A pale blonde ale with a thin white head. In aroma, sweet fruity malt with light grassy floral hops, light German hops, light mineral notes, pleasant. In mouth, a nice light herbal malt with citrusy floral hops, grapefruit pulp, resinous and smooth. Bottle at VIP Lounge Mondial 2016.

On tap @ Irreale. Golden color, white head with good retention and nice lacing. Aroma has notes of resin hops, tropical fruits, some citrus. Flavor has a decent bitterness, notes of pine, some grapefruit, lychee, light tangerine and orange peel. Good bitterness in the final with good duration.

Hazy blond colour with lasting head. Aroma and flavour have some pale malts. Light hoppiness. Easy going session beer.

Light brown colour. Aroma has lots of floral notes and some toasted malt. Flavour has nice floral hops. Well balanced and very sessionable.

Golden colour. Aroma and flavour are strong with green, piney hops and a hint of citrus. Fresh malty flavour too.

330ml bottle, l 28, bought at Gourmet Experience Alicante. Lots of dimples to a decent white head with fine retention. Scattered lacing. Next to clear golden. Fresh fruity cocktail on the nose, hints of peach and citrus. Succulent taste as well, peachy added by grapefruit. Citrus peel bitterness to the ending. Soft in the mouth. Medium bodied. Very refreshing and tasty (hotel room, Alicante 30.05.2016).

Kölsch from Basque Country (Spanish part) - the craft beer movement is everywhere and local styles can emerge in places which historically have nothing to do with them; in fact I even think ’Kölsch’ is a name protected by the European Union since 1997, so how come this brewery can put this word on their label? Anyway: interesting find, but Kölsch is a delicate issue so I wonder if they managed to convey its subtleties. Medium thick, moussy, off-white head retaining well on the edges and in patches in the middle; colour is a beautiful old gold, like a golden ring, clear with lively fizz. Aroma of toasted white bread, damp cloth, dry hay, field flowers, wet paper, minerals, melting butter, old cheese, some vague fried egg. Restrained onset, fairly neutral at first but some very subdued unripe pear- and apple-like fruitiness does show up in a mildly spritzy, minerally environment, with some very soft, very basic sourishness. Mouthfeel is supple, tingling and light, shaped by a grainy pale malt body with a pleasantly bready aspect to it. This light and frail malty (and therefore non-yeasty) breadiness carries on in the finish, where it is accompanied by a well-measured hop bitterness of lightly peppery, very floral and grassy Euro noble hops, aromatic and sufficiently bittering and drying at the same time. I would have to taste this side by side with a couple of ’authentic’ Kölsch beers from Cologne, but purely based on experience, I think this Basque brewery nailed it: this beer is indeed very credibly Kölsch in all its aspects. It has a restrained noble hop character, restrained fruitiness due to cold lagering and a light, delicate malt body, features which typify any of the classic German Kölsch beers. Traditional and ’narrow’ as this style may be, it is good to revisit a classic European beer style every now and then even if it is produced by a not so classic micro brewery... Well done, better than most other non-German attempts at Kölsch I tasted so far.

33cl bottle. Pours almost clear orange golden colour with a mid sized good lasting off-white head. aRoma of intense hoppy tropical fruits, spruce. Taste of intense bitter hops, very fruity, tropical fruits, spruce, long bitter finish, delicious!

Bottle in the hotel. Pours deep amber, nose is burnt toffee, roasted, light dung, taste is sweet, chewy toffee, roasted.