Blonde ale by Broers, with a considerable IBU of 64; bottle from Van Callenberge in Stekene. Irregular, tightly but very irregularly lacing, greyish-tinged snow white, very uneven-bubbled head, soon showing gaps and holes but retaining well around the edge; lightly hazy apricot blonde robe with khaki-ish edges, fierce sparkling rushing throughout, equally hazy with sediment. Aroma initially strongly lightstruck (cat pee - even if coming from a brown bottle), but after this has faded a bit, offering impressions of iron shavings (strongly so), raw potatoes, dusty old jute bags, unripe peach, freshly cut grass, stale bread, dusty straw bales, pond water, dry marijuana, baker's yeast, dust, green tea, minerals. Fruity onset but restrainedly so, only subduedly sweetish, hinting at apple peel, unripe peach and green banana, fizzy carbonation with outspoken minerally effects, lean body, on the thin side, with clearly resounding metallic edges. Thinly white-bready and cereally maltiness, hardly any of the caramel announced on the label, with a soapy effect and lingering 'metallicness', until a firm, earthy, very grassy and herbal hop bitterness sets in, reminding retronasally of the fact that it has degraded into mercaptans (lightstruck effect), but drying and mildly spicy in the end, while soapy, very dusty and metallic aspects linger on. Could have been intended as an English style pale ale, the way it was classified here apparently; this seems to make sense, as this is a largely forgotten, but once ubiquitous style - Bass Pale Ale, a big 'hit' in Belgium some five to six decades ago, still elicits nostalgia in elderly beer drinkers. It did, however, turn out very different, with a 'paler' and far less caramelly / nutty malt profile; if anything, this is more a Belgian blonde with a (for the style) unusually high amount of hop bitterness. That hop bitterness is the only redeeming feature here: this beer doesn't look too attractive, is very metallic and has been standing in the shelves of the store too long, resulting in a highly unpleasant (and in this case even quite tenacious) lightstruck effect, which in itself is not the brewery's fault, of course. I guess I should give this one a second chance if I ever come across it in fresh, young condition...

18/IV/20 - 33cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: XII/2021 (2020-346)

Clear orange to amber beer, big solid creamy off-white head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: malty, bit smoky, burnt rubber, something’s off here… MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: unpleasant bitterness, hoppy, bit chemical, tobacco, malty, rubbery. Aftertaste: unpleasant bitterness, very malty, grains, chemical notes, not a fan of this beer…