Bottle, 0.75l. Cloudy golden pour, one finger creamy white head, good retention, lasting head, sticky lacing on the glass. Nice on the nose, candy, ripe fruits, grassy, floral, light coriander notes.

Medium body, medium carbonation, fizzy. Average mouthfeel and texture, lightweight, slightly chewy, fizzy, refreshing. Goes down nicely. Balanced bittersweet taste with refreshing sour notes in the background. Aroma of yeast, grains, grass. Citrus peel, coriander, grassy notes. Floral. Malty notes in the background. Lingering citrus tart. Medium lasting finish, dry, tart, fruity.

Refreshing. Quite enjoyable.

Bottle, 0.75l. Deep amber pour, two finger creamy off-white head, long lasting, very good retention, sticky lacing on the glass. Sweet and malty nose, caramel, bready notes, ripe fruits.

Medium body, soft carbonation. Smooth mouthfeel and texture, soft and chewy, mild fizzy, some creaminess to it. Sweet taste balanced with mild bitterness lingering in the background. Aroma of caramel, bread, yeast. Molasses , sugary, sticky. Dried fruits and spices, grassy notes. Mild alcohol, warming. Medium lasting finish, dry, slightly bitter, spicy.

Enjoyable.

Form Carrefour, Waterloo. Slightly hazy straw colour. Medium head. Tropical fruits, intense flavour. Light body. Fizzy carbonation.

Times have changed dramatically in beer land - and I do not just mean the revolution that is American style craft beer having swept all over Europe since the early years of this century: it is not so long ago that John Martin's hypercommercial beer producing company, of which we all knew they did not brew themselves, kept the brewing locations of their beers a complete secret (though it was a kind of open secret that their ales mostly came from Palm and their lagers mostly from Bavaria, now Swinckels and the owner of Palm). With this attempt at white IPA, they apparently shyly admit that it is executed by Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie - shyly, because the actual label on the actual bottle limits itself to "brewed in Belgium". Still, the fact that now they let us in on this kind of information, in stark contrast with the old days, does elicit a kind of trust and benevolence in me - and everyone can check here how harsh I have been in reviewing (most of) their beers throughout the years. Anyways: medium thick, egg-white, even- and fine-bubbled, slowly opening but otherwise stable head on a lightly hazed, yellow-glowing straw blonde robe with olive-greenish tinge. Aroma of orange and kiwi but in a rather artificial way, strong coriander seed (in an IPA - why, for heaven's sake?), powder sugar, honey pomelo, desiccated orange peel, dried lemongrass, spice cookies, crisps with green herbs, old apple cake, white soap and aloë vera, wet North Sea beach sand, chalk but not too annoyingly. Fruity onset, sweet with not just the purely aromatic 'hoppy' fruit-like sweetness one expects from an IPA nowadays but also from actual sugars, though fortunately not cloying; impressions of banana, pear and green melon. Smooth, slick core, clear wheat soapiness paired with simple pale malt graininess, aromatised by a citrusy and herbal hoppiness admittedly seeming genuinely dry-hopped - lemongrass-, dried lime peel- and pomelo-ish, though perhaps not as colourful and vibrant as one tends to expect from any IPA these days. Coriander seed annoyingly sneaks up on it all only to become quite 'loud' in the end - not to say dominant, in a way that seems completely out of place considering the intention was white IPA and not witbier, which are two different things. The fact that our other old friend curaçao palpably joins in as well, is, however, enough proof that old John Martin was never intending to treat us with a 'real' Anglo-Saxon IPA of whatever kind: this is a witbier pumped up with extra hoppiness, which does provide a moment of 'believable' citrus peel aromatics (though part of that comes from the curaçao of course) as well as a long, somewhat earty, leafy but altogether accessible bitterness - even a brief impression of 'hop burn' which, in spite of the fact that it normally is considered a flaw, could be seen as a plus in this specific context. I never though I would say this about a John Martin product, but this was not even the worst beer of the evening, and I can even see myself revisiting it (if nothing more decent is available, for all clarity); but it seems to repeat an old 'Belgian' mistake, namely that you cannot just turn a traditional Belgian ale - in this case, atypically, a classically spiced witbier - into an IPA simply by adding more hops... That said: quite pleasantly surprised, all things considered, and if you consider this an 'updated' postmodern version of witbier, you may even enjoy it.

Il naso viene catturato dal luppolo. L'olfatto viene stimolato in maniera normale e la maniera in cui permane è sufficiente. Il cappello di schiuma resiste abbastanza. La grandezza delle bollicine è medio-fine. Il liquido è di apparenza opalescente. Il colore è giallo dorato. Il corpo è strutturato. L'amaro è pronunciato. La forza gustativa è elevata e la durata è buona. Il gusto è piacevole. Le sensazioni boccali finali risultano luppolate. Il retrogusto è intenso. Sul tetto della bocca si attestano sentori di miele, frutta secca, agrumi, pompelmo, ananas e arancia amara.

25/VI/25 - 33cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ post last choir rehearsal of the year drink, BB: 17/V/25, L18:35 10:05 (2025-581)

Clear light yellowish blond, big creamy white head, a little stable, non adhesive. Aroma: pleasant, some tropical fruits, citrus fruits, a bit malty, more fruity, not bad! MF: lively carbon, medium to light body. Taste: rather soapy, floral, good bitterness, some orange peel. Aftertaste: a little malty, more of that soapy bitterness, not very good.

Bottle @ Patricks. Unclear deep golden body under a foamy white head. Aroma has pale malt and herbs. Taste is sweet malt, slightly acidic berries, spices, herbs and a floral touch. Balanced body and average aftertaste. Decent.