6.5

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

Beer commissioned recently (2020) by the Orde van de Veldmaarschalken for their 40th birthday, brewed by Herberg, which has drawn considerable attention from the beer world not for this kind of trivial Belgian style ales, but for their ventures in spontaneous fermentation - I am patiently waiting for their first geuze to be launched (and which is already in the making at the time I'm writing this), but in the meantime, let's do with this. Cobweb-lacing, eggshell-white, mousy, slightly irregular yet very stable head remaining closed for a long time, over a misty straw blonde beer with pale apricot tinge and disparate, yet very active sparkling here and there. Aroma of potato juice, damp straw, rainwater, dried field flowers, soggy old bread, lemon zest, fainter hints of brown soap, freshly cut green thistles, dishwater, lime flesh, raw white cabbage, banana peel, minerals. Fruity onset, sweetish but not over the top and with a quite 'emphatic' sourish edge, together hinting at green banana, green melon, pear and Granny Smith apple, spritzy and minerally carbonation with 'lively' effect - an impression of sparkling water even; slick, lean body. White bread crumb-like, cereally and somewhat doughy malt backbone with strong 'wheatiness' to it both in sourishness and in soapiness, to the extent that the whole begins to feel like a witbier, especially when the fruity esters get overruled by a spicy flavouring of soapy coriander seed and dried orange peel, the latter vividly accentuating the wheat sourishness, making for a refreshing ending - in which a floral hop bitterness adds 'fullness' and length. This sourish aspect, with even a very faint citric edge, lingers for a while, along with the soapy aspect. Very easily drinkable - which I assume was the intention, seen the modest ABV at least to traditional Belgian standards; correctly made, not too sweet, well-hopped and with a refreshing citric edge that still feels natural, this is a relatively elegant, very quenching, light-footed Belgian blonde of the kind one could drink gallons of, without any further 'gastronomical' ambitions. I'm sure there is an audience for this and that many traditional Belgian beer drinkers will appreciate it, including those guys (and ladies) of this 'Orde van de Hofmaarschalken'... As for style: even though nowhere advertized as a witbier, I classified it simply as a 'Belgian blonde', but the wheat malt makes up an important part of it to the point that 'wheat ale' in some or other (non-traditionally 'wit') way would be an appropriate style categorization as well.