6.6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

1/II/25 - 33cl bottle @ Nieuwjaarsreceptie Gentse Biervereniging (Ledeberg), BB: 14/I/25 (oh no!) (2025-85) Thanks for sharing the bottle!

Clear yellow blond beer, small creamy white head, a little stable, non adhesive. Aroma: very floral, soapy impression, a bit fruity, yeasty, more floral notes, ok. MF: lively carbon, medium to light body. Taste: very floral, dry, a bit soapy, unpleasant bitterness, resinous, ok. Aftertaste: hoppy, grassy, dry, meh. Not very good.

7.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Fles 33cl thuis. 8%. Koffie, redelijk bitter, vrij droog, wat liquorice, roasted malts, carameltonen, licht vanille, licht medicinaal. (28-7-2023).

7.3

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 7.5

The house beer of Mantis, a corner pub in Ghent in the Patershol quarter, located in a building which has housed many different cafés throughout the years – and which sits just around the corner from the infamous Velootje (which has ceased to exist as a café meanwhile). Brewed by the guy who runs the place in collaboration with his friend, professional brewer Mathias Vanoverschelde from ‘t Atelier. From tap at – quite obviously – Mantis. Thick and moussy, egg-white, stable, frothy head, misty orangey-tinged peach blonde robe with lots of visible sparkling. Aroma of orange zest, mandarin somewhere, ripe banana, soggy white bread, damp straw, pear, old biscuit, candied apricot, cooked turnip, red apple. Sweetish, estery onset, clear banana with notes of pear and peach, quite sharply stinging (over?)carbonation with minerally effects distracting from the fruitiness a bit; smooth white-bready, bit biscuity and cereally malts, honeyish residual sugariness but not too cloying, leading to a softly hop-bittered finish with both earthy and citrusy aspects, a combo of orange zest and dried field flowers, but too little of the first perhaps. Bittersweet finish – the residual sweetness and estery fruitiness enjoy almost unhindered access in spite of the hops, with that banana ester sweetness annoying me a bit in the very end. At a mere 6,5% ABV, this is hardly a tripel but rather an ordinary Belgian style blonde ale; and with hops soft enough to let pass all the sweetness as well, it is not nearly hoppy enough for me personally. Apart from those two points of criticism, though, it is by no means a badly executed beer, and as a ‘café beer’ needing to be accessible to non-geeks, I am sure it will perform well.

7.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5

@ In den koning, Waterlandkerkje. Nose of citrus, some sweet malts. Taste is rather light, medium hoppy, light bitter. Ok.

4

Homebrew Ipa... Niets om naar huis over the schrijven. Moet nog wat aan gewerkt worden vooraleer je dit kan schenken op café.

6.5

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Flower beer containing lavender and rose petals, but also curaçao and coriander seed. Intended as a love declaration from the brewer to his former girlfriend apparently… Plastery lacing, snow white, creamy, mousy head, misty peach blonde robe with ochre-ish tinge. Aroma of indeed lots of lavender even in a bath foam-like way, grass, white bread dough, freshly cut apple, grass, coriander seed but not overdone, whiff of roses. Fruity onset, fizzily carbonated, banana ester mingled with peach and pear impressions, soft white-bready malt base with lingering honeyish sweetness and grassy-hoppy finish (though remaining soft in bitterness), some coriander seed soapiness but luckily not too much, and – as expected – that perfumey element from the added flowers. The curaçao remains a bit understated, but does support the ethereal, sweet-perfumey effect from the flowers. Nice for a sweet ‘bloemenbier’ even if that will never be my cup of tea, not even when it’s a hibiscus-flavoured lambic or something… Still, Mathias promised me another bottle of this ‘love beer’ – I think I might give that one to my girlfriend, see what that does…

6.6

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Another variation on the “al”-theme by Atelier (now situated in Deinze), but I assume you have to master Flemish dialects to actually understand the names (“alhunter” meaning something like “over there”). Thanks to Mathias – the brewer – for sharing. Plastery lacing, off-white, mousy, opening head, misty straw blonde robe with ochre-ish hue. Aroma of withering grass, dried leek, old bread, dandelion leaves, green garden weeds, cooked potatoes, banana peel, armpit sweat. Fruity onset, banana ester but not overdone, pear, softish carb, fluffy body; bready maltiness leading to a relatively gently bittering finish, weedy and floral, with aspects of straw, dandelion and sweetclover, but not effectuating enough bitterness to block the banana ester, which still lingers at the back. Hoppy Belgian blonde, as usual with Belgian IPAs, but okay as such.

7.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

20/VI/20 - 33cl bottle @ DOK Brewing Company (Ghent), BB: n/a (2020-544) Thanks to Matthias for sharing the bottle!

Clear dark brown to black beer, small creamy beige head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: nice roast, alcohol, bit sweet. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: nice roast, alcohol, pretty bitter, more roast, hoppy as well. Aftertaste: a bit spicy, bitter, some cardamom, lovely stuff going on here, good roasted bitter finish.

6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

20/VI/20 - 33cl bottle @ DOK Brewing Company (Ghent), BB: n/a (2020-543) Thanks to Matthias for sharing the bottle!

Pretty cloudy orange blond beer, big creamy bit irregular off-white head, pretty stable, bit adhesive, leaving some lacing. Aroma: very floral, perfume, sweet impression, some marzipan, rose water, some Turkish delight. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: pretty bitter, bit fruity, hoppy bitterness, very floral, ginger bread. Aftertaste: soapy, bit sweet, floral, fruity, good stuff, interesting!

6.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

20/VI/20 - 33cl bottle @ DOK Brewing Company (Ghent), BB: I/2022 (2020-542) Thanks to Matthias for sharing the bottle!

Little cloudy blond beer, big creamy dense white head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: bit cheap, malty, floral touch, grains, not bad, bit boring, definitely no aromatic hops (anymore?). MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: bitter start, some citrus, bit herbal, slightly fruity, grassy touch. Aftertaste: malty, bit herbal, slightly medicinal, meh. Don’t like it.