De Proefbrouwerij

Contract Brewer in Lochristi, East Flanders, Belgium 🇧🇪

Established in 1996

Contact
Doornzelestraat 20, Lochristi, 9080, Belgium
Description
De Proefbrouwerij was founded by Dirk Naudts en Saskia Waerniers and is specifically equipped for the development and production of beers for third parties. Clients are beer architects, start-up or already existing breweries, or individual initiatives. A flexible and automated technology is indispensable for innovation. That is why the brewery always invests in the latest technology. This allows us to respond perfectly to customer demand.

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

11th May 2022
Can. Light haze on this pale yellowish gold beer, small bubbly white head. Palate is light and semi dry and semi dry, decent fine carbonation. Thin malts that seem to contribute to the dryness. Impressive hopping here from Brulo, much like their Sabro version. The Idaho 7 provide piney citrus with a nice tropical fruit backbone, quite pineappley here. Finishes light and semi dry. Good hop soda again from Brulo and I mean that as a genuine compliment.

Tried from Can on 11 May 2022 at 22:17


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

33cl bottle (BBF: 21/08/2024 so probably bottled 21/08/2019) from Prik & Tik Dranken Marlou. F: huge, white, long lasting. C: deep gold, hazy. A: malty, brett, bit orange, funky, apricots, banana, grapefruits, cheesy. T: medium malty base, light orange, banana, grapefruits, funky, light “brettiness”, bit like Orval so nice experience here, medium carbonation, good, refreshing, enjoyed.

Tried from Bottle on 09 May 2022 at 18:21


5.9
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Smell- belgian yeast, caramel, faint banana, wheat. Foam- thin, malty, Belgian, weak sweetness, acidic sweetness, pleasant notes. Head is large, and white color. Sticks. Appearance- generic bottle cap, mixed with paper label, removable, bonus to that, but not enough for the full point.Clear orange-amber, no carbonation. From - pint Taste sweet, sugary, malt, Belgian tones, more sugar and sweetness. Very sweet beer, even too sugary for my taste. Just plain sugar at end...sme citric acid feel...

Tried from Bottle on 03 May 2022 at 21:22


5.2
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

@ Parochiecentrum Aalter. Clear blond colour, white foam. Light sweet, cooked vegetables, light tart, unbalanced. Bad.

Tried on 02 Apr 2022 at 20:04


3.3
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 3.5 | Texture - 3 | Overall - 3

A new one arisen from the minds of marketeers rather than brewers (or even people passionate about actual beer): the renewed alcohol-free beer hype connected with another thing many Belgians - not including myself - are passionate about, namely sports. I hear from young amateur cyclists that beverages exist with added proteins and amino acids (as is the case here), intended to bring these elements back into balance after heavy exercise, and this one transplants this idea to what is apparently intended as an alcohol-free IPA. Remains the question of where it is brewed: the website mentions that the site where it is brewed is located in Sint-Denijs-Westrem (municipality of Ghent and not far from where I live), and that the guy behind it collaborated with the Leuven university to develop it; apart from that, I have seen this Thrive pop up in almost every drinks store I visited lately, vans drive around in the region with the logo and name of the product depicted all over them, it is available in both cans and bottles, the distribution network seems huge for a 'newby' and so on. No way am I going to believe that this guy brews all of it himself in the Adelaarsstraat where he lives - despite what he claims, and I eagerly await the day when this kind of consumer deception will be severely punished; for the time being and based on vague circumstantial indications, I am going to assume that - like so many other new beers in the larger region - BeerSelect must be behind it again. Please do correct this if I am wrong. Now on to this product, everything about which fills me with suspicion as I have now stated clear enough: very thick and foamy, snow white, very rocky, intricately 'Brugse kant'-like lacing, highly stable head on a crystal clear, pale yellow blonde beer with vague greenish tinge and visible sparkling. Aroma of vegetable stock cubes, old dry hay, plaster, spoiled celery, dried field flowers, paper glue, freshly ironed synthetic fabric, dusty old allspice powder, apple peel, unsugared bubblegum. Slick, clean onset, no true fruitiness, sweetish but not outspokenly sweet, more softly carbonated than expected but I suspect the added proteins create an additional creaminess compensating for this; indeed quite a glueish, 'gummy', slick mouthfeel ensues, with thin graininess underneath, soon bittered by a grassy, somewhat dull hoppiness which for an IPA (even a non-alcoholic one) should have been much more aromatic. Meanwhile that spoiled celery, vegetable stock cube and old allspice effect returns retronasally in full force - making that end bitterness even less elegant and reminding me a bit of De Brabandere's non-alcoholic version of Kwaremont, which departs from a very similar commercial premise. Plaster- and glue-like effects linger, and in the very last drop, I swear I can taste the proteins, in a powdery, almost dry starch-like way, a suspicion proven by the looks of the lacing in the glass that remains after emptying it (partially in the sink): the foam layer sticking to the side of the glass is veined by a branched pattern clearly caused by the proteins, as with a glass of milk. I have ingested many bizarre beers throughout the years but I have no idea how my body will respond to this extra dosage of proteins and BCAA - I can only say that my taste buds at least are not happy. Sheer marketing, intended to make money without respect for beer culture - and on top of that, remaining annoyingly secretive of where it is actually brewed: this beverage has everything against it. I do not like its image, I do not like the idea, I do not like the approach and I do not like what I just swallowed, but I am certainly not part of the intended audience here.

Tried on 01 Apr 2022 at 17:59


6

Tried from Can on 05 Mar 2022 at 17:57


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

Bright golden colour with thin head. Lots of malt body and sweetness. They suggest floral and honey notes and I agree with them. Nice mouthfeel too. Quite full, not overly carbonated.

Tried on 04 Mar 2022 at 15:34


6.6
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6.5

Witbier in this tourist-aimed brand of Bruges ales, bottle from a local Proxy Delhaize in Ghent. Egg-white, cobweb-lacing, irregularly shaped, rocky, stable head, misty straw-golden blonde with peachy tinge. Weak aroma, some bread crust, unripe banana, potato mash gone spoiled and sour, cooked turnip, sorrel leaf, green apple, grass. Subtly sourish, fruity onset, unripe melon and green apple notes with some vague banana perhaps, spritzy and very minerally carbonation; lean, sweetish bready and cereally malt middle, very faintly ‘beschuit’-like sweetishness on top, with clear wheat-sourish edges and mild floral hop bitterishness in the end, accompanied by a bit of dried lemon peel but no ‘wave’ of the classic coriander seed you usually get in witbier, even if it is certainly present. Some yeasty breadiness pleasantly lingers. Feels like a plain and boring Belgian blonde which just happens to also contain wheat – but lacking in spiciness, ‘fraîcheur’ and elegance for a ‘true’ witbier in 20th-century Hoegaarden vein. Very bland and simplistic even for its intended style, but free of off-flavours or other technical errors so deserving of a mediocre score.

Tried on 22 Feb 2022 at 09:40


6.9
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Early rating from Beer Buddy app

Tried on 31 Oct 2021 at 03:21


6

Tried from Draft at Dulle Griet on 24 Oct 2021 at 20:39