Specialty Belgian-style 'kruidenbier', i.e. a blonde flavoured with a specific herb and advertised as being centered around that herb, in this case the European spruce, evoking the forests of the Ardennes I guess. Comes from a small brewery in Amel which I had never heard of until I actually visited the place for a couple of days. Thin and open, egg-white, dissolving 'head' over a misty yellow blonde beer. Aroma - completely against expectations - not a wave of piney spruce 'fraîcheur', instead very classically 'blonde' with impressions of red apple, banana peel, field flowers, black radish, pear blossom, honey, sorrel leaf, cereals. Sweetish onset with vaguely sourish edge, some subdued esters (red apple, light banana), more active carbon dioxide than expected; slender cereally core, a bit white-bready, with phenolic clove-like spiciness retronasally as well as a pronounced floral quality (honeyish and blossomy) - much like in a classic Belgian style honey beer, in fact. These floral hops add very little bitterness, however, while the spruce remains bizarrely absent... Maybe this is a honey beer mislabelled as a spruce beer, like fellow rater tderoeck - less ironically than it may seem - suggested? Sure, the head is close to non-existent, or at least very feeble, leading me to suspect that they did put some spruce in here working against head retention with all its resins, but from a beer explicitly named after the spruce, one should expect at least a whiff of 'pineyness'... I am not sure if I would have liked it better in that case, but it is clear that this brew spectacularly misses its own point. Needs a lot more power, effect and character!

Wheat beer by this microbrewery in Amel, a place I never heard of until I visited it between Christmas and New Year's Eve last year - situated in the German speaking part of Belgium. Strangely, the ingredients list mentions only barley malt, while the front label clearly states that this is a wheat beer (and the name leaves nothing to the imagination either) - an error, I guess? Longneck bottle from the local Delhaize there. Medium thick, snow white, shred-lacing, stable head over a hazed apricot blonde robe with pale yellowish tinge. Aroma of drying white bread, banana, unripe pear, chewing gum, cold vegetable soup, coriander seed, clove, raw button mushrooms, chicken 'bouillon', spoiled potato mash. Spritzy onset, sharp carbonation adding a lot of minerality through impressions of unripe pear, green apple, slight pineapple and green banana - fruity alright, but not very sweet, with even a clear, quite persistent sourish layer underneath; supple white-bready core, slick and sourish edges clearly from wheat, quickly flavoured with a lot of coriander and the obligatory curaçao (dried - bitter - orange peel). Hop bitterness is quite strongly developed here and gets in the way of this classic 'Hoegaardenesque' spice combo, working against it and winning in the end, while the wheat silently fades in this hop bitterness, paired with earthiness and lingering 'dirty' yeastiness. 'Blanche' the Walloon way, a lot earthier, more bitter and more 'rough' than the typical Hoegaarden epigone in Flanders (or, worse, Holland), but all the more interesting for it. I do find the spicing too strong, though: how about omitting it altogether and let the hops speak? This would be a bit of a rearguard action, I guess, because all of this has been said and done already a long time ago, but for local ultra-Belgian purposes, I think this Triticum should be made either less spiced, or less hoppy...

Slightly hazy golden beer with a white head. Aroma of dry grainy malt, some yeast, yellow fruits. Taste of dry grainy pale malt, straw, yellow fruits.

Mild herber, weich hefiger Beginn ohne Ecken und Kanten. Minimal kräutrig, helles Malz, geringe Bitterkeit. Trinkbar. 10/8/7/7/6/7

Almost clear golden yellow beer with a white head. Aroma of yellow fruits, belgian yeast, honey. Taste of dry and strong pale malt, some honey, herbal hops, belgian yeast.

Yeast bomb, Orval-ish

Golden colour, slightly hazy. White head with a thin layer retention. Aroma's: herbal, fruity, light sweet. Retronasal: a bit sourish fruity, herbs (aniseed?), sweetish. Flavour is light moderate bitter with a hint of sweetness and some herbs. Medium bodied. Log finish, herbal and moderate bitter. Not terribly exciting, but nice to try.

Murky golden colour. Huge off white head. Aroma's: somewhat malty, a bit herbs, caramel. Retronasal: caramel malt, light herbal, yeasty. Flavour is moderate sweet, fruity, moderate bitter. Medium bodied. Moderate bitter finish.

F: huge, beige, long lasting. C: dark brown, hazy. A: malty, caramel, sweet red fruits, bit herbal, spicy, bit chocolate, banana. T: rich malty, fruity, banana, yeasty, bit herbal, caramel, medium body and medium to high carbonation, not bad at all, enjoyed, 33cl bottle from Belgomarkt in Brussels.