Sampled @ Zythos Bier Festival 2017. Trübes orange goldenes Bier mit geringen weißen Schaumkrone. Geruch mild floral hopfig, hefig. Geschmack ist mild säuerlich fruchtig, floral bitter, grüner Tee.

Weich herber Antrunk. Mild bitter, spritzig, leicht getreidig. Okay. 10/8/9/8//9

Donkergeel bier met weinig schuim. Smaak is licht fris zuur en krachtig hoppig met iets van stroop, citrus en ananas. Is behoorlijk zuur en daarom door mij iets lager gewaardeerd.

New version of Gentse Strop, one of Ghent’s favorite ’outdoors café blondes’ but brewed in the Flemish Ardennes, this one refermented with Brettanomyces. Roman clearly has no experience with ’wild’ fermentation: heavy gusher, beer spouted out of the bottle upon opening. Moussy, lightly ’papery’ lacing, egg-white head, leaving a dense rim around the glass and an irregular but still quite tight veil in the middle; hazy warm straw blonde robe with deeper peachy hue. Aroma of fermenting peaches, banana peel, goat cheese, damp hay, wet leather, moldy oranges, pineapple, apricot, cloves, straw, sour yoghurt, stale sweat, barnyard, dried field flowers, mandarin peel, unripe gooseberry, soap, old ginger root - in all, a fruity and sweet Belgian blonde with clear Brett in the mix. Crisp, vividly fruity onset, raw pineapple, slight banana, gooseberry and unripe plum, sourish and sweetish, with a sharpish, minerally carbonation tiring the tongue a bit, at least initially. Moves on to a soft bready and sharper grainy malt middle, with the fruity esters persisting, connecting with the Brett effect in the finish, leaving retronasal impressions of wet hay, sweat and leather as is to be expected, but in a soft kind of way; ends juicy, with ongoing malt sweetness, some clove-like phenols and a herbal, leafy hop bitter touch that helps the Brett to dry the back of the mouth. Too bad for the - frankly unexpected - gushing, but otherwise this is fine, a crisp and characterful quencher, at least for people who are not that familiar with Brettanomyces effects yet; basically the same straightforward but correct beer as Gentse Strop but with the Brett adding some complexity and personality. The international craft beer movement rediscovered Brett when it had become limited to some local Belgian specialties and now, as with the hop forward movement, this global ’sour ale’ craze penetrates the country that kept sour ale alive long after wild fermentation had vanished from other traditional beer countries. This one is basically the blonde pendant of De Koninck’s Wild Jo, which is a simple amber ale refermented with Brett: not too complicated, not too heavy in either ABV or flavor but decent. I kind of like this beer, for its old school simplicity; I do wonder, however, what the Brett will do to older bottles if given enough time.

09/10/2016 - 33cl bottle @ Benoit’s place. Hazy yellow with medium white head. Nose has lots of brett, some fruit. Taste has a sour touch, sweet malts, some fruit. Not bad but had expected more aftee the nose. Refreshing however.

At MBF 2016. Pours unclear yellowblonde. Good white head. Smell is weak, bit bitter. Taste is sharp, yeasty, bit bitter. Sweet. meh