Appearance - 5 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Bouteille 33cl, BB 18/11/2023, lot# 157.158-2022 de Vachement Ferme, juste à côté de Maredsous.
Couleur presque sur le rosé, col fin très effervescent retombant immédiatement, ce dernier aussi sur un léger rosé. Pointe de zeste agrumes, léger mentholé.
Arôme est dominé par la cannelle et ce côté pâtissier intéressant et plaisant. Rétro délicat de fleur d'oranger - le tout fait plutôt hivernal.
Palais est sur une belle base maltée prise de suite par des notes épicées de cannelle qui est bien dominant. Le côté gaufre est peu présent, peut-être avec une rondeur en bouche et une sensation huileuse qui joue l'effet de rendre le col absent. Un houblonné anglais plaisant sur un léger terreux-mentholé et de fruité délicat. Assez sèche mais avec une bière qui maintient une belle douceur latente pâtissière. Correcte, sans plus, remplit son rôle sur un visuel assez décevant.

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6

Difficile de retrouver le goût de la gaufre dans cette bière de la brasserie C. On a tout de même des arômes de biscuit mais qui font quasiment penser à Noël avec de la cannelle bien présente. Mais c'est avant tout une structure peu équilibrée qui fait défaut à cette gaufrée. En verre nous sommes sur un blond doré limpide avec une fine effervescence moyennement soutenue. Le nez est sur le biscuit, la cannelle et le caramel. L'attaque, trop sucrée est sur une alliance cannelle, biscuit et grenadine et caramel. La deuxième bouche est légèrement acide avec un alcool à 7,2% pas forcément bien intégré. L'arrière bouche est même un peu aigre. Le final est plus sobre bien que long avec de la cannelle bien trop présente. Ca ne vaut pas une bonne gaufre !

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

Specialty ale from this most famed of the Liège city breweries, brewed with - wait for it - 'gauffres de Lièges' or Liège waffles, indeed one of those culinary things the 'cité ardente' is most renowned for. Whether they belong in beer - because this one was made with actual Liège waffles in the brewing kettle - remains to be seen. Bottle from the Delhaize supermarket at the Sterre in Ghent. Crackling, bubbling, very irregular, large-bubbled, off-white head, dissolving in seconds until literally nothing remains (I guess the butter and other ingredients of the Liège waffles killed it); warm apricot blonde robe with pale orange glow and thin strings of visible sparkling, incapable of maintaining any head formation at all - so that the content of the glass looks like an unblended lambic or a cider... Aroma of candied peaches, indeed vanilla sugar and butter from the Liège waffles, pan-fried apple, ripe banana, sweet dry cookies, crème au beurre, brésilienne nuts, background hints of bubblegum, dry cereals, cloves, cinnamon (the Liège waffles again, no doubt), mandarin juice, tulips. Sweet onset, clearly sugary with that vanilla sugar pushing itself to the foreground yet without overly sticky effect, fruity aspects of peach, sweet red apple, pear and some banana, light sourish touch underneath, medium to soft carbonation; slick and rather 'empty', somewhat oily mouthfeel. Smooth cereally pale maltiness with a thin caramelly edge ensues, immediately flavoured with this vanilline-like and buttery sweetness from the Liège waffles - a touch of waffle dough even appears near the finish, along with spicy elements of - next to this persisting vanilla - clove and cinnamon. Something vaguely citrusy (faint mandarin) is there too, along with a bubblegummy note; still, due to the lack of hop bitterness - ignoring a faint and brief grassy note tucked away in the finish - this whole construction continues to feel 'empty' and thin, with the sweet taste of pan-fried apples (rather than actual waffles) sprinkled with cinnamon and vanilla sugar remaining in the very end. Elements of the waffle as a whole do pass by here and there, but in a kind of 'deconstructed' form, with vanilline, cinnamon, butter and perhaps even skimmed milk popping up in decreasing order of prevalence, but never forming a complete picture; the basic structure of this weird beer is thin and slick and the utter instability of the head - again, disappearing in less than two seconds without leaving even the slightest trace - does not make it very appealing from a visual point of view. Sticky vanilla sugar eventually does stick to the teeth in the end - I do not even dare to inform my oldskool dentist about this. Bizarre concoction, unable to convince me that Liège waffles belong in beer - though I was fearing something even worse than this. Perhaps they need to try 'potée Liégeoise' or even 'boulets à la Liégeoise' as an ingredient in coming experiments, if they must - but I think I will pass. An ill-fated idea, no doubt inspired by the pastry stout and - later - pastry sour fad but neither stout nor sour ale, so in a sense this is perhaps the first ever 'pastry Belgian blonde'. I hope to hell that this pastry infusion in beers will come to a grinding halt soon - it has been done very innovatively in stouts by Omnipollo and others, but I think it is time to move onwards now. This, if anything, is hopefully a standalone experiment which does not require repeating - so do not let other brewers, in Belgium or anywhere else, be inspired by it.

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Amber with a foamy, white head of modest duration. Very intense aroma is full of cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar. Pancake (or waffle) house would be accurate. Taste is moderate bitter with a lingering waffle flavor that’s sweet, but not overly so. Medium-bodied, moderate carbonation. Took me awhile to make up my mind on this one. A bit of a gimmick really, but quite decent in moderate doses.

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5

Nose of waffles, cinnamon, spices but also dry and bitter and easy drinkable. Not cloying sweet, interesting pastry ale.

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

27/VII/22 - 33cl bottle from a local supermarket, shared @ Ardenne Holiday, BB: 3/XII/22, lot: 105 107-202 BT#:1588 (2022-947)

Clear orange beer, practically no head, unstable, dissipates immediately. Aroma: some cinnamon indeed, sweet impression, alcohol noticeable, ripe banana. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: a little sweet, cinnamon, some caramel notes, yeasty, a bit sourish. Aftertaste: more cinnamon, a bit sugary, sourish touch, malty finish.

LCI BAB... Description fits the taste... My fellow American friends described the taste is like "Horchata". Tasty

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

33cl bottle from Prik & Tik Dranken Marlou. F: medium, white, quick gone. C: pale gold, hazy. A: malty, peach, floral, bit caramel, bready, pear. T: full malty base, oh waffle, cake, pear, red apples peels, decent bitterness, soft carbonation, very nice connection here, fully enjoyed.

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

1 February 2020. At Brugs Bierfestival. Cheers to Anke, Kevin, Niels & Cynthia! Clear golden, lasting, thin, foamy, white head. Aroma of - indeed - lots of waffles, both doughy & freshly baked, biscuit, apple pie, cake, honey, cinnamon. Taste has sweet apple & pear, cake- & waffle-like (whatever that is) maltiness, slightly spicy bitter (cookiewise), just thoroughly malty. Dryish, soft hoppy finish, more apple cake & waffle. Medium body, oily texture, fizzy carbonation. Not as refined as any really modern Ale (think Pastry Stouts) but it delivers. Taste is actually nice & not just gimmicky.