Spar, Oostende.
Golden colour.Only numerical rating. Too thirsty coming from the beach to judge the beer correctly

A clear golden beer with a white head. Aroma of belgian yeast, sweetish pale malt, honey, ripe fruits. Taste of belgian yeast, mild sweet pale malt, honey, herbs.

F: huge, white, very long lasting. C: pale gold, hazy. A: malty, orange peels, spicy, coriander, herbal, dusty, yeasty. T: malty, orange peels, peppery, coriander, soapy, juniper alcohol, reminds me Arthur’s Legacy 08. Happy Sylvester, not bad, enjoyed, medium to full body, medium carbonation, 33cl bottle from Spar supermarket in Oostende.

Bottle from the Bierboom in Bruges. Very thick, frothy but coarse, egg-white head leaving thick patches of lace on the edges of the glass, hazy warm golden blonde robe with a suspension of starchy yeast bits throughout and vivid fizz piercing through it. Aroma of banana-flavored bubblegum, powder sugar, gooseberry, some stale sweat, fried egg, cured poultry, wet hay, melting rubber (DMTS), somewhat ’smokey’ persimmon, industrial honey, freshly struck matches and fermenting apple peel. Crisp, fruity, very estery onset, sweetness overcoming the sourness, lots of ripe gooseberry, banana and overripe pear, hints of pineapple and green apple, sharpish, minerally carbonation. A somewhat coarse (overcarbonated) middle phase ensues, with lightly bready, softly honeyish malt sweetness with a caramelly edge, soft and ’full’ seen its ABV, while the banana and gooseberry esters continue at full force (whereas they should already have been silenced by now). Finishes with the same boring banana isoamylacetate from the beginning, a whiff of underachieving floral hops providing only brief but still earthy, lingering bitterishness, persisting coriander ’soapiness’ and a bready yeastiness, as well as a faint impression of young ’jenever’-like alcohol which should not be noticeable at all in a beer of this strength. The DMTS smell kept bothering me from beginning to end and as this effect can have several causes, I will not bother trying to identify them (that is up to mr. Saerens in this case) - I can only say this is the umpteenth classically profiled ’Belgian blonde’ in a row of similar beers which is already much too long. Beers of this particular (sub)style can only charm me if they are technically perfect - isoamylacetate or not - and make a promise that they will be followed up by more ambitious brews. Clearly, neither of these two criteria are met here - resulting in a low score for me. This is a tick and nothing more.

33cl bottle from Bierboom. Thick white head. Hazy golden pour. A nice enough beer.

Pours somewhat unclear , blonde but much to the yellow side . Good , and stable fluffy white head . smell is fresh , rather intense grainyness and a bitter note . Taste is bitter up front , bit dry , with a honey sweetness right after the bitterness ( quickly ) fades . All on top of a grainy character , that is . Bit of spices in the back ( coriander ??? ) . OK beer

33cl Bottle: BBD 04/15, poured at home into a Chimay chalice in 12/14. Misty, cloudy old golden look to the body, on top a white blanket of foam. Yeast ester very prominent in the nose, some sweetness too. The beer was crisp, sharp and tart in nature palate wise, the taste almost sour and like the aroma yeasty. Spicy feel as it warms a little, gets sweeter with grainy and floral hints within the flavours also. Alcohol hidden nicely. A different and interesting beer with enough going on to keep your senses active from start to finish.