Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7
Another Westvleteren 12-inspired quad, why not... Moussy, lacing, pale greyish beige head over a deep ruby brown, lightly hazy beer. Aroma of candi sugar (and a lot of it) and old-fashioned dark candi syrup I remember from when I was a kid, bubblegum, caramel, liquorice, white rhum, milk chocolate, glue-like phenols, dried banana. Sweet estery onset, banana, peach, medlar, again drenched in too much candi syrup but still balanced with a sourish dried orange peel accent; smooth but rather thin mouthfeel especially for this style, softly carbonated. Candi sweetness sticks in the finish, along with spicy phenols, earthy hop bitterishness (but insufficiently so to balance out the sweetness) and drying, somewhat wry and therefore too obvious, ’jenever’-like alcohol. As expected, this still has a long way to go down the enlightened path of finesse and complexity to even come near the level of the great trappist quadrupels. It is a good start though, one can feel that these guys are working in the right direction so this may end up being a truly good quad one day.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
At Modeste. Sticky, lacing, egg-white, thick and dense head residing over a deep peachy, almost amber coloured, hazy beer, darker than usual for a DIPA. Aroma of orange peel, peach, biscuit, yellow kiwi, raw peanuts, white bread, flowers, hint of mango. Soft fruity onset, pineapple, mango, peach, sweetish with an orangey and subtle sourish berry edge, bit powdery but otherwise very supple, soft and ’fluffy’ mouthfeel, caramelly maltiness, bittering finish but only mildly so, leafy and floral with citrusy hints but not nearly enough to come across as a convincing double IPA. I expect a lot more abrasive hop bitterness from a DIPA and this one, though by itself a very enjoyable and well-accomplished beer, does not quite deliver what it promises. Fruit and malt sweetness persists much longer than hop bitterness. Still, I like the fact that these new micro brewers make an attempt at not just IPA, but double IPA, a concept still largely unknown to the average Belgian consumer now that ’regular’ IPA is only just beginning to spawn in these neighborhoods.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Small cream head, fast gone over dark brown beer. Dark malts, melanoidins, faint chocolate, green leaves. Sweet, chocolate malts, liquorice, lightly roasted malts with extra sweetness. Some dried plums flavour. Well-bodied, pretty slick, feels better carbonated than it looks. It’s not bad, but I sorely miss the hops that made the IIPA much more interesting. And the blurb tells me the culprit of the oversweetness... Candico... oops.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7
Medium, cream-coloured head over hazy orange-amber beer. USA-C-hops, fragrant, some cakebottom & caramel, fruity, slight ureum. Sweet-bitterish, bit liqueurish-caramel to even syrupy, estery. Bit sticky MF, rather well-bodied, well-carbonated feel. Good IIPA, if not exceptional - tad to the sweet side.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
330 ml. bottle drank @ Bahnhove. A very hazy orange, solid white head. Nose is overly yeasty (part of this I blame on the waiter who decided to pour the whole bottle in one go), yeast dominates here heavily, murky, oddly boozy with too much esters for me plus some sugar as well. Taste is grainy, moldy yeast, esters, sugar, candy, herbal, coriander, murky yeast, not getting Cascade here, totally buried, moldy yeasty & coriander. Strongly yeasty body. Overly BE in a bad way & overly yeast. Body is overly yeast. Yeah… Too bad, I do suspect that even without the yeast shot, I would have written down the same comment, even with a yeast shot, a beer shouldn’t be this yeasty, boozy, mold / plaster tasting. The brewery does deserve the benefit of doubt. I tried 4 of their beers in a setting. 2 were messy & unbalanced but pleasant. The beers in BE styles had this whole yeast, esters, booze thing going on.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
330 ml. bottle drank @ Bahnhove. Very dark amber, touch orange appearance, solid off-white head. Nose is fruit USA hops, mango, pine, orange, some sweet spices. Taste is orange, mango, quite sweet & sugary, dark bread, heavy malt taste & presence, some candy, touch herb, dark bread – maybe they should have used a higher percentage of pils malts?, dunno, I am not a brewer – floral fruits, cloves,… A bit over carbonated, malty,… Messy but quite pleasant. Best of the 4 beers by them I tried @ Bahnhove.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
330 ml. bottle drank @ Bahnhove. Hazy orange, small white head. Nose is orange peel, light booze, touch peach, esters, grainy, overly malty for me. Taste is overly boozy & yeasty (part of this I blame on the waiter who decided to pour the whole bottle in one go), yeast dominates here heavily, boozy overripe peach, aspirin, nasty plaster yeast, tad mold, old cereal, oxidized honey. Body is overly yeast. Yeah… Too bad, I do suspect that even without the yeast shot, I would have written down the same comment, even with a yeast shot, a beer shouldn’t be this yeasty, boozy, mold / plaster tasting. The brewery does deserve the benefit of doubt. I tried 4 of their beers in a setting. 2 were messy & unbalanced but pleasant. The beers in BE styles had this whole yeast, esters, booze thing going on.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8
330 ml. bottle drank @ Bahnhove. Pours surprisingly dark for me. Dark bread amber, solid reasonably big tanned head. Nose is herbal bitter hops with big chewy dark bread, spices, herbal & spices bitter profile, grainy, chewy quality, rather messy in its buildup. Taste is dark bread, herbal bitter, overripe dark fruits, black bread, grainy, big carbonation, tad too malty, boozy, spices & herbal bitter, touch bark. A good effort but too messy with a somewhat odd mix of elements. Okay / Decent with some nice elements.