6.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Commissioned Belgian ale from a 75 cl bottle with cork and muselet; brewed with spelt and apparently loosely intended as a saison. Bottle of more than a year old, shared with Goedele. Aroma initially strongly lightstruck (the old familiar cat pee-like mercaptans), apparently the (green!) bottle has been kept in the store under too much light; it fades eventually as it usually does, making way for impressions of banana, bubblegum, old apple peel, coriander seed, bread crumbs, phenolic cloves, papier maché, moist white pepper, straw. Sweetish banana ester in the onset, green apple and light pineapple notes but in all fairly clean especially for something leaning towards saison, sharp and fizzy carbonation, lean mouthfeel; grainy ('spicy-ish' spelt) and cereally malt body, lightly white-bready, slick like a wheat beer but in this case coming from the spelt, tad soapy even; dusty old coriander seed and dried camomile-like hops in the finish, but only softly bittering. Coriander, pale malt sweetishness and banana ester remain, still harshened by overcarbonation. Mediocre coriandered, bubblegummy Belgian blonde rather than a true saison even in the classic sense of the word, feels a bit thin, empty and uninspired, but drinkable enough.