6th August 2017
Light haze on this gold beer, good pale cream colour head. Palate is airy and dry and fairly minerally crisp. Dry floralness turning bitter. Little grapefruit hop, touch of lemon. Whisper of hop skunk. Dry airy finish. It goes down fine but is not getting me excited about much.

Geel bier met zeer veel schuim. Smaak is bitter hoppig en fruitig met iets van citrus, ananas en bramen. Top bier.

Flaska från belgiuminabox. Gyllengul, disig, skummar väl mycket. Jästig doft, kanske saisonjäst, lite söta aprikoser och gräs. Rejält besk vilket kom som en överraskning, citrusvita och resin men ändå riktigt drickbar och balanserad. Lite aprikoser, tallskott och citruszest. En rejäl överraskning. Riktigt maffig och god.

Bottle, gusher... Clear golden, huge airy, rocky white head. Yeasty, fruity aroma. Flavour has citrus, orange, malt and slightly spicy yeast. Smooth, sweet orange and yeast.

From tap, hop infused. Pours hazy orange with a small white head. Aroma is mild herbal, slight citrusy. Bitter, herbal, greasy hoppy. Bitter and dry herbal hoppy finish.

Cloudy blond appearance. Aroma of resinous hop. Flavour is a bit skunky. Very smooth though.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Inglorious Brew Stars Amis Fleur #892 (by Inglorious Brew Stars):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 11/20, MyTotalScore: 3/5

24/II/17 - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte) @ home - BB: 28/IV/18 (2017-198)

Clear orange beer, huge creamy yellowish head, pretty stable, bit adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: some banana, sweet caramel malts, bit fruity. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: sweet malts up front, some caramel, fruity, pretty bitter, more fruits. Aftertaste: soft bitterness, yeast, peach, malty, grains, some grapefruit, bit metallic.

Commissioned beer named after a dahlia on some local flower contest... Bottle from the Prik & Tik in Zele. Towering high, foamy, frothy, beaten egg-white head, rocky and closed for most of the time, leaving behind an intricate pattern of cobweb-like ’Belgian’ lacing, over a warm ’old gold’ coloured beer with dots of pale yeast floating around everywhere, turning into a more orange-tinged ’ochre’ with sediment added. Aroma of soap, straw, green apple peel, unripe pear, raw pineapple, fresh camomile, banana, gooseberry, clover flowers, wormwood leaves, bitter honey, stewed rhubarb, old dry hay, raw turnip, freshly cut parsley, green plum. Crisp, lively onset, fruity esters with impressions of banana isoamylacetate but not overly so (refraining from the bubblegum effect), green apple acetaldehyde and hints of gooseberry, raw pineapple and unripe pear, more sourish than sweet, with the sourishness accentuated by a sharp, bit exaggerated, very minerally and lightly numbing carbonation, coarsening an otherwise supple, fairly light, lean mouthfeel. This overcarbonated effect keeps hanging around for a long time, but does not distract from a bready, cereally and somewhat grainy malt middle, over which the fruity esters continue in a subdued, elegant way; spicy phenols join in but it is the hops which get the last word, establishing a long, dry, spicy, leafy and rather earthy bitter ending, a tad tonic water-like and very floral (mission accomplished seen the idea behind the beer, but not more floral than any other hoppy Belgian these days), a bit peppery and grassy too. After this, a ’jenever’-ish alcohol effect shows up, but mildly so - though alcohol flavors should remain all but unnoticeable in any beer below 7% ABV. Typical hop-forward ’new’ Belgian blonde, no real IPA in the modern sense of the word, but a ’blonde bitter’ - or even ’Belgian IPA’, to say the same thing in a more contemporary way - fitting in the ’tradition’ foreseen by De Ranke’s XX Bitter back in the nineties and further reinforced by Houblon Chouffe in the first decade of this century. Do not expect New World hop lushness - this is still a rare feature in Belgian brewing, unfortunately - but if you like a decent, well-balanced, well-crafted Belgian bitter blonde, this is your beer. Compare with that Hommelbier Fresh Harvest series, the De Ranke Hop Harvest series or some of Senne’s hoppy blondes and you will be less disappointed than when you expect a ’true’ international - or indeed American - style IPA. Certainly a very well-made and enjoyable ale, but yet another case for recognition of ’Belgian IPA’ as a separate, hybrid style in between Belgian ale (or strong ale) on the one hand and ’IPA’ on the other hand.

Pours unclear blonde. Small white head. Smell is mild hoppy, rather bitter. Taste is very Sharp, bitterness, bit buttery. Extremely overcarbonated. Bit yeasty. Mild orange touch. Not bad, but too much carbo for sure