Wheat beer with lemongrass and New World hops, so I guess qualifying as a U.S. style wheat ale rather than a classic Belgian style witbier; thanks Meeki Meekio for sharing at Pajot Ale Land festival. Bottle has a label with the letters of the name Narcist mirrored. Egg-white, mousy, stable and thickly plaster-lacing head, clearly wheat-enhanced, over hazy warm golden beer with metallic 'old gold' hue. Aroma of banana peel, freshly cut red apple, white bread dough, raw turnip and indeed a citric touch, but hardly any lemongrass and very subtle in New World hops, though admittedly tasting circumstances were far from ideal (cold) and I will revisit this one when I see it pop up anywhere else. The taste as such, however, reveals about the same profile: restrained sweetishness and esteriness in the onset, unripe peach, dash of banana, some apple, fizzy carbonation, slick wheaty malt base, sweetish and cereally, tad dusty with lightly citrusy hoppiness in the end, but not the exotic citric effects I would have expected from the combination of lemongrass with new and - quote - 'exotic' hops. Hop bitterness as such also remains limited, so that a wheaty-fruity sweetish effect remains dominant. Interesting idea - though far from new from a craft beer perspective, not even in Belgium, let alone internationally - that should have been executed with much more 'oomph' as both the hops and the lemongrass are very understated. Though, as said, I will certainly revisit it when I get the chance.

The first commercialized recipe by these new Kasuta Craft Brewers, a tripel spiced with classic coriander seed, curaçao and - less classic - liquorish. Named after a Swiss chemist credited with inventing LSD (and, needless to say, having become an icon of hippie culture later on in the sixties). Mousy, sparsely lacing, thinnish, eggshell-white head quickly reduced to a thin but steady ring and flat tatters of foam in the middle; misty deep peach blonde robe with pale orangey hue and dots of dead yeast near the bottom. Aroma of indeed quite a lot of orange peel, bit zesty even, soapy coriander, fried sweet potato, apricot, banana, soggy paprika crisps, sweetbread, (fortunately very light) liquorish, rainwater, apple-flavoured chewing gum, rose petals. Sweetish onset, low sourish edge, fruity with banana, apple and peach notes, very refined and rather softish carb (a tad undercarbonated for this style even), smooth and bit resinous mouthfeel. Caramelly-edged, brioche-like malt body, soft and sweetish, with cereally core, soaked in spiciness: the soapiness of coriander and the dry zestiness of the orange peel are clear enough, but again, as in the nose, the liquorish lags behind and shows its presence only briefly - yet does contribute to a somewhat wry effect on the tongue's root, mostly established by gin-like alcohol and some of the orange peel spiciness, as well as to the soapy effect that dominates the end phase. Hop bitterness remains of an earthy, floral and mild nature, the spices clearly get more credits here - which I usually dislike. Drinkable, in all, but feels a tad amateurish and adding old-fashioned liquorish to the cliché combo of coriander and curaçao doesn't automatically make your old school Belgian tripel 'craft'. Neither does the LSD-inspired label, by the way... Expected much more, there is a lot of work afoot here.

27 January 2019. At Goeste Festival, Ghent. Shared with Anke! Tripel in commemoration of Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered LSD and literally made a bicycle 'trip' on his way home after ingesting a threshold dose on April 19, 1943 - now 'Bicycle Day'. Anyway. Pours clear yellow with a thinning, frothy, white head; little lacing. Aroma of banana, ripe apricot, wheat, apple peel, white sugar, white bread, straw, pepper, coriander, cooked cabbage (slight DMS). Taste is medium grassy bitter at first, a bit spicy with pepper & coriander, rendering it somewhat sourish & soapy too; light fruity sweet middle has very ripe banana, apricot, some honey, faint cabbage again (retronasally), supported by a bready malty base. Dry, grassy hoppy finish, lingering spices, white bread, and some warming jenever alcohol. Medium body, slick texture, lively carbonation. Hmm. Not as 'obstinate' as I would have liked it to be - why bother with coriander & orange peel then? Needs some polishing in any case too. LSD, that would have been something...