Stoner Witch

Bottle from BrusselsBeerBox, a rye pale ale by No Science, one of that bunch of new micro brewing projects which are flourishing in our capital nowadays. Tightly 'paper-lacing', beaten egg-white, moussy, frothy head slowly dissipating in the middle but generally very stable, over a lightly hazy, 'sunny' yellow golden beer, like a golden ale, with deeper 'old gold' tinge, turning milky and more ochre-tinged with sediment. Aroma of lime pie and lemon rind (the Equinox no doubt), meringue, pear, unripe banana, baker's yeast, powder sugar, ripe green melon, sweetclover flowers, crushed black peppercorns (probably the Columbus), bath foam, starfruit, green apple flesh, white bread. Fruity, crisp onset, green apple, unripe banana, green melon and starfruit notes with a sweetish character without actually becoming sweet, fizzing with a minerally, lively carbonation (a tad numbing at first even but not over the top); white bread slice-like, rounded grainy malt body, only very subtly sweetish again with traces of the green-yellow fruit lingering on top and the graininess accentuated by the rye - but early on, a very firm, grapefruity, long-stretched, almost tonic water-ish hop bitterness comes up, dominating the second half of the palate, in a resinous but still elegantly aromatic way, pushing up floral, yellow grapefruit and even lightly piney notes retronasally. Ends confidently hop bitter and in that sense indeed very drying, spicy and cleansing, but the more frisky fruity notes and white bready maltiness linger as well. In all, a clean, rather audacious, very robustly bittering session ale, pale ale-like in its cleanness but slightly saison-ish as well, in its quenching dryness, pillowy head and highly sessionable character. Perhaps a tad too harshly bitter for some (as I read in many of the comments below), but I can handle it and I suppose a few months in the cellar may have done this beer well. Technically very well-made, there is no denying that, no uncontrolled yeasty effects disturb the malt and hops too much which in itself is very un-Belgian; it seems most of these new Brussels brewing initiatives are tilting towards this type of moderate ABV, modern, hoppy and dry session pale ales and they - including No Science - perform that self-imposed task very well. Most of this specific 21st-century type of Belgian ales draw heavily from contemporary Anglo-Saxon influences or can even easily be identified with them, but the very best ones retain a connection with Belgian traditions in being a tad more yeast-forward than your average Anglo-Saxon golden ale or pale ale would be; this one similarly has an old school saison-ish flair to it, making it all the more interesting. Very hop-forward, modern interpretation of a saison, I'd argue. Liked it a lot.

Hazy golden color white head. Aroma of peppery herbal straw. Taste is lightly spiced blonde beer, if I'm reading my handwriting correctly.

On tap in Moeder Lambic Fontinais,, Brussels, in the company of Dad, Barry and Scott Thursday 7th March 2018 Hazy cloudy yellow with a slim white head, bitter but not excessively so, dry, really quite dry. It's really nice. A6 A3 T7 P4 Ov15 3.5

Pours rather unclear darker blonde. Small but stable white head. Smell is bitter, grassy, spiced. Very european hops, very intense. Taste is bitter, rather dry. Sharp, intense. Full ob european hop profile. Quite well brewed, very enjoyable, of course this'll be extreme to most. But I like it !

F: big, white, good retention. C: pale gold, hazy with milk yeasty particles. A: citrus, tangerine, bit bready, grapefruits, bit tropical fruits, yeast. T: malty back bone, dry long lasting harmonic bitterness on the palate, bit orange, tangerine, bit herbal, really very dry, I like IBU and there is 80 so good why not for hopheads, medium body and carbonation, enjoyed, 33cl bottle from the brewery.

From tap. Pours hazy orange with a huge white head. Aroma is grassy and citrusy. Mild teaish. Solid hopoy. Bitter, dry and slight herbal to teaish. Citrusy and peachy. Teaish hoppy finish.

Tap at Moeder Fontainas. Slight hazy golden with fluffy white head. Dank weedy hops, green onion, sweat, quite a lot of spicy notes that are maybe the rye but also seem very yeasty and flowery in origin. Soft lime, sweet malts, bready. Under medium sweet and over medium bitter. Bit over medium bodied. Rough.