33cl bottle from Struise Beershop Woesten e-shop. F: big, tan, long lasting. C: black, opaque. A: dark malts, chocolate, caramel, berries, dried fruits, coriander touch. T: full malty base, caramel, dried fruits, bit coffee, molasses, spicy touch, bit metallic tones, decent bitterness, leaves, medium carbonation, good one, enjoyed.

Bottle 33 cl. Chestnut color, slightly hazy, creamy foam. Aroma: sweet, caramel, burnt sugar, a little chocolate, figs and dates, light spice. Sweetish taste, caramel, burnt sugar, a little metal, spicy, a little dried fruit, noticeable bitterness, a bit harsh.

Appearance: foggy chestnut brown with a huge off-white frothy head of good retention. Aroma and taste: dark malt, bread, fried fruits, iron, grassy hop. Light sweet and bitter. Mouth feel: medium plus body, lively carbonation. Summary: too expensive for what it is.

Fles gedeeld door Roelzie, thuis geprobeerd. Het is een troebel bruin bier met een volle beige schuim. Het heeft een aroma van mout, roos fruit en een hint peper. De smaak is moutig, fruitig, zoet en peperig in de afdronk.

Bottle, 8%. Slightly papery aroma with a mild brown sugar aroma. Clear dark brown colour. Small frothy head. The flavour is slightly citric with a good papery brown sugar note. The citric notes are gone after a while. Finishes with good, nutty, slightly sweet brown sugar note. Well-rounded.

Bottle. Pours clear copper brown with airy beige head. Clear aroma of yeast and caramel malt, with touches of dried fruit. Sweetish flavour of malt and yeast, with touches of caramel, fruit and hops. Estery and malty aftertaste. A nice one.

28/VIII/21 - 33cl bottle from Willems (Grobbendonk), shared @ summer holiday in France, BB: 23/V/22, lot: m (2021-978)

Clear reddish brown beer, practically no head. Aroma: very malty, oxidized, bit of a sweet impression, caramel, lots of overripe banana, very oxidized, orange peel. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very malty, lots of overripe banana, some caramel, cow fodder, bit sweet, very gentle roast, yeasty, bit dirty, oxidized. Aftertaste: soft roast, very malty, overripe banana, pretty bitter finish, little metallic, slightly sourish.

New 'semi-authentic' abbey beer inspired by a 17th-century text, with the proceeds being earmarked for the renovation of the old Friars Minor monastery in Tielt, so there is a link with an actual monastery - but since there is no living monastic community that had to license this beer (and its blonde counterpart) or gets profits from its sales, it does not officially count as 'certified abbey beer'. Which in itself does not mean much to me, as a few of the more interesting abbey-themed beers in Belgium have no real relation to any abbey whatsoever, and those who do, are mostly bland 'macro beers'. Anyway: medium thick, irregularly paper-lacing, small-bubbled, greyish white head, opening here and there in the middle but generally very well-retaining; initially clear, burgundy-brown beer with deep vermillion hue, turning misty with sediment so fortunately not filtered. Aroma of hard caramel, dried fig, soapy coriander seed, bubblegum, old tea bags, wet toast, iron, coffee filters that have been used multiple times, hints of old dry liquorice, nutmeg, dried bitter plants, mineral water. Sweetish onset with a dash of candi sugar, but nothing cloying, and even refraining from too much outspoken sweetness; relatively clean, with only very subdued esters, hinting at banana peel, apple peel and medlar, medium carbonated with lively minerally effects. Supple, lean, bit resinous mouthfeel, on the thin side for a beer of this strength; hard-caramelly and cereally maltiness with clear metallic edges, gaining a bit more depth towards the finish as a very light toasty-nutty accent sets in, but generally remaining superficial and bland. Rather simple finish, with the maltiness dominating, though not too sweetly so and bittered by a leafy, herbal, late and deeply buried, yet quite effective hop bitterness, while the dreaded coriander seed effect remains limited to a welcoming spicy effect and is less strong than what the nose would suggest; meanwhile the alcohol - even if noticeable enough - remains well in place and generally well masked. The metallic effect, however, keeps resounding till the very end, in a way that is hardly appropriate for any beer and certainly not for a dubbel or 'massieve ale'. Talking about style: the toasted-bitter malt edge and relative cleanness with only restrained yeasty effects unambiguously point at the old Scotch style (once popular in Belgium), but since this is labelled a 'bruin', I respected brewer's intent in adding this beer and considered it an abbey dubbel. Simple, metallic, easily drinkable and easily 'understandable', this is very clearly a beer for the average Belgian consumer, with nothing to offer to the more experienced artisanal beer drinker, whether it be postmodern international 'craft beer' or traditional Euro beer styles. I cannot be enthusiastic about yet another unnecessary dubbel even if it has more or less 'sincere' abbey beer ambitions, but I'm sure the casual consumer in and around Tielt will be able to enjoy this.