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

Wheat ale flavoured with Syrah grapes and therefore technically a grape ale - one of Straete's less obvious creations, showcasing this brewer's search for the special and the non-conformist, at least in a traditional Belgian context. I appreciate that, but he could have been a bit more generous: the steinie bottle containing this nectar is filled to only about two inches below the crown cap - far from full, in other words, but I did pay the full price... Opens with a mean hiss, but no gushing. Medium sized, regular, moussey, off-white, stable head on a hazed peach blonde robe with orangey salmon-ish hue, turning all murky and more amber-tinged dark orange with sediment. Aroma of bottled grape juice for kids rather than actual Syrah grapes but still some true grape odours, roses, red apple, apricot jam, white bread dough (but not necessarily all fresh), tulips, honey, cherry blossoms, orange zest, sweet potato, green banana, unripe melon, damp earth, vague background hints of sewer water and rubber somewhere - but luckily vague enough not to disturb, just a small 'tache de beauté', let us say. Very fruity onset, more 'grapeyness' in the mouth than in the nose in fact, with an acidic effect at first (though more stonefruit- or berry-like than lemony) but also sweetening and softening, pairing up with fruity esters reminiscent of pear, light banana and a dash of lingonberry; medium carb (a bit low even for this type of beer), slick sourish and doughy wheat creating a steady backbone for ongoing fruitiness, which becomes all 'rosy' and spring-like in the finish, like the fruit trees blossoming in Limburg or the first tulips and daffodils blooming. Earthy and rubbery notes come along to remind me that in fact, despite the benign and sunny weather announced for next week, we are still in winter time - disrupting the spring idyll, as it were. More sourishness from the Syrah grapes lingers in the end - but I miss that typical rich, somewhat spicy Syrah flavour (one of my favourite grape varieties if I ever have any), which I did find in e.g. a Syrah grape sour by Baghaven in Kopenhagen, from what I recall. Nevertheless this grape ale presents a refreshingly yet altogether agreeably sour, very fruity, blossomy and juicy finish, with these earthy notes trailing behind. Feels a tad amateurish and crude to be honest, but it does show a lot of potential: with some 'cleaning', perhaps a somewhat sturdier malt base and perhaps even more Syrah grapes, this could be turned into a truly delicious grape ale Italian style. As for now: an interesting start of that process, which will no doubt take a lot of time and effort.