[Thank you for sharing!][330 ml. bottle sampled @ O.B.E.R. Kerstbierfestival 2016] Hazy orange, solid small white head. Nose is cooked vegetable apples, raw dough, cooked cabbage, poor booze, low grain, very sweet. Taste is hugely sweet, soapy, raw dough, cinnamon roll, sugar, soap, watery, overly big on vegetables. Body is watery, soap with some cinnamon. My first encounter with this new brewery & it isn’t a good one, cooked vegetables, watery with an ill-fitting cinnamon-like note. Nope.

Lichtbruin bier met mooie schuimkraag die helaas snel wegzakt. Smaak is krachtig, licht zoet en kruidig met iets van abrikoos, perzik en vanille. Heeft een bijzondere bijsmaak die moeilijk te definiëren is maar erg goed in balans is. Ga zo door!

Donkerbruin bier met mooie stevige schuimkraag. Smaak is licht zoet en licht bitter met iets van rook, karamel, mokka en chocolade.

A blonde and a tripel need a dubbel, so here it is - bottle from Willems in Grobbendonk. Thick and frothy yet regulary shaped, pale yellowish white, quite tightly structured head leaving a ’membrane’ of lacing around the glass; initially almost clear, deep but fully translucent chestnut brown robe with vermillion red tinge. Quite atypical, ’rural’ and even downright weird (for a dubbel) aroma of slowly cooked green cabbage (but not in the DMS way), fermenting garden weeds, fresh fig, unripe gooseberry, dry manure (strongly so at first but decreasing after a while), tomato concentrate, eggplant, sweet gherkin, raw broccoli, caramel, vegetable soup, dried plum somewhere, fresh ginger, freshly cut grass, fermenting tree leaves on a damp autumn forest floor. Restrained dried fruit sweetness and sourness in the onset, hints of old dried plums, red apple peel and unripe gooseberry, more sourish than sweet but actually quite well-balanced, fizzy carbo, minerally touches here and there, smooth mouthfeel coarsened a bit by the relatively strong fizziness. Caramelly malt sweetness ensues with a sharper grainy edge to it, evolving into a very lightly toasted accent delivering a very subtle bitterishness; the finish adds a herbal, earthy, slightly grassy hop bitterness as well as bready, earthy yeast impressions, but the moderately sweetish maltiness gets the last word. Unusual beer: I accept this as a dubbel, being more dry and restrained than a quadrupel (which is probably the next thing this predictable brewery will do), but in that Belgian ale subclass, this holds a somewhat idiosyncratic position, in being way too ’green’ and raw vegetable-like than is normally the case. Quite alright from a technical point of view, but less sweet and malty than expected. I kind of like it when beers seriously try to adhere to 20th century Belgian ale standards - and then fail at this, unwillingly creating a personality of its own, because that is very likely what happened here. Actually not bad, all things considered, and deviating from the - in this case either Westmalle Dubbel or Leffe Brune - standard like this one does, is what made Belgium to such an influential country in the international craft beer movement we are all basking in now. This beer has its flaws, I know, but I like its quirkiness - more so than I like the stereotypical character of the otherwise flawless tripel in this series.

Bottle from Willems in Grobbendonk. Thick and frothy, lightly lacing, egg-white, densely moussy head, fairly stable; initially clear and pure golden blonde robe with warmer, pale orangey tinge, becoming deeper and warmer (and equally hazy) with the sediment added. Aroma of stewed apple, banana bubblegum (isoamylacetate) but not exagerrated, ripe peach, white pepper, field flowers, white bread, minerals, powder sugar, soggy breakfast cereals, some grass, soap, pineapple, green plum, coriander seed, all completely ruined by a very strong and disturbing scent of DMS (the sulfuric smell of overcooked cauliflower) and even some melting rubber (possibly DMTS). Fruity onset, lots of residual white candi sugar but not too cloying, sweet banana and apricot with a sourish gooseberry touch but sweetness dominates, even honeyish, a feature which continues in the middle phase, where a slick, cereally pale malt sweetness supports it; smooth, lean mouthfeel with fizzy carbonation but not numbing. Honeyish sweetness lingers on in the finish along with traces of the white candi sugar, the banana ester, some soapy coriander (though remaining relatively subtle) and the minerals, as well as a soft grassy hop bitterish accent, incapable of balancing out the sweetness. Typical sweet Belgian blonde, to be drunk thoughtlessly on an outdoors café in summer, going down easily but showing evident flaws upon closer scrutiny, the worst of which is the DMS, which I am overly sensitive to and which is very strongly present here - either this beer hasn’t been cooking long enough, or it has been cooled too slowly after cooking. Simple, straightforward, unambitious and not even showing the technical perfection I found in the tripel of this series, this is as redundant as it gets. More or less drinkable alright, but otherwise completely unnecessary, especially seen in the context of the ever-shifting international craft beer revolution, with which this brewery clearly has no affinity whatsoever. And I passionately hate DMS!

Bottle shared. Clear golden with a small white head. Aroma of yeast, herbs, citrus, coriander and light malt. Flavour is moderate sweet and bitter. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

33cl bottle shared. Thin white head. Hazy golden pour. A decent triple. A bit too sweet

Bottle shared. Hazy golden with a small off white head. Aroma of yeast, floral notes, caramel, light fruits, citrus and malt. Flavour is moderate sweet and bitter. Medium bodied with soft carbonation. [02/08/2016]

Bottle shared. Hazy brown with a small tan head. Aroma of overripe dark fruit, yeast, raisins, malt and caramel. Flavour is moderate sweet and light moderate bitter. Medium bodied with light carbonation. [12-07-2016]

Bottle @ home. Lightly unclear yellow golden color, average sized off-white head that diminishes fairly quickly. Smell and taste malts, a hint of yeast, a hint of hops, dried fruit, a hint of grapes, moderately bitter. Medium body and carbonation. Ok beer.