7

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Bier Verenigt, the microbrewers' club of Beveren, was tasked with creating five different beers commemorating the historical figure of Judocus Vijd, who commissioned the famous Lam Gods painting of Ghent. This one was made on behalf of MV²O, a wine wholesaler who also has a honey beer in his portfolio (Papitou) and now, with this 'Ameltje', embarks on his second 'own' beer, even if it is brewed in the kettles of fellow Beveren entrepreneur Brunn. Many thanks to both Tim of MV²O and Bruno of Brunn for inviting me over and taste all these beers! This Ameltje has a thick and frothy, paper-like lacing, egg-white head and clear, deep 'old gold' robe. Aroma of dried banana, star anise, sweet cicely, green apple, liquorice candy, stewed pear, dried mandarin peel, cheese rind, pineapple, sugar loaf, white bread, wet cloth, something vaguely plastic-like. Fruity, crisp onset, green apple, pineapple and unripe banana impressions, sharply carbonated; cereally, bit dryish middle, white-bready malt core deeply drenched in star anise and liquorice spiciness, with the curaçao being a tad less prominent (though still adding some fraîcheur in the end); some lingering leafy hop bitterness in the end. The fruit (medlar) adds this unexpectedly crisp, green fruitiness but plays a less important role in the nose; a second batch, also tasted that evening, contained rhubarb in replacement of the medlar and had a more distinct aroma, indeed reminiscent of - sweetened! - rhubarb compote. Quite a complex brew indeed, and in combos like this, it will always be difficult to find the correct balance between so many outspoken flavours - yet I think Brunn managed to pull it off, especially in the original medlar version. My rating here is an average of both the medlar and the rhubarb batch.