Amber ale brewed with wheat and millet - a grain species very rarely seen in beer even today - to create an 'ancient' feel, intended to refer to the 18th-century 'uytzet' beer of the greater Ghent area - an interesting concept reminiscent of certain similar experiments by Dok Brewing Company, located about a mile and half north of where Stroom is situated in Ghent. Thick, very regular and dense, creamy, membrane-lacing, silky, yellowish egg-white, rocky, very firm and only slowly diminishing head on an initially near-clear warm orange blonde beer with pale amberish tinge and fine sparkling throughout, misty with sediment. Aroma of halfripe apricot, wet toast, wholegrain bread crust, green melon, unsalted peanuts, rosewater, fresh croissants on Sunday morning, apple peel, young mugwort leaf, bird seed (or indeed millet). Fruity onset but in a well-measured way and not wildly estery, hinting at unripe peach, apricot, green melon and apple peel, sweetish but not quite, with finely tingling carbonation effectuating a minerally fraîcheur in the background; very rounded, almost lightly creamy, slick mouthfeel. Wheaty soapiness balanced against toasty and lightly peanutty barley breadiness and rounded graininess from the (toasted) millet, mellow fruity notes lingering until more toasty bitterness with a grainy-sweet character (the millet again) gains the upper hand, drying up the finish with the aid of a leafy, peppery, slightly earthy, lingering hop bitterness. Ends fruity, a bit yeasty, toasty and hop bitter, all in perfect balance with each other. I tend to agree with Nathan below that this is among Stroom's most refined and perfectly balanced beers so far, it conveys the near-forgotten historical uytzet associations in a modern, sleek, intelligent way. Beautiful little beer - its sheer 'beeriness' cleverly and almost paradoxically accentuated by a very unbeery ingredient.

Can from Hopduvel.
A: hazy amber, stable, frothy, off-white head.
A: apple peel, jute, burnt biscuit, toast, pink grapefruit.
T: sweetish apple, pear & biscuit, bitter toast; bit herbal & citrusy.
F: earthy hops, biscuit, bitter yeast, red fruits.
P: medium body, slick texture, soft carbonation.
Interesting beer, toasted millet really leaving its mark here. Stroom's best up until now, for sure.

23/VIII/23 - 33cl can from Stroom Brouwers (Gent), shared @ home, BB: 13/IV/24 (2023-497)

Clear orange beer, solid creamy beige head, pretty stable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: malty, grains, a little herbal, bread, a bit yeasty, caramel, toast. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: a little malty, some caramel, bready, grains, bitter hops, dry, a little soapy. Aftertaste: bready, malts, little fruity, grains, hoppy bitterness, fruity touch, ripe apples, more malts.