Apparently Brasserie {C} figured that the time is right to destroy the relative credibility of their SMASH brand by introducing a sweet red fruit beer to it, cashing in on that annoying 'rouge' hype - even though in this case, the apple, cherry and raspberry aromas seem relatively 'natural' for what it is worth. Huge, foamy, glass-filling, pale off-pink, cobweb-lacing, very rocky and immensely stable head on a clear rosy pale vermillion robe, almost amberish but more red-tilted; quickly turns into a more cardinal red hue when the sediment is added and makes things hazy. Aroma of fruit extracts with raspberry in first position followed by red apple and far less obvious sweet cherry, honey-glazed beetroot, leftover dough, homemade lemonade, hint caramel candy, raspberry-flavoured gelato, almond, pear blossom, honey, touch iron, vague hint of sweat. Sharply carbonated, even a bit 'numbing' onset - but when the sting of the overcarbonation has passed, the fruit unfolds, in a more natural way than expected; apart from the underlying banana and pineapple esters, raspberry juice shows up, behaving rather dominantly, followed by a more modest but still clear appearance of (red sweet) apple - but the expected cherry flavour, which should come in third, remains surprisingly silent in comparison with the first two; slick cereally maltiness ensues, a bit bready but altogether weak and thin, so that the middle and end phases of this beer remain dominated by ongoing raspberry, weaker apple and a bit of cherry juice effects. Meaty proteins pop up in the end, even a 'funky' aspect but not in a very elegant way (more like a sulphuric organic compound of some kind - think spoiled green cabbage); a floral hoppiness provides gentle but in this case much-needed bitterness while fruity sugars and sours linger. Granted, this Crush is a lot more natural in all respects than the average rouge on the market today - I cannot even find anything truly and disturbingly industrial red candy-like here; I guess if viewed that way, this is far from the worst Belgian style top-fermented fruit beer around, but it still is not my cup of tea as its basic 'beery' structures are too weak, it lacks complexity and there is something 'off' about its aroma that I could not quite appreciate. Rating this one is really a matter of weighing the quality of not feeling 'fake' in a world of fake rouges against those flaws, I guess... For me personally, said quality prevails, if only because I passionately hate all those red-candy-like rouges - so have a fairly decent score out of pure spite against those.

One of the newer additions to this Smash series by Brasserie {C} in Liège, brewed with barley, wheat and oat malts as well as three hop varieties - but these are not mentioned on the can, which would have been handy; they are, however, disclosed on the brewery's website as being Idaho 7, Citra and Nelson Sauvin (oof). Can of nearly half a year old, found at the Delhaize supermarket at the Sterre in Ghent. Thinnish and open, very loosely structured, very irregular, off-white, bubbly, shred-lacing 'head' eventually dissolving all but completely on a hazy pale yellow blonde robe with vague apricot tinge. Aroma of overripe papaya, withering kitchen herbs, starfruit, vague mandarin, old onions, dock leaf, nettle soup, spoiled lemon flesh, pond water, rotting grass, egg yolk, diesel. Fruity onset, prickly carbonation (too much for style), impressions of papaya, starfruit and apricot, sweetish with a soft bready to doughy malt core, a bit brioche-like, soaked in this aromatic hoppiness bringing forth retronasal withering kitchen herbs again as well as something (cooked-)oniony and a clear 'spoiled' effect (rotting weeds, spoiled leek soup). A fine yet 'stubborn' peppery hop bitter trace lingers. Clearly well past its prime - I think this one can only have tasted good when it was 'farm fresh', though I doubt it was a truly convincing example of a NEIPA back then. Too bad, I guess I will have to revisit this one when I stumble upon a fresh sample.

On tap at Brasseries de Liege. Unclear golden coloured, medium sized off-white head, some odd apricot and alcohol in the nose. Sweet malty, fruity, candy, notes of apricot and light alcohol with sweet finish. Not so fresh.

On tap at Brasseries de Liege. Hazy yellow coloured, medium sized white head, citrusy and light oranges in the nose. Citrusy, fruity, light grapes and touch of grass with short sweetish finish.