Veel te veel CO2. Thanks Jeroen H. #historical

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

33cl bottle from Carrefour market @ in Tervuren near Brussels. F: huge, snow white, very long lasting. C: gold, hazy. A: bready, lemon, red apples peels, banana, spicy, bit herbal, pear. T: medium malty base, red apples, banana, lemon touch, bit wheat/bready, peach, bit spicy, medium carbonation, nice balanced beer and especially in historical context, enjoyed for sure.

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle 33cl. from Finest Belgian Beers @home poured into a tumbler. Slightly hazy pale amber colour, good frothy off-white head, good retention, heavy lacing. Aroma wheat, lemon, overripe apples, apricot, light yeast, clove, pepper and thyme notes. Mild sour and light sweet taste, sour apples, light lemon, spicy notes. Medium body, warery to oily texture, soft carbonation, mild fruity sweet and sour aftertaste, authentic feel, refreshing, very nice.

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Light hazy dark golden beer, white creamy foam. Nose of lemon, citrus, some herbs. Taste is fruity, hints of peach, lemony tartness. Very well balanced. Reminds me of Vicardin. Nice surprise!

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

33cl bottle from a trade with JefVerstraete. A slightly hazy golen beer with a big off-white head. Aroma of orange peel, spices and some yeast. Taste of orange peel, tangerine, yeast, spicy hops.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Golden to orange in colour with thin head. Fine carbonation. It's an unusual taste. Something of orange peel and quite sugary sweet too.

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 5 | Overall - 6

Hazy orange body. White fizzy head. Nose of orange, hops, ... lightly bitter flavour. Ok.

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

Now here is an interesting one: Leuven revivalist Brouwerij Breda presenting this Peeterman as one of their core beers, something which immediately drew my attention when I first heard about it earlier this year. The name 'Peeterman' or 'Pieterman' in itself was the nickname of the inhabitants of old and proud Leuven, linked to the 10th-century Sint-Pieters church as the heart of the city, but metonymically also refers to the style of wheat ale that was brewed there, a 'thicker' and stronger brother of Hoegaarden's witbier, with a sourish character (which the 'real' witbier also had, historically at least). This historical wheat ale style enjoyed great popularity in and around Leuven from the 16th to the 19th century but, like indeed Hoegaarden's witbier of Bavaria's Weissbier, went into decline in the 20th century when standard pale lager conquered the Belgian beer drinking population - the last brewery producing 'a' Peeterman, as this name is to be seen as a generic name and not a brand name, was De Eendracht, where it was made until 1974. The great Michael Jackson, in his immensely influential pioneering work of describing the old European beer styles and traditions, claimed to have been searching for this beer a year later after hearing that the central station's cantina still had some stock left - only to find that it had already gone by then. Artois, the Stella brewer and historical 'core' of what has meanwhile evolved into AB InBev, did make an attempt to relaunch a Peeterman onto the market in the eighties, but discontinued it soon after, focusing on their then recently acquired Hoegaarden Witbier instead. So, in the absence of a living tradition and thus the absence of a Peeterman style category on this site, I had to classify this new embodiment of Leuven's old city beer by Brouwerij Breda as a witbier because this is the closest living relative of it, but I could just as well have picked 'traditional ale' or perhaps even 'gruit', with which both Peeterman and witbier share a common ancestry; in any case I think it is important to stress that this extinct genre of Brabantian wheat ale has its own history and its own pedigree, parallel to Hoegaarden's witbier - so it should not be judged as a copy of Hoegaarden and its offspring, but as a separate kind of beer with no living frame of reference. Produces a lot of towering, egg-whithe, nicely cobweb-lacing, bit irregular foam during pouring, slowly retreating later on but nevertheless remaining thick and completely closed forever, on top of a lightly hazy, deep and warm 'old gold' beer with orange hue and enthusiastic sparkling. Aroma of dried lemon zest, a sprinkle of lime even, bread crust, lemon thyme, rusk, dry strawbales, freshly cut red apple, halfripe banana, hints of sourdough, dried apricot, clove, dried sage. Crisp, fruity onset, green apple and lime sourishness in a gentle, mild, straightforward but very pleasant and refreshing way, next to sweeter notes of peach and banana; finely tingling but generally softish carb, slick mouthfeel with that typical wheat soapiness to it - the wheat also contributing to the yeasty sourishness, but again balanced by rusk- and bread crumb-like barley. Fruity notes and this zesty, zingy yet mild sourness continue into a bready, restrainedly spicy-phenolic finish, where subtle impressions of sage, thyme and clove return, followed by a floral, 'deep' but gentle hop bitterness; the sour aspect of the beer, however mild and 'thin', stretches even a bit further than this into the finish, making it the lasting impression, with almost citrusy, but in any case fruity character. This is an absolutely lovely beer - I am not witbier's biggest fan generally speaking even if I can appreciate a well-made artisanal one from time to time, but as said, this is not witbier, this is Peeterman... I sadly never had the Artois version from the eighties, but this Breda interpretation certainly matches the main characteristics of the historical Peeterman I read about (too bad, though, that for such a historically ambitious beer no more details are provided concerning the ingredients used); I do think that this one is a lot cleaner and less 'wild' and sour than the 'Peetermannen' of previous centuries, but it certainly gives a good general idea of what it must have been like. Too bad that a time machine does not exist, so I'll have to judge this based on my general enjoyment and the pure 'book knowledge' I have of the style: a credible example in its main features, and more importantly, a beer of elegance and finesse, more so than any of the other Breda beers - clearly this one is their flagship brew and by far their most relevant contribution to the still expanding Belgian beer world. I am convinced, however, that in this day and age where sour beer styles have not only been rediscovered but often even worshipped by beer geeks, the long forgotten Peeterman may very well experience something of a revival, if executed by the right people. I'll happily drink another one to that. Cheers Leuven!