, white bread dough, halfripe pear, soapy coriander seed, wheat or even corn flour, pond water, cold camomile tea, touch of urine in the background, orange peel remaining very faint. Fruity onset, banana ester with a slight bubblegummy feel, green apple touch, some unripe pear, light sweetishness with a sourish note, lively carbonation with minerally accents, slick mouthfeel; clear wheatiness, soapy and flour-like, with a white-bready aspect to it, rounded and soft, leading to a very mildly drying finish bringing together the slick soapiness and 'deep' sourishness of the wheat, the background bready sweetishness of the barley and explicit soapiness of the coriander seed, while a floral quality develops within, attributable to the camomile working together with a dash of floral hoppiness; as in the nose, the orange peel that has effectively been added, remains altogether subtle, adding insufficient - yet noticeable - aromatic quality but nevertheless providing a certain fraîcheur. The retronasal effect is dominated by the coriander and camomile spiciness, in quite an elegant way, admittedly; ends soapy, bready and very wheaty, with that coriander and camomile spicing lingering and bringing some dryness. I wonder what a more generous dosage of the orange peel would have done to it, clearly the coriander and the camomile play the leading roles here, resulting in an overall effect that indeed mimics the classic, Hoegaarden-determined witbier idiom. The soapiness is strong, even if I was expecting more breadiness from the use of wheat malt - and there is no doubt that the coriander, and perhaps also the camomile, are an important factor in that. I am not witbier's greatest lover, I'm afraid, but judged within this style, this is indeed a bit distinct and ticks all the boxes; drinks away easily like a typical, standard Belgian witbier does. Quite elegant and a bit different within the witbier pool, but I wonder if the present-day consumer is still interested enough in witbier to guarantee commercial success for this new addition to the old style. BOM's New England IPA, released almost simultaneously with this one, was a pleasant surprise; this one, however, fails to impress to the same degree.