7.5

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

One of the latest Tartaruga beers, a coffee porter, bottle from De Hopduvel in Ghent. Medium thick, yellowish pale beige, moussy, slowly opening head over a dark burgundy hued, chocolate brown beer, very dark but still fully translucent, hazy. Aroma of fondant chocolate, coffee grounds, dried prunes, muesli, caramel candy, toasted brown bread, pecan nuts, tea, raisins. Sweetish onset with light sourish edge, dried figs and raisins with a touch of dried blueberries, medium carb, smooth and supple, bit oily mouthfeel; nutty and 'hard caramelly' malt middle, with a bittering toasted edge that blends well with semi-aromatic, softly bitter black coffee, turning a tad espresso-like retronasally. A late dash of spicy hops merges perfectly with the toasty and coffeeish bitterness, but the caramel malt sweetness lingers a bit beyond that. Porter in the classic, rounded, sweetish sense (as compared with modern stouts), with the coffee elegantly integrated; standard coffee porter I'd argue, but, like all of Tartaruga's beers, very correctly and 'cleanly' done.

6.4

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

19th May 2018
Columbus and Centennial hops. Light haze on this gold beer, good pale cream colour head. Smooth soft palate, modest fine carbonation. Fluffy creamy sweet malts. Some sweestish green leaves. Sweetish ripe citrus, mostly ripe orange and grapefruit. Smooth and slightly grainy finish. A bit tired and sweet but fine.

6

Slodkoowocowo, mocno gorzko, nieco grejfrutowo. Bez szalenstw. Za gorzkie dla mnie

7.5

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

8 3 8 3 16 Draft at Gollem Beers & Burgers, Antwerp. Slight hazy golden orange with a white head. Aroma of green hops, herbal notes, light citrus, light fruits, malt and yeasty notes. Flavour is light moderate sweet and moderate bitter. Medium bodied with soft carbonation.

7.3

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

Tap at Gollem Antwerpen. Bit hazy golden with fluffy white head. Nice crisp malts, some fresh green hop notes, grassy, light flowers, orange blossom, mint. There’s some really nice fresh herbs too, usually herbal notes on beer are dusty or overpowering but here it’s bright and fresh in a nice way. Medium sweet and bitter. Over medium bodied.

6.8

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

Draught Huge, dense white head, retreating over orangey-golden beer. Putteke , caramel, human sweat, chamomille, sunflower seed, spiced buns. Bitter, hoppy, some citrus and grains; good balance. Slick, medium bodied, medium carbonation, very faint astringency. Nose made me wary, but the taste is spot-on, if not in the American way. 6/4/7/3/14

6.5

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

From tap at the Hoppy Pub, Thessaloniki. Almost clear golden orange color with white head. Malty and light hoppy aroma, grainy, bread, grass, floral, citrus, caramel. Sweet and light bitter taste. Light to medium oily body with soft carbonation.

7.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

Belgian take on the DIPA style by Tartaruga, a beer company ('bierfirma') operated in Belgium by an Italian. Classic 33 cl 'trappist' bottle from Beergium. Membrane-lacing, medium thick, eggshell-white, moussy, quite dense but eventually (in the middle) dissipating head over a misty 'old gold' coloured beer with peachy hue, shifting towards a more brownish-tinged, cloudy peach blonde with sediment. Aroma of fresh orange peel, ripe melon, green banana, hand soap (wheat!), white bread dough, honey, freshly grated ginger, pear, dried apricot, young abbey cheese, pineapple, wet plaster, light spicy phenols (nutmeg), old apple cake, sweet potato mash, hints of cooked turnip, 'jenever' and damp earth. Mildly estery onset, fruity notes of peach, red apple, slight banana and yellow plum, sweetish with a sourish undertone, fizzy carb adding minerally notes. Full, supple, rather soapy mouthfeel, established by a mellow, bit doughy breadiness with a sweetish caramelly edge to it and very explicitly wheaty as well (see the soapiness); fruity esters and subtle spicy phenols dance on top, some thin honeyish residual sweetness is noticeable as well though subtly so. Finish pushes orange peel- and sweetclover-like hop aromatics upwards retronasally, as well as adding a softish, yet long-stretched and pleasantly drying, leafy, spicy hop bitterness that resinously and tenaciously settles on the root of the tongue, highlighted by gin-like, warming alcohol; bready malt sweetness, fruity esters and light phenols keep persisting. After a few critical hits by Tartaruga (I hugely enjoyed both Super Fresca and Simply Rossa), this one is a bit of a let down, not because of its quality as such, but because it creates expectations of being a hopped-up, hugely aromatic 'double' version of Super Fresca - and that is decidedly not the case. This is not a DIPA (or IIPA) by any means: this is a hop-forward, modern day Belgian tripel, brightly coloured with a dash of orangey hop fragrance but otherwise as bready, yeasty and boozy as any decent example of the style. Within the vast world of Belgian tripels though, a world teeming with mediocrity and bad taste to be honest, this does stand out a bit, in being technically perfect (De Ranke's merit, no doubt) and more hop bitter as well as aromatic; Guldenberg, a refined and classy, hoppy tripel I urgently should revisit, is peeping around the corner. I do not recognize Tartaruga's determination in brewing non-Belgian beers at all here: if I were told that De Ranke brews this within their own range, I would readily accept it. Guldenberg - the sequel, in a certain way, but that could never be a bad reference so failing style expectations aside, this is a very decent, technically well-made tripel packed with flavour. Do not expect anything truly American style in this case, though - the colleagues giving lower ratings here probably did, and who can blame them if this beer, even if advertized as "hoppy strong ale" without any sign of the resounding abbreviation "IPA" on the label itself, is classified as a DIPA here... Blame whoever added this on RateBeer for that and not the brewer, this is a tripel of high standard without a shadow of a doubt.

6.3

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5

Draft if I remember correctly. Dark clear maroon color thin tan head. Light coffee aroma. Taste is coffee and subtle cocoa, light body.

6.5

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

0,33l bottle from Beergium. Hazy orange beer with good white head. Aroma has Belgian yeast, caramel, hops and some spices on aroma. Taste is dry with spices, yeast and pine. Decent, quite dry, not so sweet at all.