6

#bitter

7.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Hazy dark amber colour, notes of breadcrusts, bitter hoppy, dry and malty. Interesting!

6.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Can. Gusher. Again! What's up Dok? Clear amber colour with thin head. Malty profile with soft floral hop. Certainly in the direction of an English ale. Good session beer.

6.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

11 April 2024. At Hal 16 (Dok Brewing). Cheers to the Teamleader crew, good-bye to our dear Annelies!

A: clear amber, small, foamy, tan head.
A: unripe apricot, red apple, grass, rusk, old biscuit, hard caramel.
T: sweetish apricot, red apple, bitter rusk, some jam.
F: herbal hops, grass, (bit burnt) biscuit and rye.
P: light to medium body, slick texture, average carbonation.
Interesting concoction again by Dok.

7.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

A friend of mine and myself have suggested to Dok's genius brewer Janos that he brew an English style bitter one day and lo and behold, one of the very few styles he had not yet done, has now materialised as a 'Belgian bitter' brewed with rye (not a typical ingredient for a bitter but okay) and hopped with Magnum, Chinook and Comet (dito - I would have opted for old Fuggles, Northern Brewer or East Kent Goldings, but anyway)... Can from Delhaize Gent Ster. Thick and frothy, beaten egg-like, thickly plaster-lacing, fluffy, firm head on a misty orange-blonde robe with amberish tinge. Aroma of wet toast, freshly mown lawn, dark green tree leaves, bread crust, roses, dried thyme, petrichor, pumice, raw parsnip straight from the soil, fried carrots, sweet potato, rusk, puddle water, unripe persimmon, green algae. Crisp onset, sweetish but cleanly so with still some fruity notes of persimmon, tamarillo and unripe peach, lots of minerality from sharpish carbonation but also in a more 'natural' way underneath (pumice, sandstone), smooth mouthfeel, notably malty (with that typical 'heavy' but underlying rye spiciness) with a dryish main character, reminiscent of toast, bread crust, rusk and roasted pine nuts with a very light sweeter element (biscuit) lurking within; pronounced hoppiness in the finish, a tad piney, grassy and herbal, with associations of dried thyme, spruce, young wormwood leaf and tonic water, drying but blending in well with the toasty-bitter character of the malts, yet still getting the last word. I would love to have this cask-conditioned as a 'real ale' (as CAMRA defines it) but this is admittedly very impractical in a country lacking that tradition, so I probably should compare this one with the bottled English bitters I had - in which case it is arguably more 'intense', more U.S.-like hoppy and less smooth and clean, yet packed with flavour for a beer of this strength. This is bitter as interpreted by headstrong and cocky Dok, but I would love to have them brew an English bitter the 'authentic' way; in this form, it floats somewhere in between English, Belgian and American traditions when it comes to amber-coloured session ales. Putting all that aside, this remains a beautiful palatable session beer for sure and one I could enjoy for hours - have a point for that. Definitely one I will revisit tomorrow from tap at Dok's main stage in the former Ghent port - possibly in large volumes.

6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

18/V/24 - on tap @ DOK Brewing Company (Gent), BB: n/a (2024-323)

Clear blond beer, small creamy white head, unstable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: very malty, grains, hay, fruity touch, apples, sweet ripe pears. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: very sweet, a bit malty, a hint of banana, some bubble gum. Aftertaste: slightly bitter, malty, grains, some banana, ok.

6.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Clear amber brown colour lasting cream head. Brown. Malty aroma. A little brown bread flavour in the mouth. Crackers as well. Light hopping on the finish. Not much bitterness. Malty brown bitter. Ok