Bottled. Lively, but not as lively as the Ambrée. Reddish brown colour with a mediumsized off-white head that leaves some lace. Aroma is sweet malts, caramel, some yeast, mild spices as well as some slight toffeeish notes. Flavour is candy sugar, some spices, yeast, sweet malts and mild ripe fruits.

Bottled. Slightly hazy orangeish amber colour with a huge foamy white head. Oh and Gusher warning. Aroma is sweet malts, some bready, caramelly and yeasty notes along with mild herbs and some slight grass. Flavour is sweet malts, some floral, grassy and herbal notes along with some yeast as well.

Bottled. Hazy ambery golden colour, with a small white head. Aroma is slightly spicy and herbal along with some fruity and sweet malty notes. Flavour is sweet malts, some spices, yeast, mild fruity and floral notes with some slight grassy bitterness as well. Lovely and very refreshing.

Draught at The Grand Delancey: pours light gold with white head. Floral and herbal. Dry and bitter. Nice pefumey floral notes. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Bottle 75 cl. Very lively in the bottle - semi gusher. Cloudy golden with a fluffy, white head. Lots of yeast sediment in the bottle. Fruity, flowery nose. Rich, sweet, fruity body with a lowish carbonation. Some yeastinees but otherwise quite frish and asily drinkable with little bitterness. 100223

Collab of Dok in Ghent and Au Baron in northern France, bottled in 75 cl bottles; this is the second time Dok takes on the historical ‘uitzet’ beer (the first time was with de la Senne), a beer style invented in 1730 south of Ghent and becoming very popular in the larger Ghent area in the 18th and 19th centuries. Different stories circulate concerning the origin of the name – the verb ‘uitzetten’ means both ‘to expand’ and ‘to switch off’ in Dutch, and I have heard explanations for both meanings. Apart from regular uitzet, a ‘dubbel uitzet’ also existed, as a stronger version – and this stronger version is what both breweries intended to recreate with this one. Very thick and foamy, egg-white, membrane-lacing, stable head, towering over an initially clear orangey apricot blonde beer, turning deeper orangey and misty with sediment. Aroma of apple peel, Conference pear, rusk, white bread crust, clove, chamomile, raw turnip, carrots, straw, sweetclover and other field flowers. Fruity onset in a dryish yet lively way, unripe apricot, green pear, apple peel; sharpish fizzy carbonation (but this seems to have been typical for this style originally as well), smooth and rounded body. Dryish bread-crusty, wholegrain cracker- and rusk-like malts, grainy edges but ‘full’ enough for a ‘dubbel’ uitzet, some soapiness and spicy notes (clove, coriander even if not actually used, thyme, nutmeg) followed by a very long-stretched, earthy, leafy and rooty hop bitterness, lingering for a long time and strongly drying the finish. I was not expecting this kind of ‘end bitterness’, to be honest, but I was not around in the 18th century to taste original dubbel uitzet, of course; I still think this hop dosage is influenced by present-day craft beer influences and by the enthusiasm of both the collaborating breweries (both known to be hop-loving). Other than that and strict historical accuracy aside, this is a characterful, ‘rustic’, very saison-like Belgian ale, which I certainly enjoyed.

Pours darker, unclear amber. Scent is mild amber malty, vegetal hops, distant chocolate. Scent is bitter, very bitter even. Herbal, bit vegetal. Creamy maltbase. Mild bisquit, coockie.