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

Small white head with some lace over clear, variably bubbled copper-orange beer. Very spicy nose, rosemary, lavender, but also meaty aroma's, garlic-studded meat. Again rosemary in the mouth, maybe elderberry or elderblossom. Juniper, alcohol, toast. Alcohol-extracted bittering herbs. Laurel, too. Quite well-carbonated, medium bodied, light alcoholwarming. A lot more interesting than former Bleijenberg commissions. Maybe change of brewery? Txs to Stef!

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

Saffron-flavoured Belgian strong dark ale, not something one sees all too often (even if this is not my first saffron beer), brewed by Stanium for Ons Hof, an organic saffron plantation in Merendree northwest of Ghent. Bought at the Open Tuindagen at the beautiful castle of Ooidonk in nearby Sint-Martens-Leerne. Strong pressure and a lot of ‘gunsmoke’, but with careful and very slow opening, gushing is avoidable (which is not always the case with this brewery). Pale greyish-beige, foamy head, initially filling the glass and very cauliflower-like on top, slowly receding after that whilst leaving cobweb-like lacing; misty deep and dark mahogany brown robe with purplish wine-red glow. Spicy, yeasty and malty aroma, brown bread crust, nutmeg, clove and indeed an earthy and herbal spiciness I suppose I have to ascribe to the saffron, toast, dried fig, Pumpernickel, hints of gin, caramel, roasted chicory, dry earth, tea and pumpkin pie, with a ‘rusty iron’-like effect hovering over it all, betraying some or other head stabilizing agent. Dried-fruity onset, not too sticky nor wildly estery, hinting at fig, some blue plum, raisin and green apple (acetaldehyde); fizzy carbonation, full brown-bready malt body with caramelly core, quickly developing a pronounced toasted-bitter aspect, accentuated by earthy, long-stretching, floral hoppiness and added spice bitterness from the saffron – though the latter element is a bit lost in pronounced phenolic spiciness (clove, nutmeg). Some warming gin-like alcohol in the end. Somewhat crude and overly spicy, but generally solid enough to Stanium standards, feeling like some oldskool spiced Belgian winter ale based on the old Scotch idiom (especially with that toasty bitterness to it). Not bad, I even slightly regret not having grabbed along the blonde version too.

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

Good, dense and fine yellow head, slowling pitting in over veiled copperish orange beer. Spicy, even bit peppery nose. Laurel, garden herbs, nettles. Saffron? Malts, partly toasted, hint of human sweat. Bitter & spicy; bitter(ish) herbs and leaves. Wood, bitterish woody spices. Again, nothing reminds me of the classical saffron flavour. Very slight acidity, enhanced by the carbonation. After some warming up, gets notably metallic. Not very slick, medium bodied, spritzy. Covers the mucoses by a bitterish film. Decent. As to the name, read what I think about it at Meirntre Donker. Thanks to L&Y for bringing!

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

Very good, fine & dense yellow-cream head over very dark brown beer. Dark candi sugar, wood, plywood, bit spicy. Nettles, dark chocolate, wet cardboard. Bitter-spicy (the saffron is not recognisable as such, but this spiciness is no doubt its due). Again bitter chocolate, wood and cardboard, chocolate malt, ovomaltine. At least medium bodied, good carbonation, quite slick, almost chewy. Pretty classic dark, the saffron not really making a huge difference. "Merendree wordt nog steeds als Meirntre uitgesproken in de volksmond" Serieus?? En hoe spreekt men 'Meirntre' dan wel uit? Ik denk dat de volksmond een beter zittend kunstgebit nodig heeft. Txs to L&Y for bringing!

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Very good, dense, just off-white head. White candi sugar; very, very lightly smoked, green herbs, dry leaves but generally smelling very sweet. Dry, pretty alcoholic, almost boozy. Certainly there is white candi sugar and a huge amount of (rest)sugars and sweetness. There is a spicy bitterness, indifferent hops, but those do not beat the overwhelming sugary sweetness. Banana flavour. Inevitably rather sticky, even almost cloying. Good carbonation. In the aftertaste, there is an irritating metallic, almost coppery flavour. Just a bit more fermenting out, yes? Pale tripel being traditionally very attenuated...

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

10/VII/21 - 33cl bottle from De Hopduvel (Gent), shared @ Anniek and Martijn’s place, BB: 27/XI/22, lot: Sn230 (2021-607)

Clear blond to gold beer, small creamy irregular white head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: sweet, bit oxidized, almonds, sweet impression, bit malty, grains. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: pretty sweet, ripe banana, yeasty, bit spicy, soft bitterness, hint of whisky, some alcohol. Aftertaste: little bitter, whisky, more alcohol, rice and corn syrup, soft acidity, yeast, banana, some alcohol.

Good pairing with grilled steak, creamy mushroom sauce and fries.

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

The small city of Beveren, located in my home region, thought it deserved its own tripel – or at least a few members of the local beer-drinking community thought so. Old and worn-out as this 20th-century idea may be, at least they have it physically brewed in Beveren itself and not in some commissioned brewery in another town or even province (as happens regularly in this kind of cases). Thick, snow white, membrane-lacing, uneven-bubbled, stable head on a misty straw blonde beer with olive-greenish tinge, remarkably pale for a tripel in fact and looking more like a witbier. Aroma of coriander and a whole lot of it, banana peel, withering grass, fresh chamomile, oxidized green apple slices, old dough, hints of pear, honey, cream, a touch of dill, apricot. Fruity onset, sweetish but in a lean and slender way and nowhere too much, fizzy carbonation, hints of pear, green banana and Granny Smith apple; supple, slick, slender and smooth body, a bit soapy early on; doughy and cereally pale malt sweetishness with that soapy effect increasing towards the finish – clearly the result of an overdose of coriander seed, which gains a dominant position in the end. Residual sugariness remains fortunately limited, floral and withered-grassy hop bitterness shows up late but pleasantly lingers at the back and the alcohol, though noticeable as a ‘jenever’-ish accent, remains altogether quite well hidden. Overcoriandered for me, but at the same time a slender, (dangerously) easily drinkable and somewhat distinct tripel, different from the sweet and boozy cliché I was expecting.

Gusher, lost 25/33cl when opening the bottle... and the rest was not drinkable... shame for the money spend

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

Bottle from De Hopduvel. Hazy blond colour, white foam. Nose of banana, some citrus. Rather sweet tripel, some citrussy hints, light bitter. Well balanced. Ok.

Appearance - 2 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Strong dark(ish) ale from this quiet but active microbrewery in inconspicuous Beveren-Waas, my home region. Very violent gusher: I lost about 1/3 of the bottle to the sink in instants, and even after that, it kept coming out of the bottle neck - a problem this brewery seems to have a hard time coping with. A mousy, pale greyish beige, large-bubbled, cobweb-lacing head remains, sitting stable on a clouded dark and 'dirty' amberish-brown bronze beer. Aroma of rye bread, orange peel, cloves, nutmeg, old red apple, medlar, banana, brown soap, soaking wet peanuts, baker's yeast, tea leaves. Sweet onset, residual sugars among hints of ripe banana and overripe medlar with side notes of peach and pear, sourish and 'dirty' undertone which, even if not too strongly so, hints at a certain degree of infection. Very fizzy carbonation, 'fluffy' brown-bready and caramelly maltiness with honeyish sweetness on top as well as metallic and soapy edges, 'dirty' and earthy finish with some warming (and frankly badly hidden), 'jenever'-like alcohol, herbal hops providing only mild bitterness and of course a whole zoo of yeast effects, varying from ongoing banana and pineapple esters to clove-like and even somewhat 'medicinal' phenols. Clearly more than one thing went wrong here - technically flawed, messy and dirty, with too much residual sweetness, even if the basic flavours are okay. Needs work!