Newish (April of this year) Eutropius beer made in honour of the former owner of Petit Paris, a restaurant in Kortrijk; apparently using Icelandic smoked salt, which is a first for me in beer... Thick and frothy, yellowish egg-white, pillowy, membrane-lacing, stable head on an initially completely clear, deep 'old gold' beer with 'metallic' orange tinge and lively sparkling, turning into a misty orange-peach with sediment. Aroma of green banana, freshly cut cucumber, carbon dioxide effect, white bread crust, dried apricot, unripe peach, touch of hard caramel but without the sweetness, straw bales, old crackers, hint of sugar-free chewing gum - but hardly any smokiness, apart from a very faint background whiff of cigarette tobacco, perhaps. Softish and hardly exciting onset, fruity in a restrained way, unripe peach and a touch of green apple mixed with a vague green banana effect, restrained in sweetness, with lively carbonation that nevertheless softens significantly after a while, not interfering with the flavour; soft, lean body, a tad metallic at the edges with ongoing fruity and minerally aspects but all softly and subduedly so, while a bready maltiness develops with a very, very thin peanutty edge. I guess the minerally aspects at the sides represent the Icelandic smoked salt, but apart from a minerality that is only very slightly above average for a Belgian blonde, I get no smokiness and very little saltiness, though the latter aspect is certainly there. Ends fruity and hop bitter in a floral, leafy, quite long-lasting, bit tonic water- or quinine-like way so at least we have that; clove-like spicy phenols and very restrained unripe banana fruitiness linger over a cleanly bready malt residue in the finish. The hop bitterness, which is quite outspoken here for a blonde, is by far the best part of this beer - everything else is cliché and rather pale in terms of character. Granted, there is a very slight saltiness in the background, both in the nose and in the mouth, but hadn't I known better, I could just as well have ascribed that to the brewing water they use... What is the point of using some fancy Icelandic smoked salt if you do not have the guts to come up with either outspoken saltiness or smokiness? Easygoing blonde, this one, but admittedly more hop bitter than average for this segment so have a point for that.

Bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck. Hazy golden colour, white foam. Some sweet maltiness along with salty and smoked hints. A bit medicinal. Easy drinkable with smoky character. Decent.