Very herbal and spicy tripel. Sweet malty, some fruity notes and a mess of herbs. Not very well balanced.

New 'streekbier' from Stekene since last year, a Belgian IPA brewed at De Graal for two hobby brewers. Bottle from Van Callenberge. Initially inches thick, irregularly cobweb-lacing, egg-white, uneven head slowly dissipating and breaking, but generally very stable head, misty deep orangey peach blonde beer with amberish glow. Strongly citrusy aroma, lots of freshly squeezed orange juice, orange cake, grapefruit pith and ripe mandarin, gradually making room for more subtle impressions of bread dough, ripe banana, cantaloupe, chewing gum, drying grass, sweetclover, red apple, dried wormwood leaves, ripe nectarine, old 'herbes de Provençe'. Spritzy, fruity onset, estery with notes of peach, red apple and a dash of banana, sweetish but the sweet impression is enhanced by the sweet-citrusy hop aromas; minerally edge from very lively carbonation, but acceptable for a hoppy Belgian ale. Soft, 'fluffy' body, bready and slightly cereally maltiness under ongoing fruity notes, connecting with the fruitiness of the hops, bringing in a - for a Belgian IPA - relatively bright, orangey retronasal citrus effect as well as a spicy, leafy, citrus pith-like bitterness, mingling with more 'earthy' notes from the yeast and some spicy phenolic aspects. The hop bitterness lingers quite long on the root of the tongue, outliving the retronasal citrusy effects. I think these effects will fade soon so that the Belgian yeast features will become even more obvious (they are very much present already), so I was lucky to get a relatively fresh bottle, I guess. Better than I was expecting, to be honest; a Belgian blonde embellished with a New World hop profile, but as usual in this kind of 'compromises' where Belgian traditional get an injection with international craft beer elements, the Belgian yeast character comes out strong - which in itself is not an issue, if one accepts Belgian IPA as, indeed, a compromise of blonde / tripel and 'real' Anglo-Saxon style IPA. Comparable with e.g. Troubadour Magma, De Plukker All Inclusive, Viven Master IPA and so on, a league of 'modernized' Belgian ales I can certainly appreciate.

Donkerbruin bier met schuim. Smaak is warm en krachtig met iets van veel whiskey en een beetje anijs en kandij.

33cl bottle in 't Brugs Beertje on 30th Jan 2020. Light haze to the golden pour, white crown that stayed on top. Fairly sweet and malty brew with a yeasty/herbal feel to the nose and taste. Not a 'typical Belgian Tripel' but not much to set it apart from many others in the style, still enjoyed it.