19 April 2026. At Dok Brewing (Hal 16). Cheers to Anke, Silke & Fady!

A: hazy black, very thin, beige head.
A: maple syrup, butterscotch, fondant, black pepper, liqueur.
T: sweet chocolate, maple syrup, pancakes, brownie.
F: peppery hops, liquid chocolate & maple, warming brandy-like alcohol.
P: full body, creamy texture, soft carbonation.
Very heavy but manages to showcase the maple without becoming undrinkable.

17 April 2026. At Dok Brewing (Hal 16). Cheers to the Teamleader crew!

A: hazy dark brown, no head.
A: ripe blue grape, passion fruit, balsamic vinegar, yoghurt.
T: sour grape & passion fruit, funky vinegar, lactic acid, leather.
F: very tart grape skin, stone fruit pit and woody tannins.
P: medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation.
Bone-dry, tannic, yet funky-fruity. Another lovely Dok creation.

17 April 2026. At Dok Brewing (Hal 16). Cheers to the Teamleader crew!

A: hazy brighty yellow, stable, foamy, white head.
A: grass, grapefruit, rye, bread crust, unripe pear.
T: sweetish unripe pear & apple, bitter grapefruit, bread crust.
F: bitter grassy hops, spicy rye, citrus pith.
P: medium body, slick-watery texture, average carbonation.
Refreshing, though I expected even a bit more body. One to revisit.

9 April 2026. At Dok Brewing (Hal 16). Cheers to the Teamleader crew!

A: clear pale yellow, small, foamy, white head.
A: lemon zest, lemongrass, wheat, white pepper, white tea.
T: sweetish yellow apple, mandarin, sourish lemon, wheaty malt.
F: peppery hops, citrus zest, some soap, flowers.
P: medium body, watery texture, average carbonation.
Very refreshing, and a surprising twist to the style.

8 April 2026. At Dok Brewing (Hal 16). Cheers to the Teamleader crew!

A: hazy yellow, small, foamy, white head.
A: mandarin peel, grape, pineapple, shallot, pine.
T: sweetish grape & mango, bitter citrus pith & pine.
F: bitter piney hops, unripe stone fruit, some spicy onion.
P: medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation.
Moreish bittersweet NEIPA.

Solid IPA

Very strong stout flavoured with chili peppers and maple syrup and aged in cognac barrels, a collaboration of Dok with one of today's most prominent of the many (and in Western Europe often unknown) Brazilian craft brewers, hence the name. From tap at Kantien (operated by Dok). Some tiny, loose, lonely off-white bubbles around the edge here and there but no actual head, black robe with hazy nut brown edges. Aroma of indeed cognac, wet dark chocolate bars, maple syrup, sirop de Liège, black peppercorns, chili flakes, marzipan, toffee, brown rum, liquorice, raisinbread, tonka, hints of damp earth and rainwater in the background. Concentrated sweet onset, candyish but not in an artificial way: instead the 'deep', pungent sweetness of the maple syrup unfolds, with side effects of fig compote, candied cherries and golden raisins. Carbonation remains soft with an oily, thickly vinous mouthfeel (reduced port-like), almondy, profoundly toffeeish and dark-chocolatey malt and sugar layers fill the mouth while the pepperiness only increases - the result of not just the peppers, but also the cognac, and even accentuated by the spicy aspect of the maple syrup. The net result is one of a 'piquanterie' easily associated with Brazilian cuisine, hot, long and strongly spicy, like cold French coffee in which the cognac has perhaps been applied a tad too generously. Anything but subtle, the actual oakiness of the cognac barrels and the hops getting a bit lost in this 'storm' of peppers, maple syrup, malts and alcohol - intense and demanding, but as a slow sipper on an afternoon in late March, very enjoyable, also because of this exotic element. Muscle flexing for sure, but in a good way.

Dok has been coming up with IPA concepts for years now - sometimes I wonder when they will finally run out of ideas, but not this time, as this Mr. Wonderful presents a combination of hops which I am quite sure has never been done before on the planet. Why I am so sure? Well, the Flemish hop variety Groene Bel has only been rediscovered quite recently and it seems hard to imagine another brewer has already coincidentally stumbled upon the exact same combination with the eight (!) other varieties used here (especially with Nectaron being a fairly unknown and new variety from New Zealand)... Medium thick, snow white, slowly thinning but closed and stable, dot-lacing head over a clear, warm pale orangey-golden robe with a column of visible sparkling in the middle; especially that fact that it is clear till the end surprised me, as I was expecting some hazy IPA variant again. Aroma of sweet peach alternating with dried wormwood, toasted onion, pink grapefruit, guava, dried mango cubes, meadowsweet, green olive somewhere, Graham crackers, bread crust, grass, sandpaper, pond water. Clean, dryish onset, smooth green olive, light green guava and even lighter unripe peach notes, very low in sweetness, moderately carbonated with a rainwater-like minerally undertone running through the whole; smooth mouthfeel, quite slender for this ABV even, with a light oily texture. Dry cracker- and hard bread crust-like malts, slick, bittered by earthy Groene Bel, piney Columbus, classic 'oldskool U.S.' grapefruity Comet, peppery Chinook - and brief whiffs of sweet-peachy Nectaron and tropical Idaho7, providing sweet 'flashes' amidst a more profound, long-lasting, tonic-like, wormwoody bitterness. Feels like a 'mountain IPA' more tilted to the West than to the East - in fact we are, and I mean this just in very general taste and aroma terms, not that far away from old-fashioned West Coast IPA here (without it actually being one in the 'true' sense of the word). An IPA with a very surprising and interesting combination of hop varieties indeed - and one with the kind of drying bitterness, peppery character and utterly smooth drinkability I like a lot. A Dok IPA never disappoints.

Keg at kaapse Maria. Pours deep orange amber, nose is funk, lemon sherbert, toffee, oak, taste is sharp funk, grape, berry, oak. 8/8/8/7/7

24/III/26 - 33cl can from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: 30/III/27, batch: 288 (2026-388)
DOK - You Driver Kiekios Opus 7%

Little cloudy light beige to yellowish beer, big creamy irregular white head, pretty stable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: hay, a bit malty, spicy, peppery, yeasty, some banana, cow fodder. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: a little fruity first, some apples and pears, spicy, yeast, peppery, hay, cow fodder, some sweet malts. Aftertaste: some citrus, yeasty, dry, fruity notes, pears, sweet touch, good bitterness, nice!