The regular blonde from this brewery, the highest one in Belgium in the literal sense of the word, pimped for Christmas by adding speculoos to the brewing kettle - what can go wrong... Longneck bottle from the Carrefour supermarket in Bütgenbach. Initially closed but rather thin, off-white, sparsely lacing, even-bubbled, slowly breaking head on an initially near-clear, orange blonde robe with amberish tinge and lots of visible sparkling rushing upwards, turning into an ugly, murky dark ochre-beige with sediment. Very underwhelming aroma of - alas - a whole lot of DMS (overcooked green cabbage or broccoli), something I am very sensitive to, next to weak impressions of green pear, bread crust, clove, damp earth, cooked apple without the sweetness, cooked turnip. Sweetish onset, fruity, notes of again cooked apple and pear, slight plum perhaps, sharpish but fine-bubbled carbonation, slick and rather thin mouthfeel (for ABV) with a somewhat 'watery' side effect, weirdly; cereally and porridge-like malts, slender and rather crude, vaguely sweet, bready and eventually paired with phenolic clove-like spiciness, a late but effective, somewhat leafy hop bitter note and lingering earthiness from dead yeast and proteins. The DMS returns retronasally but has fortunately faded a bit by then - but what is dramatically lacking at least in my sample, is any reference at all to 'speculoos': there is no cookie sweetness, no ethereal spiciness, nothing. Upon checking, it is not mentioned on the label either, so maybe I got yet another version, or perhaps even a mislabelled bottle? In any case: this is far below festive for a Christmas beer if it is indeed intended as such and technically flawed, with an unpleasant muddy appearance, lack of head retention (in spite of good carbonation) and very bland in both aroma and taste. Below par even compared with most other beers from this brewery, but I may have stumbled upon a flawed sample, who knows...

Clouded pale gold with a tall white frothy head of perfect retention. Wheat bread, phenols, spicy & grassy hop. Rather dry. Light plus ending bitterness. Lacking balance.

A slightly hazy golden beer with a white head. Aroma of oat malt, yeast, yellow stone fruits. Taste of yellow stone fruits, citra, hay, mango. Moderate bitterness.

Belgian beers are one of the rare beers that I actually rather enjoy lukewarm.

Cloudy deep gold with a good off-white head. Pale malt, wheat bread, citrus fruits, catty & tropical notes, white wine, spicy Belgian yeast, grass, distant funk. Rather dry. Medium bitter. Good.

Cloudy pale yellow with a good white frothy head. Pale malt, spicy Belgian yeast, citrus fruits, floral notes, ripe apples & pears, slightly funky, grassy hop. Rather dry. Decent hop bitterness. Good.

Bottle at home. Amber brownish color, small off-white. Aroma is malts, herbal, spicy. Flavor is malts, sweetish, again herbal and some spices, lightly dry finish. Fortunately not too heavy on the herbs and spices. Okay.