Proof #2

17/XII/22 - 33cl can from the brewery, shared @ home, BB: 18/XI/23 (2022-1749)

Clear orange beer, big creamy off-white head, little stable, non adhesive. Aroma: ripe banana, cloves, spicy touch, bubble gum, malty impression. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: lots of licorice, some banana, yeasty, bubble gum, gentle bitterness, more yeast, banana peel. Aftertaste: more yeast, licorice, more cloves, some aniseed, bitter, ok.

Experimental Stroom beer, a tripel hopped the New World way (with Idaho 7). From tap at Brouwbar. Snow white, moussy, medium thick, stable head, hazy apricot blonde robe with orangey glow. Aroma of unripe peach, banana peel, cooked potato or cold potato mash, turnip, halfripe nectarine, old apple cake, lychee, orange water but also a less flattering touch of DMS (overcooked broccoli). Clean, sweetish onset, apple, peach and light banana, minerally and fizzy carbonation, smooth body; brioche-bready, cereally and very lightly ‘caramelled’ maltiness under increasing fruity hoppiness, adding notes of lychee, orange blossom, guava and green mango, though in a not overly exuberant way. The hops add mild floral bitterishness but far too weakly so to counter the overall sweet effect of the malts. Feels like a tripel ‘infused’ with a strong NEDIPA influence, but still a tripel, i.e. remaining rather understated and restrained. Why not go full NEDIPA here? I guess Stroom is still hesitant to create full-blown, characterful and less compromising craft beers for the obvious commercial reasons, but I am confident that they can do more…