Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Donkerbruin tot zwart bier met mooie bruine romige schuimkraag. Smaak is bitterzoet met heel veel chocolade, wat koffie en een vleugje whiskey om het af te maken.

meug festival 2022

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

Pours unclear, warm blonde. Small white head. Scent is raw grains, funky yuzu. Taste is mildly acidic, full, malty, yuzu. Easy drinker !

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

The festival beer of this year’s Meug Tastingfestival in Antwerp, from a trusted Antwerp brewing company; sour IPA (fermented with Lachancea so technically a so-called ‘Philly sour’) flavoured with yuzu, a Japanese kind of citrus fruit. Snow white, irregular and dissolving, loose head on a cloudy straw-yellow blonde beer with ochre-ish tinge. Aroma of indeed lots of yuzu but in a somewhat ‘moldy’ way, yoghurt, mango juice, rainwater, sourdough, apricot flesh, hint of ‘putteke’ (sewer water) which may or may not be related to the tap. Crisp fruity onset, very citric with the yuzu being clear and bright enough, hints of guava and unripe pineapple as well, lively carbonated; supple body, sourdoughy core but the sour aspect – as usual with Lachancea – remains subtle and soft, as a yoghurty lacing clashing a bit with a citrus pith and hoppy bitter note in the end. This yellow-green, sweet-sour, utterly citrusy fruitiness, however, prevails, so that the whole does end as refreshing and elegant as expected. Acceptable enough, but still some ups and downs here, lacking a bit in colour and brightness for a flavoured sour IPA. Maybe fermentation with the old lactic bacteria (and kettle souring) would give an even more crisp, ‘sunny’ effect?

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 9 | Overall - 8

An ‘Antwerpian oud bruin’ by the Cabardouche guys, aged in whisky barrels and very strong for its genre; at Meug Tastingfestival. Medium thick, pale greyish beige, moussy, slowly breaking and diminishing head, very dark chestnut brown robe with wine red glow. Intense and alluring bouquet of passionfruit coulis, vanilla-scenting oak wood, blackberry juice, medium dry sherry, caramel sauce, tawny port, whisky, candied dates, wet leather, fruit yoghurt, fermenting plums, hints of brandy, cream, dusty old attic. Estery onset, sweet and thick ‘dark fruitiness’, cooked plum, blackberry juice and passionfruit, medlar; lovely tart edge, remaining relatively soft but nevertheless adding a drying, deeply lactic and yoghurty effect to a full, caramelly, pecan-nutty and slightly toffeeish malt sweetness. Further complexity comes from the wood, with that lovely vanilla effect and drying tannins; a deep red wine-like fruitiness and vinosity ensues, stretching a long way into the throat, with warming port wine-like effect, still adorned with lovely ‘autumny’ dark and cooked fruit notes. Generous, complex, ‘baroque’ interpretation of an ancient style – and seen its strength, the Anglo-Saxons would probably refer to it as an ‘imperial’ oud bruin. Great beer in my humble opinion, perhaps even the greatest created by Cabardouche so far…

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

Small off-white hed; hazy orangeish golden beer. White candi sugar, alcohol, some light perfumey aroma (the elderflower?), and... cocos, liquorice. Classical, somewhat sweet tripel, some human sweat in the finish. Not very attenuated, it would seem. Faint fruitiness. Almost chewy, very well-carbonated. Elderflower, usually very imposing, but not here - why? Might have been slightly more outspoken. NB: I love that name, superb find. Txs to Stef!

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Very dense build head, whipped eggwhite-like, over veiled orange-ochre beer. Inviting, fruity C-hops, with hints of carpet smell, musk, vegetable oil. Sweet-ish, chalk, finish being drier. Again vegetable frying oil; dry grains. Quite slick, oily, yet still rather light body. Very good carbonation. Not bad, but there's better around. I keep fearing that homegrown C-hops just don't give the same results as those grown in the USA. Thanks to Stef!

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

Pours a darker copper, fairly unclear. Small white head. Medium low stability. Scent is sharp, cardamom, quite OPing, no balance. Taste is medium thin, bit sweet, cardamom, mild bitterness. Fairly quad-style typical, OK at best, but unbalanced and too weak for its ABV to me.

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6

Pours a hazed blonde. Medium large white head. Scent is full, lemongrass. Yuzu is very specific, fairly loud, but a bit simple. Taste is sharp, overly aromatic, drying spices, balance is very lost here - making it even a bit soapy. Sourness is a bit of a joke, and seems to be more by the yuzu than the actual basebeer.

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6.5 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6

Pours a hazed blonde. Medium small white head. Scent is very bready, spicy by the rye. Taste is simple, rye, tad sweet backbone. BE style yeast. Mild bitterness. Very boring, too yeasty beer.