Carte Blanche

Bottle at Level 42 tasting, thanks to Ferris II, 11/07/16. Hazed golden orange with a decent off white swirl. Nose is floral, tarte melon, mandarin, tangy peach esters, straw. Taste comprises bitter citric rinds, melon, caramel, yeast esters, spice, orange rind. Medium bodied, fine carbonation, semi drying close. Decent Belgo Stronge.

Bottle at level 42 care of fergoos. It pours cloudy golden - orange with thick, fluffy white head. The aroma is bready, cereal, toasted grain, husks, mild candy, pear, apple, melon and sweet banana. The taste is smooth, bready, bitter - sweet, banana split, melon, apple, warming alcohol spice and candy with a sweet, warming finish. Medium + body and high, foamy carbonation. A bit sweet perhaps, but overall not bad for the style.

Bottle shared in CW - many thanks to Fair Goose. Pours unclear gold with a dense, creamy off-white head. Big yeasty nose, some doughy malts, tangerine, wheat. Heavy sweet flavour, lightly boozy, phenolic, with banana chips, wheat flakes, hay, honey. Medium to full bodied with lively carbonation. Lightly warming on the finish, with more hearty wheat bread, yeast, melon, subtle rind. Not bad.

F: huge, light off-white, good retention. C: gold to orange, hazy, non-transparent. A: grassy, floral light citrus hoppy, earthy, toast, tangerine, orange peels, spicy, coriander, caramel, yeasty. T: good balanced sweetness and bitterness, orange peels, floral/citrus hoppy, spicy, light juniper berries alcohol, banana, coriander, medium body, lively carbonation, very good, 0,33l bottle from Carrefour in Brussels.

Bottle. Creamy white good mostly lasting head. Yellow colour. Moderate malty and hoppy aroma. Moderate bitter flavor. Strong yeast notes. Long moderate bitter nice finish. Creamy palate.

Got to say the front label dragged me to this beer as I stared into the huge glass fronted fridges of the new K & S Beer & Tobacco store/tasting room in Brugge. Glad it did, because the beer inside was good too. Poured a clear and bright gold, small white head. The aroma had a fruit basket like smell with mixed spices drizzled with yeast. Taste followed along the same lines with some malty molasses giving some extra sweetness in the flavouring. The alcohol content is not completely hidden but it adds to the experience rather than hinders it. A very nice beer from the packaging to the aftertaste!

Sampled to be slightly one with the Parisians after the awful terrorist attack on 13-November-2015. Super hazy golden coloured body with a rich, thick, three centimetre tall tan head. Aroma of bread, coriander, curacao, yeast, grain and some light sugars - pungent. Medium-bodied; Assertive effervescence; Very bready flavour at first with a robust malt character, some fruit sweetness, a touch of caramel, a light grain and coriander seed freshness and a hint of funk at the tail end. Aftertaste is complex, but all within the belgian ale category - nothing truly earth shattering here, but that said - a solid beer, as you’d expect from the country of origin. This should be categorised as a simple ’belgian ale’, but that is relatively close. Overall, a solid beer with a great complexity and better look/effervescence, but this is exactly what you’d want from this style, great to try if you can grab a bottle, even if it isn’t the cheapest on the rack. I sampled this 33 cL bottle purchased from Beer Tempel in Bruxelles, Belgium on 18-January-2015 for €4,95 sampled at home in Washington on 16-November-2015 and my heart goes to the friends, family and loved ones of the innocent lives who were altered in Paris from some messed up individuals on 13-November-2015.

Bottle @ home. Hazy yellow color, average to medium sized off-white head. Smell and taste malts, some yeast, slightly a yeasty herbal hint and some sweet-bitter. Medium body and carbonation. Not unpleasant, but quite standard.

[backlog] 17-08-15 // bottle at home. Hazy orange, small white head. Dry bitter, belgian yeast. Citrus notes.