The previous (bottled) editions of these Arthur’s Legacy’s beers were disappointing to mediocre at best so my hopes are low for this one trying to connect with the current gin & tonic craze - and the ’hopeless’ part of the name doesn’t help. From a 75 cl bottle with cork and muselet, opening with a loud bang and lots of ’smoke’ coming out of it, but no gushing. Frothy, even rocky, egg-white, coarse head eventually showing gaps in the middle and leaving a large amount of sticky, papery lacing to the edges of the glass; immediately hazy, peach blonde robe with ochre hue. Aroma is heavily overspiced, dominated by juniper berries in an artificial, extremely soapy way, with even a hint of juniper leaves or pine-scented air freshener, along with quinine (as in tonic water) and a dash of soapy coriander; underneath this shampoo-like spice assault lie more hopeful glimpses of peach, ripe banana, orange peel, light caramel, vanilla, pineapple, lemon zest, fennel seed, cake dough, honeysuckle and green apple peel, all suffering under the tyranny of the intense bath foam-like spiciness. Spritzy, fruity onset, hints of green banana, pear and pineapple as well as a slight hint of unripe plum, sweetish and sourish, overcarbonated to the point where it starts to numb the tongue and coarsens an otherwise smooth, supple mouthfeel. This, in all, fairly restrained fruitiness continues over a pale malt sweetish middle with a light bready edge, but all of this is, unsurprisingly, drenched in that bath foam-like conifer scent, with vaguely aniseed- or fennel-like effects, further accentuated by soapy coriander seed. The big surprise, however, lies in the finish: while the malt sweetness, subdued fruitiness and - more than anything else - heavy juniper flavor continue and a faint glow of warming, ’jenever’-like alcohol appears, a harsh, tonic water-like bitterness appears in spite of its low IBU - clearly the works of the quinine, the bitter alkaloid which has effectively been used here. And thus, by replacing hop bitterness by quinine bitterness, we are treated with a wry, astringent, completely out of place harshness, making an already unpleasantly spicy beer even less agreeable. This thing goes from bad to worse: this is drowned in both juniper and quinine, both behaving at their most abusive, ruining an otherwise typically Belgian tripel (or strong blonde) which was probably mediocre, too sweet and overcoriandered to begin with. Spice beers, a long tradition in Belgium, are often out of balance, and I, for one, am tired of them. This is bothersome to drink, unpleasant to swallow due to that quinine wryness and boring as a concept in the context of 21st-century craft beer culture. I have stated before that Palm has completely missed out on current trends - and they are not the only ones among traditional Belgian family breweries, but they added insult to injury by proclaiming themselves to be ’craft brewers’ whilst being totally ignorant to what this actually means in an international perspective. The result is this: a completely hopeless beer indeed. It almost reminds me of that ghastly Gordon Xplosion Gin Spices, which I was eager to erase from my memory, but in a top-fermented form, offering a bit more body and softness to the same concept. I do not even like gin & tonic to begin with but even if I did, I could never approve of such a flavor combination being applied to beer, with which it has absolutely nothing to do. I have nothing against experiment, but this sure is not the kind of thing you want to brew if your aim is to honour the late Arthur Van Roy, an influential figure in 20th-century Belgian beer culture. This is - even by far - the worst in this series I had so far, in terms of concept and in terms of execution. Very near to drainpour - which says a lot in my case. It is indeed unfortunate that this is the last beer of today - hopefully tomorrow’s Zwanze will be capable of erasing this disgusting liquid from my memory.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Arthur's Legacy 10. Hop(e)less Ginny (by Brouwerij Palm (Swinkels Family Brewers)):
Aroma: 4/10, Appearance: 5/5, Taste: 4/10, Palate: 2/5, Overall: 8/20, MyTotalScore: 2.3/5

11/IV/16 - on tap @ De Geus van Gent - BB: n/a, brewed: 17/II/16 (2016-353)

Clear pale blond beer, big solid creamy white head, stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: wort, grains, some walnuts, bit malty. MF: soft to no carbon, medium body. Taste: musty, walnuts, mildew, juniper berries, pretty spicy bitterness, hint of cloves, vegetal touch. Aftertaste: unpleasant bitterness, mildew, bit sourish, walnuts, bit sweet, green banana, alcohol noticeable, juniper berries, totally overdone on the spices, no balance whatsoever.