F: almost no real. C: pale yellow, hazy. A: malty, grassy, light caramel, lemon fruity, herbal. T: malty, light fruity, gooseberry, soapy, coriander, bit of citrus, dusty, basement, not very good balanced, medium body, low carbonation, 33cl bottle from Albert Heijn Duinenwater supermarket in Knokke.

Tap @Il Ponticello (Rome). Oudy golden color with a white creamy foam. Nose is quite basic malty, corn a bit. Mouth is medium-low bodied, creamy, wheaty, short finish.

Clear pale golden colour, dissipating white head. Aroma of grass, lemon, malts, somewhat herbal. Light bitter hoppy flavour, malts. Light bitter finish. Light and refreshing beer, though it seems to be somewhat lightstruck. (supermarket or transport?)
(from 33cL bottle @ home. From Albert Heijn supermarket)

Bottle from an Albert Heijn supermarket. Even Ducato dares to honour Anchor Steam with this steam beer... Thinnish, egg-white, barely lacing and unstable head initially clinging as a moussy, thin rim around the glass but in the end dissolving all but completely, sitting dead on its ass, over a lightly hazy, yellow blonde beer with straw blonde - if not very vaguely greenish - tinge, with a ’fog’ of dead yeast dots distributed equally around the beer. Aroma of melting butter, damp kitchen towels, pond water, dried out lemon zest, mushy banana, pineapple juice, soggy muesli, green pear, unripe gooseberries, camomile flowers, dough, iron, old cloth, starfruit, overcooked white cabbage. Fruity onset, lots of soapy starfruit sweetishness but not expressively sweet, hints of ripe gooseberry and pineapple with a very slight dash of banana, sourish and sweetish like some ordinary Belgian blonde, rather fizzy carbo (perhaps a tad too fizzy for even this style) with minerally effects, smooth mouthfeel with a supple, cereally, bit buttery and lightly creamy, pale malt sweetish malt body. Ends in the same juicy, doughy malt sweetness it began with, adding not much else apart from something faintly metallic and a deeper, herbal and subduedly floral hop presence, manifesting itself as a very, very mild, superficial, floral bittering touch without any lasting impression. Ends juicy, simple and straightforwardly malty with little of even those adorning fruity esters left behind. Clean-ish, softly fruity, bit creamy but light, this beer feels more like a ’cream ale’ (does that still exist?) than a steam beer, with a plain industrial touch to it; Anchor Steam being the only modern reference and the style having been originated as a failed Californian attempt to recreate the - then - noble German Lagers, I guess this could have been worse, but I have the impression that after Anchor, nobody in this world has any serious idea as to what an ’authentic’ steam beer - or indeed ’California common’ - should taste like. Unfortunately, Ducato - one of the top Italian craft brewers as far as I’m concerned - does not have a clue either. Nice attempt but in all, more a straightforward golden ale or cream ale than anything else. Not very good, maybe even the weakest Ducato beer I had so far...

Bottle from local AH, BB 01.09.2018, 33 cl sample. Hazy yellow color, short frothy head. Aroma of grassy and strawy malt, citrus and coriander, and dusty cellar notes. Soft bitterness, slight dusty apple cider, sulphury. Dry finish. Ok.

bleek geel/gouden met nagenoeg kraagloze witte dingetjes... aroma van mout, citrus, gras, ok. Smaken zijn matig tot zwak bitter, gras, hop, matig zoet, weeïg, mais, droog, wat te dun, lichte smaken... naaaahhh..

33 cl. bottle @ home, bought @ Albert Heijn Culemborg. Clear light golden with a very thin white head. Malty aroma with a faint grassy hop presence. Taste is medium bitter sweet and texture is quite thin. nice thirst quencher but not very spectacular.

Bottle at home from AH. Slightly hazy pale golden with short lasting white head. Grains, dry malts, crystal clear water, stereoscopic ground bitter, and the tiniest hint of old cheese. I love this. I have to control myself not to drink this down like a glass of water. It doesn’t have any mysterious complexity or any particularly interesting aroma’s but it’s just a damn good thirst killer. Moderate bitter, thin body, soft carbonation and texture and feel of mineral water straight from the source. Aaaand she’s gone.

Bottle at home, lightly hazy yellow golden beer, small head. Aroma is grain, not much. Taste is the same, some bread, malt, not much in this beer, bit bland.... ok but not great