6.6

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

Spiced Belgian ale made for the 25th wedding anniversary of Johan 'Wanne' Madalijns (the familiar bearded 'face' of De Lambiekstoempers and of Zythos as a whole) with his wife Lieve. Brewed by 4Pajot with cardamom, juniper berries and orange peel. Frothy, snow white, thick and foamy head on a misty, deeply golden beer with apricot tinge and lively sparkling. Aroma of banana peel, moist white pepper, white cardamom seed indeed, bread crust, dry straw, peach, dried orange peel piercing through, grass, dried camomile and - especially when warming up - indeed a clear piney note from the juniper berries, yet without overpowering the rest. Spritzy onset, sharply carbonated with strong minerally effects but still acceptable for a Belgian ale, fruity notes of banana, peach and apricot with a vague pineapple hint, sweetish but not too much so, with a light sourish undertone. Supple bready malt backbone, a tad cereally, slick with a thin honeyish accent of unfermented sugars on top, but quickly shifting to an aromatic, albeit 'dusty' spiciness with perfumey, even somewhat soapy cardamom seed taking the lead initially; bittering orange peel does show up as well, and so does a piney, slightly resinous juniper berry note, all tied together by a floral, softly drying hop bitterness. Some light bready yeasty notes linger at the back. Thoroughly 'Belgian' spice beer, something I do not usually like, but admittedly - and contrary to my expectations if I'm honest - they have been well applied here, clearly present yet not overwhelming as is all too often the case. I normally hate juniper berries in any kind of beverage but in this case they remain very tolerable, though I personally would have toned down a bit on the cardamom, too, as it is clearly the dominant one of the different spices used here. Altogether decent enough - so cheers to Wanne Madalijns and his wife!