Donkergeel troebel bier met weinig schuim. Smaak is bitter en licht frutig met veel hars/hop, wat sinaasappel en wat gras achtige smaken. OK, maar voor mij niet echt bijzonder.

Brasserie Surréaliste, with its bar in Brussels, has become somewhat of a household name in Belgian beer circles since its beginnings five years ago, having become more widely distributed initially mostly in the catering business but now even in supermarkets as well (Delhaize at least, the one in Lokeren in the case of my sample) - I can still wonder how drastically some things have changed since U.S. style craft beer influences first arrived in this part of the world... And back again, because when they did, West Coast was the norm, then became completely overtaken by the hazy New England style - to the extent that the concept of 'West Coast IPA' in recent years became a thing again, as a nostalgic return to the originals. I have only very rarely seen such a return being successful: usually the so-called West Coast IPA still remains stuck halfway in the hazy NEIPA idiom. Let us find out how Surréaliste handles this challenge... Medium sized, off-white, irregular yet stable, slowly breaking, sparsely shred-lacing head on a misty golden robe with vague ochre-ish tinge. Aroma of unripe mandarin, soggy biscuit, unripe melon, white grape somewhere, starfruit, green kiwi, toasted garlic, fried onion, unripe pear, wet white paper or even very faint wallpaper paste - but in all, not very West Coast if you ask me. Fruity onset, crisp but fine-bubbled effervescence swirling through impressions of green pear, kiwi and unripe Galia melon, sweetish but not too much so - yet certainly a lot sweeter than any 'original' West Coast IPA was. Slick, full body, rounded pale malt sweetness with a very light biscuity edge, soaked in a hoppiness feeling a lot more 'tropical-sweet-fruity' than oniony, grapefruity or wormwoody like it should have been... Even retronasally, real West Coast aromas are hard to find: the only thing I can find here which may explain the West Coast moniker at least as perceived by the brewery, is the fact that more bitterness lingers at the back, spreading out over the throat for quite a while at least in comparison with this brewery's other IPA offerings. I get the same feeling here as when I get a salted but non-sour wheat ale pretending to be a Gose - or an extra hopped tripel posing as an IPA: the differences between historically evolved beer styles hardly ever lie in just one distinghuishing 'technical' feature, they are a complex of artistic interpretations, idiomatic and regional features and a 'soul' which remains difficult to explain. Perhaps the Surréaliste brewers are simply too young, or arrived too late at the scene, to be familiar with what any IPA coming from the U.S. tasted like two decades ago - but I remember those beers very vividly, including the effort I had to put in simply mastering their (to the standards of the day) enormous hop bitterness, and I can very safely say that this is not a West Coast IPA at all: this is a New England IPA with extended bitterness and nothing more. I feel bad for having to deduct points for that, because if you simply ignore that West Coast link, this is a pretty well-executed and tasty IPA especially to Belgian standards - we have come a long way indeed. But I have to be strict I guess, so sorry, point off for promising a trip down memory lane and completely failing at that...

Hopfiger, leicht süßer Beginn. Süffig, weich, spritzig. Cremig, wenig grasig, leicht Hafer, würzig. Unspannend aber gut trinkbar. 8/10/8/8/6/8

Frischer, rund hopfiger Beginn, leichte zitrusartige Säure. Spritzig, moderate Herbe, süffig. Frisch herb-hopfig bei deutlicher Trockenheit, bitterer Ausklang. Gefällt. 9/10/11/10/8/10

Small white head over hazy yellow beer. Citrussy nose with typical C-hops' aromas; citrus, exotic fruit as pineapple, passion fruit and mango. Bitter-fruity with a surprising light-woody extra flavour; other grains, also evident in the MF. Quite hopoilslick, good carbonation, medium bodied, bit viscous. Quite good APA!

Surréaliste's core NEIPA, unfortunately not disclosing which hop varieties were used - I guess different varieties have featured in it throughout the years and they have been aiming for a fixed flavour, but still it is a shame in this day and age that a postmodern craft brewery would not mention which hop varieties they use in their IPAs... Can from the Delhaize supermarket in Lokeren (!). Medium thick, heavily cobweb-lacing, off-white, coarse and irregular yet stable head on a cloudy lemon-yellow blonde robe with khaki tinge. Aroma of lime flesh and calamansi, clear dankness not unlike overripe onions and armpit sweat, stewed leek, green melon, lemon butter, green kiwi, unsugared oatmeal porridge, maracuja, heavy cream going sour. Fruity, juicy onset, though a tad less sweet than usual for this style, hinting at kiwi, green melon and a touch of pomelo, with lime-like edges bringing a mildly citrusy fraîcheur; minerally carbonation works in the background of a soft, rounded, clearly 'oatmeal-smoothened' middle, where grainy flavours are still noticeable - so the deep penetration by New World hops you get in so many other more 'typical' NEIPAs is just a little bit less deep here. Still - obviously - the finish is fully drenched in hops, providing a very mild bitter touch down below (and it can be mild here, because as said, the sweetness is quite limited too) and retronasal aromas of exotic green citrus fruit, green melon, lemongrass and a touch of lychee. Not unpleasant at all: especially now that it is apparently more widely available than before (indeed Surréaliste is one of the few Brussels craft brewers performing well in Flanders too), this can function as a go-to NEIPA for 'everyday use', so to speak; it remains fairly modest in its hoppiness, fairly straightforward and a bit less exuberant than many others in this now vast and global genre, but the balance of flavours is correct and the whole has a very quenching effect - especially on a hot summer night like tonight. Nothing remarkable within its hugely overexposed style, but technically well made and tasty.

330ml can from Delhaize Zedelgem. Pours a cloudy orange with a white head. Aromas & tastes of melon, peach, citrus & hops. Medium body. Soft light bitter finish.

Bottle at home shared with Laura. Golden color, small white head. Smell and taste malts, very pleasantly hoppy, decently bitter. Very pleasant I must admit.