The fifteenth one in this Nostalgia series by Kompel so far, described as a "Belgian bitter" - but not a word is spent on that lovely English bitter tradition, so I can only hope for a classic "bitter blond" Belgian style if I do not want to be disappointed too much, I guess... Eager to get out of the bottle, but no gushing. Still a huge, almost glass-filling, egg-white, foamy, busily lacing, rocky, (tetra-)hops-enhanced, cauliflower-like head is easily formed over an initially clear, yellow golden blonde robe with greenish tinge and strings of visible sparkling, turning misty further on. Aroma of croissant dough, halfripe peach, red apple, persimmon, chervil, cold tomato soup, sour cream, iron, pesto Genovese, damp straw, pond water, cooked meat, wet wool. Fruity onset, sweetish but not sweet, with a slight sourish edge; hints of persimmon, tamarillo and raw Kohlrabi are highlighted by vivid, minerally carbonation, moving into a soft bready middle with cereally edges - but in a 'spoiled' kind of way like old bread; phenolic effects meanwhile grow stronger and stronger, culminating in the 'soupy' and meaty side of 4-vinyl-guaiacol, overpowering the promised - and certainly very present - hop bitterness, which still managesrear its head when the curtains have already long fallen. A dandelion-like leafy bitterness lingers nonetheless, coating the back of the mouth, establishing the "bitter" part that the label promised. It remains a proportionally mellow bitterness, though: instead of a dry, herbal finish, I get estery yeastiness and lingering residual sugars - so sweetness - in a beer presenting itself as bitter. I know that 'bitter' and 'dry' are two totally different things (in beer and beyond), but I was really hoping for a more pure-malty, outfermented, well-hopped dry ale here - indeed something closer to classic English bitter or EPA, coincidentally or not. What I got, is the umpteenth Belgian blonde with just a tad more hops in it than average. There is worse on the market than this in the 'blonde' segment, sure, but please do not use the word 'bitter' as a noun in a zythological context if you do not know what you are talking about... And what is it with that 4-vinyl-guaiacol overdose rearing its ugly soupy head?

Bottle at home shared with Joen and Laura. Hazy yellow golden color, medium to full sized rough bubbly white head. Aroma and flavor are malts, bitter, a bit dusty, lightly yeasty. Decent body and carbonation. Okay beer.

White head over hazy orange-yellow beer. Vegetable, pale malts. Very faraway citrus, white candi sugar. Warming up, it acquires an aroma of meatstock. Oxydation (well within BBd!), again pale malts. Pineapple ester, white bread. Slick, almost sticky, good carbonation. The oxydation (malts?) gradually falls away, but remains annoying. I'm sorry, but I'm getting this Nostalgia Collection more as a cash-in gimmick.

A clear golden beer with a white head. Aroma of herbal wheat malt, strong malt, spicy hops. Taste of spicy bitter hops, herbal pale malt, high carbonation.

Trockener, hell malziger Beginn. Geringe Bitterkeit, wenig süß, leicht hefig. Unspannend. 9/8/7/7/8/7

33c bottle from Albert Heijn supermarket in Maasmechelen. F: medium, white, good retention. C: pale gold, hazy. A: malty, citrus, bit buttery, floral, coriander, orange peels. T: medium to full malty base, citrus, hay, spicy, decent bitterness, medium carbonation, this is more saison like, good one, enjoyed.

Licht troebel goudgeel bier met schuim. Smaak is licht bitter hoppig met iets van gras, wat graan en sinaasappel.