Now here is something truly special: the first beer in Belgium brewed with Lachancea, a genus of yeasts that produce – apart from ethanol like ordinary yeast (Saccharomyces) – lactic acid, much like lactic bacteria do; it was a Canadian-based yeast company called Lallemand that customized this Lachancea yeast for brewing earlier this year under the name WildBrew Philly Sour, with the ‘Philly’ referring to the contributions that were made by Philadelphia University of the Sciences. It typifies Dok’s spearheading position in postmodern Belgian craft brewing that they were the first to adopt this new yeast strain and apply it to this sour rye IPA – kudos to Janos De Baets, Dok’s head brewer, for introducing the Belgian palate to locally unknown and brand new trends in craft beer like this. Thick and creamy, snow white, slowly opening but generally stable head, opaque-cloudy ochre-blond robe with khaki tinge – about the most opaque beer I ever saw that is not black. Aroma of stewed rhubarb, lime zest, fruit yoghurt, freshly cut red apple, pink grapefruit, passionfruit touch, old dough, lemon juice, shortbread. Very crisply fruity onset, colourful with lots of passionfruit, green gooseberry and pineapple impressions, fizzy carb, supple and smooth body, bit creamy; indeed a lactic tartness runs throughout the beer with a somewhat citrusy edge, but does so in a remarkably soft, mild way, clearly softer than would be the case if it had been created by Lactobacillus; the citrusy aspect merges with more exuberant citrusy hops in the finish, a bit grapefruity in bittereness, but with the tropical fruitiness remaining the main feature. Ends with a slight hop burn too, possibly accentuated by the Lachancea acid. Unusual yet very interesting construction of a beer – clearly the Lachancea yeast produces a more gentle, elegant and mellow lactic sourness than bacteria do, which opens lots of possibilities not just for sour IPA like this one, but for Berliner Weisses, Florida Weisses and Goses as well. I can see this Lachancea strain gain commercial success in the years to come and I’m glad to get acquainted with it already in this very early stage. Cheers to Dok Brewing Company for that!