7

bierfestival Hechtel

8

--- Beer aliased from original tick of The Papa Batch on 13 Jun 2018 at 16:00 - Score: 8

6.8

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

New blonde ale by an enthusiastic young Dutch guy who has only just begun to learn the old brewing art, tasted at Bierproeverij Nieuw-Namen. Thick, tightly lacing, egg-white, stable head over a lightly and equally hazy orangey peach blonde beer. Aroma of dried apricot, white bread, caramel candy, unripe banana, pineapple, honey, raw white cabbage touch. Sweetish onset, hinting at pear, banana and pineapple in a clean and subdued way, medium carbonated, supple and mellow, slick mouthfeel. White bready and lightly caramelly malt sweet middle, bit honeyish even, leading to a very gently bittering, floral and a tad grassy finish in which the malt and residual sugar sweetness keep lingering without becoming too much. Straightforward and simple, very easy-going quencher clearly aiming at the big masses even if production is still limited; if this can be taken to a bigger volume, I can see commercial potential in it (perhaps with a somewhat more colourful label…). In any case technically surprisingly well executed, could be beginner’s luck I guess, but this is a type of easy, sweetish, quenching and unpretentious beer the average Belgian or Dutch beer consumer can doubtlessly drink on a regular basis. As for style classification: the brewer himself had no idea (not uncommon among Belgian top fermentation, of course), back label incorrectly says 'pils' and this website says EPA - I personally think Belgian ale would be the best way to put it...