One of already several beers from what seems to be an actually commercially viable microbrewery (albeit on a very small scale) in Kaprijke (the Meetjesland region in East-Flanders); the fact that their website proudly shows a picture of the brewing kit is usually a good sign and so is the fact that their beers (about a dozen so far) are all one-offs with very limited distribution also inspires trust in me. Thick and very moussey, off-white, densely pillowy, membrane-lacing, stable head on a hazy peach blonde beer with ochre-ish tinge. Aroma of dried lemon thyme, old dry orange peel, spice bread, old Graham crackers, dandelion, dry straw, cooked turnips, phenolic hints of clove and nutmeg, toasted pumpkin seeds, very old herbarium or a bag of stale old 'herbes de Provençe', dry earth. Dryish onset, very little sweetness indeed with vague dried peach and dried apple peel notes, fizzily carbonated with lots of minerally effects lingering on, adding a vague sourishness; supple, slender old-cracker and dry old bread-crust-like maltiness with spiciness on top from the hops, increasing towards the finish in, again, a rather 'dry' and somewhat stale way, hinting at very old dried grapefruit peel, dried lemon thyme, white pepper and old 'herbes de Provençe', depositing a relatively long, earthy, leafy bitterness on the root of the tongue - yet a fairly gentle one, which, though long, does not dominate everything. Earthy and phenolic (clove!) yeastiness is very present as well, firmly placing this beer in 'Belgian IPA' territory - i.e. Belgian ale brewers dabbling with New World hops (or just a lot more hops than is traditionally the case). If viewed as such, there is nothing wrong here: this may come from a tiny 'kitchen' brewery very carefully testing the market now, but there are no serious brewing flaws or off-flavours, so I am guessing they can at least make a decent blonde or tripel. As for IPA: this either lacks aromatic freshness (in spite of my sample being only a couple of weeks old) or it lacks serious West Coast style bitterness - for me it should have either of those two to be taken seriously as anything 'IPA'. 'Hoppy Belgian blonde' probably covers the load better, so it is a good thing we have this 'Belgian IPA' category to at least respect brewer's intent. Not impressed, good old Cascade deserves more 'citrusiness' especially when used for dry-hopping (and I will ignore the Belgian yeast effects just for the sake of reason) - but if seen as a traditionally Belgian creation, I am not devastatingly disappointed either.

20/IV/24 - 75cl bottle @ home, BB: 28/IV/25, lot 202310 (2024-245) Thanks to Louis V. for sharing the bottle!

A little cloudy orange blond beer, big aery creamy white head, pretty stable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: yeasty, some banana, very floral, fruity touch, some oranges, sweet impression, bubble gum. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: bitter start, very soapy, dry, a bit floral, spicy touch, yeasty, meh. Aftertaste: dry, bitter, a bit soapy, a little fruity, hoppy, decent but not a real IPA. Just your typical Belgian impression of one.