MBCC. Light hazy red brown with an off-white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, dark fruit, tart and wood. Flavor is medium sweet and moderate acidic. Dry and moderate acidic finish. 100524

Batch #3. Picked up at the now defunct Pernis shop in Arnhem. Brown with an immediately fading foamy head. Woody and fruity aroma that’s a mix of spruce and (I guess) blackthorn. Black currant, a dash of Worcestershire sauce, and plenty of funk round it out. In all, some nice sniffing. Taste is tart with an underlying oak-like bitterness setting up a nice contrast. Medium-bodied, moderate carbonation, dry. Offbeat and yet refreshing. Nice!

Dark sour by Nevel, flavoured with beech bark, blossoming blackthorn and spruce and pine branches; 75 cl bottle shared by Nevel afficionado (and Ghent beer club president) Erwin P., thanks! Medium thick, pale greyish white, delicate but fairly stable, membrane-lacing head, cloudy mahogany brown robe with coppery-reddish hue. Aroma of cooked blackberries, white yoghurt, red apple peel, tree leaves or indeed bark, birch oil rather, fir needles but only very faintly so, cherry tree resin, damp earth, moldy acorns. Crisp, fruity, tart onset, blackcurrant and hard pear notes, redcurrant sourness, medium carb, supple and lean body; hard-caramelly, brown-bready and slightly walnutty maltiness with a mild toasty accent, under a resinous tree bark effect which only those familiar with birch tree applications could possibly recognize; a floral aspect from the sloe blossom does appear, but again subtle enough to be attributable to hops just as easily. Herbal and earthy aspects in the finish, with a ‘metallic’ sourness lingering (red berries), but in a relatively gentle way. Gracious, elegant sour ale – the elegance and ‘slenderness’ I am used to from Nevel; ‘oud bruin’ in a postmodern, earthy yet refined way, the Nevel way I would say. Nice, though I would not have minded that for once, Nevel would have opted for a more ‘robust’ approach and give those conifer elements more space, as in this form they remain atypically subtle.

29/I/22 - 75cl bottle @ Alengrin’s place, BB: 3/VIII/24, bottled: 3/VIII/21 (2022-127) Thanks to Erwin for sharing the bottle!

A little cloudy red brown to dark brown beer, small creamy beige head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: funky, spicy, weird, bit fruity, wood notes, spicy, weird. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: rather soapy, weird, bit acidic, slightly fruity, sourish, piny, bit resinous, some vinegar. Aftertaste: fruity, a little sweet, herbal bitterness, funky, dry, tannins, spicy touch, nice!

Fles 37,5cl thuis. Batch #3. Droog, zuren, hout, fruit, bittertonen, berkenbast, pine, sleedoorn, spar, kruidig. Korte nadronk. (7-1-2022).

Bottled. A hazy brown beer with a thin tan head. The aroma has notes of wood, brett, botanicals, lemons, and malt. The flavor is a bit sour with notes of wood, botanicals, lemons, brett, and wood, leading to a dry finish.