6.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

One of those typically Belgian ales which have a story more elaborate than their flavour - and very likely a simple alias of Slaapmutske Blond, the first Slaapmutske beer ever released, now a quarter of a century ago (as I indeed remember personally). Slaapmutske is located adjacent to the city of Ghent (in Melle) so it is not surprising that now-octogenarian Etienne Flerick, the eponymous 'Tjenne De Strop', came into contact with them to produce his own beer, celebrating the processional giant (a folkloristic thing I will not digress about here) that was made in his honour; Flerick is the dean of the St. Pieters station neighbourhood in Ghent ('dean' in this case referring to an ancient, secular and 'commercial' function in the traditions of this city which I cannot digress about here either), coincidentally the neighbourhood where I live, and grew up in this vicinity, so it feels appropriate for me to be the first (and probably last) one to review this ultra-local beer... Interestingly, Flerick was also the man behind Gensch Manneke Pis, a witbier launched in 2013 and still in existence today as far as I know. Anyway, long story short: egg-white, irregular, medium thick, very stable, irregularly but persistently cobweb-lacing head over an initially crystal clear, pure golden blonde robe with 'old gold' hue and clear visible sparkling rising upwards, turning misty with sediment. Aroma of ripe banana and even some chewing gum (isoamylacetate), white bread, coriander seed, wet powder sugar, rainwater, potato juice, chamomile, hints of grass, roses, wet dog, sweetclover, old turnips, unripe pear somewhere. Fruity onset, sweetish with a lot of banana ester but also impressions of ripe pear, ripe peach and red apple, with a vaguely sourish undertone reinforced by very active, though not painfully stinging, still minerally carbonation; smooth body, feeling a tad fuller than the ABV would suggest. Simple but effective pale maltiness, sweetish with some residual, honeyish sugars on top, grainy but also agreeably white-bready in its core, flavoured with the obligatory dash of coriander that lingers (too long) over the finish, which in itself adds a floral, gentle yet effective hop bitter effect to the whole. Earthy retronasal whiffs of old potatoes and old turnips, along with all the coriander, are less pleasant. The hop bitterness spreads a bit but does so very carefully - luckily though, the rather dominant banana ester begins to fade seconds after swallowing, even though the coriander effect annoyingly remains, even with a somewhat astringently herbal, unpleasant effect. I already used up a lot of words to describe something overly simplistic: this is yet another reiteration of the eternal Belgian blonde ale, incorporating the stereotypical banana ester and even (strong!) coriander - I guess zythologists could use this as a textbook example of the style. It has been too long since I last had Slaapmutske Blond (sorry Danny!) but I am almost certain that this is just an 'etiketbier' of it - a side by side tasting seems in order, for those 'thusly inclined'. Boring to the bone, but I sincerely hope old Etienne, or indeed 'Tjenne' as they say in the local dialect, enjoys this beer in his honour - as stated above, I happen to live in his deanery so I will remain very careful in my comments...