10 June 2023. At 15de Brugs Bierfestival. Cheers to Anke, mom, dad, et al.

A: hazy amber, thin, off-white head.
A: sorrel, spinach, pink grapefruit zest, blood orange.
T: sour sorrel, pink grapefruit flesh, lemon, lactic acid.
F: tart red fruit, sorrel, lactic acid, bit tannic, vague grape skin.
P: medium body, slick texture, average carbonation.
A lesser example of De Meester's ongoing BA series. I could not overcome that sorrel note.

Kettle sour (with malted wheat - so close to Berliner Weisse in its basic composition albeit in a 'freewheeling' kind of way) aged on white wine barrels for half a year; 37,5 cl 'geuze' bottle from De Picker in Zele, shared with Craftmember. Medium sized, immediately open, bubbly and loosely knit, off-white head quickly dissolving over a hazy amber-orange robe, turning into a 'dirty' and more brownish-tinged orange with sediment. Aroma of very dry sherry, green apple, deep-fried parsley, kefir, green peas, grape skin, dust, chamomile tea, cheese rind, very old orange peel, clove, dry leather, dried mugwort leaf. Tart onset, hints of unripe red plum, grape skin and some ripe redcurrant but also sweeter notes of red apple and apricot, medium carbonation with vinous mouthfeel; old biscuit- and hard caramel candy-like maltiness with slick wheaty edges, dried by lactic acidity (kefir) and green apple effects, later joined by tannic woodiness and some lingering grape skin adding a wry-ish effect - but missing the grape juiciness I tend to expect from a beer aged on white wine barrels. Ends dry, but in a 'dusty' and bit leathery way, missing complexity. Weird - I do not have a true ''wine barrel aged beer" experience here, the sour part has not 'penetrated' the beer the way it should and the whole thing feels unbalanced and missing its own point. Another Meester oddity and though admittedly an interesting concept with certain merits, I cannot help but feeling that this brewery misses more than it hits - so sorry, I know many self-proclaimed Belgian beer 'connoisseurs' hold this brewery in high esteem, but I still remain unimpressed and unconvinced. Maybe I should give up on De Meester altogether, clearly I do not get it (and cannot understand the relatively high scores below either)...

Clear copper colour with solid stable head. The wood and the wine come through well. Strong citric sourness. All the time there's a subtle residual malt sweetness too.