6

Romige blond met Belgische gist, redelijk wat koriander en citrus, had mij minder gemogen

7.4

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

Bottle. Cloudy pale yellow with an ok white head. Aroma of lemons, wheat, coriander, zest and yeast. Taste follows aroma plus lime and grains. Very lemony and tangy. Low bitterness. Medium to strong carbon. Very refreshing. A good one.

6.5

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

0.33 l can from 'AH XL' (Arnhem), best before February 2026. Slightly hazy, golden with a medium large, frothy, almost stable, off-white head. Sweetish, gently yeasty-spicy and a little fruity-floral aroma of banana, clove, lemon peel and some coriander. Gently sweet, malty, moderately bitter, quite yeasty-spicy and slightly fruity-floral taste of grains, banana, clove, vanilla, coriander and some lemon peel, followed by a short, moderately bitter finish. Medium body, smooth and gently effervescent mouthfeel, very soft carbonation. Easily drinkable, nice thirst-quencher.

6.8

Appearance - 5 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7

Old Dutch 'pre-craft' pioneer 't IJ, now in Moortgat's hands, attempting New England IPA, the hazy and fruity IPA style which has long overthrown the original West Coast IPA in being the dominant IPA idiom on the market globally (except for Belgium perhaps where the often enjoyable, but somehow hilariously unintentional "Belgian IPA" dominates...). One pour says enough: medium sized, off-white, 'Brugse kant'-like lacing, quickly breaking but otherwise stable head on a crystal clear (!) warm old golden robe with very sparse visible sparkling - not looking like a NEIPA at all. Aroma of old onions (even stale armpit sweat) above the intended tropical aromas of slight guava (more like dried peach here) and some background pineapple (canned in this case) both thinly hovering on top of impressions of toasted garlic, freshly struck matches, old dry crackers, moist white pepper, withering leek, raw parsnip. Crisp onset, not at all juicy as a NEIPA should be, some restrained fruitiness reminiscent of green pear and unripe peach with a dash of banana, again only very thinly topped with a guava streak that comes from whatever source, all moderately carbonated but still more minerally than is custom in any kind of NEIPA. Slick, cereally and very slightly toasted maltiness, sweetish and cracker-ish, supporting an aromatically expressive hoppiness rather than completely fusing with it as it ought to be - creating notes of orange, pineapple and peach more than tropical guava or papaya, even if a kind of 'fake' tropicalness hangs around; the hops provide a white pepper-ish bitter note in the end too, much more so (and more 'traditionally' so) than in a NEIPA made correctly - and, ironically, in spite of the brewery itself explicitly stating that according to them, NEIPA is "not bitter"... Still, a pleasant sweet-sourish yellow-green fruitiness hangs around after swallowing - I would even dare to use the word 'juicy', but with a lot of reservation. Look, this brewery set up its business in the eighties, about four decades before NEIPA even came into existence, so it should not suprise anyone that they act like some boomer uncle trying to be 'hip' among millennials and that seems to be what is going wrong here: though by no means an unpleasant beer, it is not a NEIPA at all - it does not even qualify as one in the margins of the genre and it is of little use trying to see this as a true NEIPA. This is essentially (and historically understandably) a Belgian IPA of sorts - read: a Belgian blonde with updated hops - made a little bit less bitter and aromatised with something guava-ish (vaguely at least). Viewed that way, an odd construction which is bound to severely disappoint consumers expecting a proper NEIPA - clearly reflected in the ratings here. I, for a change, will be a bit less harsh towards it, because it does taste quite agreeable - whenever a beer misses its intended style I feel obliged to subtract points for that, but if it is nonetheless a decent beer, this will be only symbolic, and that is basically the case here for me. So, in short: not a NEIPA (or 'NIJPA' as they put it - adding insult to injury) but a very drinkable ale as such.

6.6

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

Can at mini tasting. Quite clear yellow color, small white head. Aroma is sweet, wheat, yeasty. Flavor is similar, fortunately not so sweet. Easy drinkable. Quite okay.

6.5

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

Medium dark copper. Notes of fruit, alcohol, candied dried fruits, raisin. Medium body. It strikes me as a dubbel light in many respects. It’s decent.

6.5

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

Fles 33cl thuis. Yeasty, steenfruit, banaan, bloemig, fruitig, wat kruidig, zoetig. (12-5-2025).

6.9

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

Flasche 0,33l: Helles Bernstein, deutliche Trübung, kräftiger stabiler feinporiger Schaum; sehr fruchtige + leicht trockene Nase, trockene Zitrusnoten, Limetten, Orangenschale, leichte trockene Säure, florale/grasige Hopfenaromen, Kräuter, Koriander, Malz, Getreide, kräftige trockene Hefearomen; frischer + sehr fruchtiger Körper, leichte Zitrusnoten, dezente fruchtig-trockene Säure, Orangenschale, Limetten, kräftige florale Hopfenaromen, grasig, Koriander, Malz, Getreide, cremig, mittlere Kohlensäure, kräftige trockene Hefearomen; fruchtig-trockener Nachgang

7.3

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

Dorada nebulosa de dos dedos de bonita espuma blanca. Ligero aroma especiado, y muy de carácter belga. Cuerpo moderado, suave, bien de gas. Sabor muy agradable, equlibrado, con rica base malteada (trigo se impone), notas de caramelo y contrapunto de amargor frutal, plátano, naranja y notas especiadas.