Commissioned by VVV Eeklo, the tourist office of the town of Eeklo in the Meetjesland region (the northwestern part of Eastern Flanders, bordering on the Ghent region in the south and the Waasland region in the east); seems to have been in existence for quite some years now but never encountered it until now, in a pub next to the church of Eeklo. Used to be a plain Belgian ’outdoors café’ blonde brewed elsewhere but it seems it has now, in its Proefbrouwerij embodiment, been upgraded to a tripel; in any case one of these countless commissioned regional Belgian beers that aspire at not much more than mere regional relevance. Thick, dense, regular, creamy, snow white, very stable head over a hazy peach blonde beer with khaki hue, glowing, with fierce sparkling piercing through. Aroma of peach, banana, white pepper, dried flowers, white bread, pineapple, unripe pear, ginger powder, baker’s yeast, grass, bitter honey, old dried wormwood. Fruity onset, mildly estery with impressions of banana and pear, sweetish with residual white candi sugar on top, initially very sharp, numbing, fizzy carbonation, vague sourishness in the background, bit sourdough-like. Caramelly malt sweetness in the middle, light phenolic spicy notes, some powdery yeast effects in the end including notable yeast bitterness, grassy and floral hop bitterness as well, cut short by a glow of ’jenever’-like, warming alcohol; the malt, banana ester and white candi sugar sweetness remain. Typical thirteen-in-a-dozen sweet tripel, one of so many, but reviewed by itself, a perfectly acceptable and enjoyable one, showing off the technical skills of the Proef. I had way worse than this in the classic Belgian tripel segment.

Huge, soft-yellow dense head over clear metallic-golden beer. Inviting grapey-hoppy nose, with a liqueurish alcohol component, fine sweet syrup like malt or maple syrup. Again a mix of hop, nearly harsh even in the beginning, but grapey & perfumey all the same, and not-quite-sweet caramel. Hoppy flavours dominate, no doubt. Slight slickness, soft carbonation, medium bodied, light alcoholwarming. Very surprising - I’m sure it was brewed elsewhere (De Block, IIRC) once, then totally unnoteworthy - this Belgian near-hopbomb is outstanding, certainly in its class of touristic gimmicks.

Bottle 330ml.Clear medium yellow orange color with a average, frothy to creamy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white to white head. Aroma is moderate malty, moderate to light light heavy yeasty, soap, perfume, honey. Flavor is moderate to light light heavy sweet and moderate bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily to watery, carbonation is soft. [20091021]

Cloudy golden with a large white head. Fairly dry aroma with yeasty and malty notes. Flavour was quite spicy with malty and caramel notes. Finishes spicy and sweet.

Bottled. A hazy dark golden beer with a lazing cream colored head. The aroma has notes of malt, citrus, and straw. The flavor is sweet with notes of malt, fruit, and citrus, as well as some yeast, leading to a dry and fruity finish. Thanks fonefan for sharing.

Bottle, 8.5%. Fruity aroma, slightly farty. Hazy golden colour. Small stable white head. The flavour is a little sweet, with some grassy hoppiness. Fruity notes with a little spice. Quite good.

Bottle 33 cl. Courtesy of fonefan. Pours a clear golden with a rock solid off-white head leaving laces. Tart, bretty nose. Medium body, a little low in carbonation, sweet fruitiness and astringent Bretty accents leaving a mouthdrying finish. 211009