Mondello

@ BXL Beerfest. Hazy orange colour, white foam. Nose of oranges, grapefruit, bitter orange peel, light sweet, bitter grassy hoppy finish.

1/IX/23 - 33cl can from Stroom Brouwers (Gent), shared @ home, BB: 16/VI/24 (2023-514)

Clear orange blond beer, big irregular crackling off-white head, pretty stable, non adhesive. Aroma: nice, pretty fruity, orange peel, citrus, a bit piny, floral notes, some sweet malts. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: pretty bitter start, good malty backbones, fruity, citrus notes, grapefruit, a bit resinous, slightly soapy. Aftertaste: good bitterness, orange peel, some grapefruit, a bit grassy, soapy touch, nice one, I like it!

One of Stroom's newer beers, a kveik IPA hopped with Magnum, Idaho 7, Triskel (a somewhat obscure French variety developed in 2006) and El Dorado. Can from the Hopduvel, since a couple of years located in a much more spacious shop at the Dok Noord site (and in that sense, perhaps, deserving of a new place rating here?). Thick and frothy, egg-white, regularly shaped, densely moussy, firm head on a hazy apricot blonde robe with pale orangey glow. Aroma of orange zest, rambutan, kumquat, green mango, unripe pineapple, indeed some blood orange, lime blossom, lemongrass, apricot purée, maguey leaf, lychee, meringue. Fruity, crisp, juicy onset, sweetish with a sourish undertone, finely but quite actively carbonated for a hazy IPA with some minerally side effects; carambola, lychee, some mango and outspoken citrusiness (pomelo, kumquat) accompany a soft-edged, 'full' maltiness with a doughy and wheaty character. There is a crisp citric-sour edge to it all, which I assume is meant to evoke the blood orange association, but the sultry, overly juicy sweet-sour flavour of actual blood orange is kept relatively subtle. The hops provide a brightly tropical-citrusy finish, adding a soft but long and effective bitterness to a wave of yellow-fruity and lemongrassy aromas, where citrus keeps dominating the sweetness of tropical fruit. The kveik does support the exuberant fruitiness but does so in a 'controlled' and measured kind of way which does not overwhelm the hops, so in spite of the blood orange tag and the kveik, this remains, in its essence, a citrusy, radiant hazy IPA, maintaining enough bitterness to keep it interesting and refreshing. All things considered, this is actually a really good 'Ghentian' fruit IPA even with Dok's stiff competition in the backyard - and to me one of Stroom's finest so far.

Gents Bier Festival 2023 - Hazy dark blond with thin head. Malty, something jammy too. Bitter and sweet elements. Nice thick mouthfeel.