On tap at ’t Brugs Brugge. Hazy amber colour lasting cream head. Hoppy as hell. A little perfume. Ok malts. Hoppy finish. Really good ipa. Continued to enjoy it over the 30 mins it took to drink. Excellent

(Draught at Chez Moeder Lambic Fontainas, Brussels, 20 May 2017) Hazy amber colour with frothy, off-white head, leaving traces of lacing. Malty, fruity nose with dried apricots, orange peel and caramel. Malty, hoppy taste with notes of citrus, grapefruit, orange peel, apricot marmalade, a touch of resin and a generous citric bitterness. Medium body, with a touch of sweetness.Tasty and well made, with a generous hop presence. Nice one.

Bottled 23rd Marxh 17, at Nuetnigenough, Brussels, 7th June 17. Pours Amber, neat head. Aroma is pine yeast, citrus. Taste is pine, bitter citrus, some Belgian yeast. Tasty and enjoyable.

Bottle at the 7th Tasting in Belgrade-Serbia, result of a trade or so (thank you Marko). Pours a cloudy amber color with a off-white cap. Nose: caramel forward, candy sugar, hoppy accent. Mouth: some dry fruit,bitter and piney predominant character, good but not what I usually look for. Belgian complexity does not always go well with hops.

I bought this without know how (potentially) old it was - it was on sale, so that should have tipped me off - I went back and forth on whether to even rate it and decided I would because 1. It’s actually in pretty good shape and 2. I still see it on shelves in quite a few local stores, so it’s definitely still on the market - anyway - there’s certainly a touch of oxidation and a slight staleness to some of the malt character, but it is very minor, and the hops are still spicy, zesty, peppery, with complex floral and fruity characteristics - the overall malt structure is still firm, crackery - the carbonation is tight and frothy - finish is still pretty juicy - just a solid IPA that is showing slight signs of age - the strengths still overshadow/wash out the slight signs of degradation - given the price I got it for (one buck a bottle), I might actually go back and buy the rest.

Had this already several years ago but rated it rather superficially, so I bought a fresh bottle for re-rating. Collab of Senne with two of the most renowned American craft brewers, re-released recently, bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck. Thick and stable but slowly opening, egg-white, densely structured head leaving behind a beautiful pattern of ’papery’ lacing on the edges, over a lightly hazy, deep and warm orange blonde beer. Aroma of orange peel, pink grapefruit flesh, dried apricot, ripe peach, unripe green banana, bread crust, pink pepper, tangerine, lavender, sugarloaf, wormwood, vague hints of stale sweat, damp soil and strawberry. Fruity, bit estery onset, crisp, dried apricot and unripe banana hints with a dash of red apple peel, restrainedly sweetish with sourish edges, feeling very ’Belgian’ but fortunately not drenched in banana ester like many other Belgian IPAs, with sharpish, bit minerally carbonation, yet acceptable for this style. Bready and very lightly caramelly, eventually bit toasty maltiness in the middle, some of the fruitiness lingering, hints of phenolic spiciness, but quickly dominated by a lovely hop character, providing retronasal dried citrus peel, light exotic pepper and some dried tropical fruit aromas as well as a firm, long-stretched, spicy, leafy bitterness drying the back of the mouth in a resinous, well-dosed manner; juicy malts and remainders of the fruity esteriness pierce through subtly. Well-balanced ’Belgian style IPA’ tilted more to the international (or - originally - American West Coast) end of the spectrum than most other Belgian IPA attempts, which should come as no surprise seen the involvement of Pizza Port and Lost Abbey; in that sense, this is likely among the best Belgian IPAs I had so far, especially considering the fact that Brasserie de la Senne specializes in tuning up Belgian traditions to make them fit international standards while at the same time remaining true to heritage and ’terroir’. Exemplary, but I must admit I prefer Senne’s ’wild’ (Brett-refermented) beers over this, certainly in comparison with the tidal wave of international IPAs making use of these New World hops we have been experiencing for years now.

Tap at Maxs. Unfiltered, deep orange-brown. Not that impressive. Malty and thick, with a noble hop balance. Doesn’t really have any of the fruity esters you might expect from a Belgian IPA. Leaning way into the toffee, caramel malt. OK, sort of uninspired, not much of an IPA.