Bottle @ LIBF’16. Shared with the RB Belgian team. Dorée, col fin blanc. Arôme au bouquet superbement bien houblonné, retrouve pas mal de notes tropicales, agrumes, fin citronné, et rétro malté. Palais est herbacé, tropical avec un fini sec, touche d’abricot voire de fruit de la passion.

Bottle @ LIBF’16. Shared with the RB Belgian team. Dorée, col fin blanc. Arôme au nez bien houblonné, sorte de houblons fermentés, herbacé avec pointes de pamplemousse et rappelant un peu le gazon fraichement coupé. Palais est malté, fin pils, houblonné herbacé, râpeux aux dents, sorte de thé vert, fini terreux avec un léger malté arrivant en complément de base grains.

Apparently a bottom-fermented equivalent to their double IPA and in that sense a kind of ’double IPL’ as it were - doubtlessly the least ’standard’ of their beers, at least of the ones they served at LIBF. Creamy, off-white, moussy head, lightly hazy pure golden colour. Aroma has urine-like ’old hops’ and even something buttery, hemp, yellow grapefruit, dry white wine, old cheese. Soft and clearly subdued fruitiness, more a pure malt fruitiness indeed, as can be expected from a lager; supple and full, lightly bready malt body, long spicy and grapefruity, but also retronasally cheesy hops, bittering and drying, with some warming alcohol. As in most IPLs, hops get all the credits here, but in its particular style, this is an accomplished example.

At LIBF. Creamy, moussy, lacing, egg-white head, warm amber robe. Dank but refreshing aroma of pink grapefruit, tangerine, wormwood, mango, passion fruit, toasted bread. Clean, crisp, sweetish and lightly sourish fruitiness, orange peel fraîcheur and growing grapefruity hoppiness over a sufficiently ’thick’ toasted malt body, leading to a resinous, aromatic, very long, spicy bitter finish with retronasal citrus and some tropical fruit, paired with a dash of warming, gin-like alcohol. A pretty DIPA in my opinion and another proof that Canediguerra is doing a good job at studying ’classic’ beer styles before venturing into more extreme or hybridized craft beers (relative in this case, as DIPA as such was generally considered extreme a mere dozen years ago...).

Classically interpreted porter (the name ’brown porter’ says it all), tasted at LIBF. Moussy, off-white head, hazy very dark burgundy robe with wine-red hue. Aroma of dry cocoa powder, chestnut, ’natural’ iron, some liquorish, nut shells, cherry pits, dried fig. Restrained sweetishness in the mouth with a perfectly fitting sourish edge, medium carbo, nutty and supple, lightly oily malt body with a pleasantly toasted bittering accent, some herbal hops in the end, bit earthy. Standard old-fashioned porter in the league of Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter and the like, smooth and cleverly balanced. It seems these guys are working on their way by first mastering some classical beer styles and they do a great job at it.

English style IPA, tasted at LIBF. Lacing, moussy, off-white head, light hazy warm golden colour. Aroma of classic European noble hops: dried grass, field flowers, white pepper, on top of hints of bread and apple peel. Crisp, light fruity onset, juicy and a bit bready malt body, earthy, spicy and florally aromatic hop bitter finish. Noble hop qualities are enlarged and showcased here in a very attractive way, in fact this seems more remarkable in its particular style than their American IPA is in its own style...

American / international style IPA with moussy, lacing, off-white head and light hazy old gold colour. Dank aroma of grapefruit peel, hemp, butter, tangerine, some stale and urine-like ’old’ hop odour, lychee. Fruity taste but crisp and clean, dryish with softish carbo, smooth pale maltiness, long dry and aromatic hop bitter finish, citrus peel-like and spicy. Classical interpretation of the style, not too remarkable, but tasty for sure.