6.9

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

Hefty tripel created by Danny De Smet's Slaapmutske, one of those household names in Belgian ale brewing, for an online beer shop in Lommel (Limburg), which is the only place where it can be bought. Thick and frothy, snow white, dense, very stable head lacing in thick patches of 'plaster' over a misty golden blonde robe with ochre-ish tinge. Weird aroma of dusty old cardboard, old dry cheese rind, musty 'herbes de Provençe', dried banana, very old clove or even cumin seed, mustard seed, wet paprika powder, 'oude jenever', chervil 'minute' soup, stewed leek, old wornout natural rubber, chamomile, sweaty feet, dried flowers. Dryish onset, hints of green pear, unripe peach and a dash of green olive somewhere, nowhere really sweet, with fizzy yet fine-bubbled carbonation; rounded, full mouthfeel, dried white-bready and cereally pale malt character under ongoing 'unripe' fruits and growing spiciness, culminating in accents of clove, thyme, dried grapefruit peel, fenugreek and even cumin seed, as if pulling open my grandmother's old spice rack. This spiciness also has a very cheesy side, and the association with (old) cumin or even nettle cheese is easily made - interesting for food pairing I guess, if you look at it from the bright side. Hops behave very herbaceous, only accentuating that cumin cheese-like aspect but providing extra dryness over an already dry beer, until warming, gin-like alcohol requests the floor and adds even more spiciness, dryness and astringency, though admittedly the latter remains in check. Very weird beer, probably an old bottle already showing significant signs of ageing; I can imagine this 'pimped' (and remarkably cheesy in the literal sense of the word) version of Slaapmutske Tripel being more supple when it was young and matching well with certain types of food, but in this rather aged form, it behaves rather stubbornly and rigidly, and I cannot honestly say that I enjoyed it. Sorry De Bierproeverij - you have treated me well in the few times I placed an order, but surely a better beer can at least be conceived as your own personal house beer...