7.5

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

Bottle picked up from Dranken Geers, Oostakker, Belgium, consumed at home, Attenkirchen, Bavaria, Sunday 31st March 2019. Pours hazy gold/orange with a large white head. Wow another cracker, bitter as you like. Citrus (sweet pink grapefruit) rapidly turns to a lovely furry zappy bitterness. Excellent.

7.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

One of Brabant’s several IPA variations, 75 cl bottle as usual for this interesting brewery. Coarse and large-bubbled, but thick and stable, eggshell-white, tightly cobweb-lacing head over a hazy warm orange-tinged peach blonde beer with a vague khaki tinge to it. Aroma of fresh absinthe wormwood leaves, dried pine needles and spruce shoots, grapefruit juice, bitterroot liqueur, bread crust, fried carrots, white pepper, peach, apple peel, some background pineapple. Flavour kicks off with estery fruitiness, hinting at peach, light apple and a touch of pineapple, restrained in sweetness though, with a mild underlying sourishness – and early announcements of hops, an ominous sign at this point… Carbonation is medium, with a supple, bit oily mouthfeel, established by a bread crust- and lightly toasty maltiness – and then it’s there: a massive amount of resinous, tonic water-, angostura bitter- and yellow grapefruit flesh-like, spicy hop bitterness that lasts and lasts, and dries out the finish completely, even though some of the yeasty fruitiness and breadiness survives. The hops release bitter flower- and pine resin-like aromas retronasally. This is a Belgian IPA that begins where others stop: ‘hop bitterness’ as a central feature of classic IPA is taken to its logical extremes here, resulting in a ‘bitter’ in the purest sense of the word, almost to a medicinal level, rather than a delicately aromatic, modern IPA. It takes a serious hophead to work through this – but I can take a lot of hop bitterness myself so I enjoyed this, for being different and utterly quenching on a mild spring evening. Brabant may miss its target completely sometimes, but everything Fred does, is fascinating to say the least – and this audacity and originality still makes me a fan of this brewery.

6.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

(Thank you!) Sampled draft @ Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2017. Low hazy orange, white big bubbles. Nose is weir aromatic orange peel, very perfume hop, esoteric oil hop. Taste is hop oil in a very strange aromatic oil & perfume way, orange peel concentrate oil. Another peculiar unique Brabant IPA, not to my personal taste but interesting & unique for sure.

6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Sampled @ Billie's Craft Beer Fest 2017. A slightly hazy dark golden beer with a small white head. Aroma of sweet orange fruits, zest, yeast. Taste of sweet orange fruits, soft floral bitter hops.

6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6

7 3 6 2 12 Draft at Billie's Craft Beer Fest '17. Hazy orange with no head. Aroma of oak, leather, light funk and light fruits. Flavour is light to moderate sweet and heavy bitter. Light medium bodied with soft carbonation.

5.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Bottle. Etre Gourmet. Pale amber, with a soft haze. Thin, dense, lasting, lacing, off white head. Nose has stewed vine fruits. Stewed, green and leafy hop. Bit of a wet cardboard thing. Taste is stewed hop, astringently bitter. Some acidity on the palate. Long, harsh bitterness to finish. Not very good, frankly.

Andrew B. Ta m8.

7.1

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Clear warm golden colour, white head. Hoppy aroma, resin, leather, apricot. Quite sweet malty flavour, light bitter, tropical fruits. Hoppy finish.
(from 75cL bottle shared @ home)

6.2

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

11th January 2016
Very hazy gold beer, big fluffy pale cream colour head. Palate is dry and fairly crisp. A dry floral bitterness along with pithy citrus bitterness. Mild dry seltzer. Floralness turns mildly soapy. Dry bitter finish. Quite a harsh IPA.