Huge beige head, jet-black beer. Big stable head hampering the nasal perception, but I get dark roasted malts, hops with a bit of ureum. Sweet, dry-roasted malts, but lots of underlying sweetness, even honey. Finish has a herbal touch. Well-bodied, slick to viscous. It’s OK, but it just doesn’t spark as some similar (foreign?) I.Stouts.

Another Cabardouche beer, with thickly cobweb lacing, very pale greyish white, dense, thick head leaving a papery texture on the wall of the glass, and lightly hazy, pure golden colour with calm fizz, misty with deposit. Aroma in first instance reminds me of (subtle) American hops: citrussy and very floral. I get impressions of tangerine, lemon blossom, chamomille, a hint of spruce, acacia honey, yellow grapefruit peel, butter, green apple, unripe plum, fresh white bread, soapy starfruit, faint hints of white pepper, banana and freshly cut grass. Crisp, fairly clean onset, gooseberry, green apple and pineapple with just a subtle banana component, minerally, spritzy, very refreshing with a citrus peel edge; fairly strong carb, souring a bit. Satisfying pale malt sweetishness in the middle, a bit bready, lean and smooth, with a dash of yeasty spiciness (phenols) but nothing disturbing. Finishes in a subtle green olive-like umami flavour, a light salty touch, persisting malt and yeasty fruit sweetishness but, most importantly, a peppery, lightly citrussy, very floral hoppiness, aromatic (though gently so) as well as deeply bittering and drying without becoming too harsh; a juicy maltiness passes through. I was skeptical about another Belgian blonde, but these guys nailed it: this will not change the Belgian beer landscape, but it has achieved perfect balance between malt sweetness, estery fruitiness and hop bitterness. I’d have this over dozens of other Belgian blondes any time. Well considered, well conceived and well executed: this, to me, belongs to the top of an otherwise boring style, right up there with e.g. Westvleteren Blond or that elusive Westmalle Extra. A fine one indeed. This new beer company clearly knows what they are doing, tuning in to the international (American inspired) trends like more new Belgian micro breweries ought to do. The cross-pollination between these new American styles and the old European traditions is about the most exciting thing happening in Europe at the moment, and Cabardouche understood it; the tongue-in-cheek references to prostitution, because that is basically what it is, can only fit in surrealist Belgian context. I am out now, on the lookout for their third beer!

Bottle at billies beer cafe. Pours black, nose is roasted, dung, salty toffee, taste is similar, a little thin, light coffee.

Bottle at Kulminator. Black pour. Aroma of roasted coffee, salty licorice and malt. Taste is creamy and thick, with milky coffee and salty licorice. Not bad.

Bottle from Wijnegemse Drankenhal. Apparently a new Antwerp beer company brewing at Pirlot and honouring the Belgian tradition of cheekiness in its beer names. Thickly moussy, lacing, tan coloured, dense head over an extremely dark hazy bronze beer - looking totally black in the glass. Interesting aroma which I’d say is typical for ’Belgian stouts’: a combination of thick, roasted maltiness with Belgian yeastiness. I get impressions of baker’s chocolate, cold black coffee, dried banana, a lot of freshly cut thistles, a pleasant surprising bourbon odour though it is not BBA, walnuts, dried weeds, black tea, ’bloody’ iron, caramel, pear syrup, bayleaf, some burnt wood and a lot of toasted bread. Sweet onset but not cloyingly so, raisins, dried plums and a hint of pear, slick and full mouthfeel but not really as viscous as one would expect from a 9% ABV stout; a ’deep’, dull sourishness provides balance. Carbonation stays gentle and refined, as it should be in this style. A creamy, nutty maltiness follows, well-rounded and pleasant enough, evolving in a roasted bitterness of fondant chocolate and cold coffee, not too refined but certainly effective. The deep sourishness pairs well with the roasted bitterness in the finish; a peppery hop accent provides a ’lighter’, more herbal bitterness and a dash of warming, rhum-like alcohol rounds it off, but tingles a bit on the root of the tongue as well, on the edge of becoming wry without actually doing so; a retronasal coffee grounds effect reminds you of the fact you just swallowed a big and ambitious stout, and so does a trace of condensed chocolate sauce sweetness lingering at the back. I love stouts and am easily offended when they are badly made, as I have encountered a few times in this country, but this one passes: the nose is still very ’Belgian’, yeasty, herbal, banana ester and somewhat phenolic probably more than it should be, the body needs more density and viscosity, but the flavour as such does deliver, it has sufficient roastedness and ’boldness’. This has been made with care, that much is clear, and though it is not quite there yet, I can feel this brew may carry a lot of potential in it. Interesting find.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Bieren Cabardouche Blonde Stoot (by Bieren Cabardouche):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 11/20, MyTotalScore: 3.2/5

30/V/15 - 33cl bottle from a trade @ Hoek (NL) - BB: 6/III/17 (2015-735) Thanks to 77ships for the trade!

Little hazy deep blond to orange beer, creamy white head, little stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: very fruity, citrus, bit floral, soapy touch, grassy, spicy. MF: lots of carbon, medium to light body. Taste: pretty bitter, grassy, bit sourish, lemony, spicy, coriander, bit metallic, soapy. Aftertaste: little bitter, coriander, soapy, floral. Average but decent.

Bottle @ Olala, served with a platter of special chocolates next to it. Pours unclear blonde, with a good white head. Smell is ;ildly hopped with some grain touches. Taste is surprisingly bitter - which is nice to break the layer of our chocolate-snacks - and has some hoparoma. Good mouthfeel, nice intensity for the ABV. Good drinking beer, but nothing really new.