Fruity, full body with a resinous-hoppy finish. Thx for the bottle, Jef V. !

Rum-, apple-, banana- and caramel-flavoured (!) 'tripel' brewed for the fifth anniversary of artists collective SYL Wevelgem at De Feniks (something the label mysteriously forgets to mention); this bottle, with its rather conspicuous label, has been standing in my collection for many months now so I have no idea where I bought it. Thick and frothy, egg-white, very intricately Brugse kant-like lacing, very mousy and stable head; misty deep golden blonde robe with a 'fog' of yeast dots equally divided over the whole, perturbed by enthusiastic strings of sparkling. Aroma of banana bread (and this time the , sweet white rum with an even coconut-like touch to it, sweaty Camembert cheese or even sweaty feet in the background, pineapple, Paschka, apricot jam, ripe Doyenné pear, caramel syrup indeed (effectively used apparently), homemade apple sauce and even warm apple cake (and indeed apple is used here as well), sweetclover, cream. Evidently fruity onset, where banana ester mingles with an actual (dried) banana accent but is overridden by a clearly stronger sweet ripe apple presence, covering 'lower' hints of pineapple and peach as well; sharply carbonated, unfortunately distracting a bit from the actual flavour (an issue De Feniks needs to deal with, I think, because it is not the first time I encounter this in their beers). Soft and 'fluffy' bready malt base with a cereally core but thickened by residual sweetness (honeyish - but primarily the caramel in this particular case) which lasts till deep into the finish, verging on the brink of becoming sticky; spicy, floral finish, adding vague elements of coriander seed and basil, while this warming, sweetish rum effect increases, making for a booziness that eventually becomes a tad too strong for a beer below 8% ABV. Strong carbonation maintains its strangehold until the finish too, somewhat drawing down the attention from the wry effect established by the rum; sweet apple, spice and leafy-bitter hop effects linger beyond that, but the rum remains annoyingly present till the last drop. Weird combo of flavours here: basically a sweet tripel pimped with less obvious ingredients, something I will always remain wary about especially in Belgian ales; it admittedly does deliver everything it contains in its aroma and flavour: the banana, the apple, the caramel and the rum are all noticeable, even if I personally would have left out the latter. Overcarbonated and too boozy even for a tripel, but I cannot deny that it is at least original, so I hope the SYL people were happy with it. I am not completely unhappy, but expected more, this is a bit crude and could do with some more subtlety - isn't Feniks a little bit overrated among Belgian beer lovers? Just asking... --- Beer merged from original tick of Sylluminati on 11 Nov 2020 at 00:14 - Score: Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6. Original review text: Rum-, apple-, banana- and caramel-flavoured (!) 'tripel' brewed for the fifth anniversary of artists collective SYL Wevelgem at Gulden Spoor (something the label mysteriously forgets to mention - and which is practically the same as De Feniks these days, so I will not make a fuss about its brewery classification here); this bottle, with its rather conspicuous label, has been standing in my collection for many months now so I have no idea where I bought it. Thick and frothy, egg-white, very intricately Brugse kant-like lacing, very mousy and stable head; misty deep golden blonde robe with a 'fog' of yeast dots equally divided over the whole, perturbed by enthusiastic strings of sparkling. Aroma of banana bread (and this time the , sweet white rum with an even coconut-like touch to it, sweaty Camembert cheese or even sweaty feet in the background, pineapple, Paschka, apricot jam, ripe Doyenné pear, caramel syrup indeed (effectively used apparently), homemade apple sauce and even warm apple cake (and indeed apple is used here as well), sweetclover, cream. Evidently fruity onset, where banana ester mingles with an actual (dried) banana accent but is overridden by a clearly stronger sweet ripe apple presence, covering 'lower' hints of pineapple and peach as well; sharply carbonated, unfortunately distracting a bit from the actual flavour (an issue De Feniks needs to deal with, I think, because it is not the first time I encounter this in their beers). Soft and 'fluffy' bready malt base with a cereally core but thickened by residual sweetness (honeyish - but primarily the caramel in this particular case) which lasts till deep into the finish, verging on the brink of becoming sticky; spicy, floral finish, adding vague elements of coriander seed and basil, while this warming, sweetish rum effect increases, making for a booziness that eventually becomes a tad too strong for a beer below 8% ABV. Strong carbonation maintains its strangehold until the finish too, somewhat drawing down the attention from the wry effect established by the rum; sweet apple, spice and leafy-bitter hop effects linger beyond that, but the rum remains annoyingly present till the last drop. Weird combo of flavours here: basically a sweet tripel pimped with less obvious ingredients, something I will always remain wary about especially in Belgian ales; it admittedly does deliver everything it contains in its aroma and flavour: the banana, the apple, the caramel and the rum are all noticeable, even if I personally would have left out the latter. Overcarbonated and too boozy even for a tripel, but I cannot deny that it is at least original, so I hope the SYL people were happy with it. I am not completely unhappy, but expected more, this is a bit crude and could do with some more subtlety.

Belgian amber (rather than 'international', or, better put, American style amber ale) by Gulden Spoor in Gullegem near Kortrijk. Very violent gusher - and this being Gulden Spoor, I wasn't quite prepared, and had to clean both the table and the floor after 1/3 of the bottle flooded out of the bottle neck immediately upon opening... Typical 'gusher head' afterwards: big, frothy and heavily paper-like lacing, but very irregular in shape and collapsing quickly, though a firm, irregular, mousy, pale greyish beige layer of foam admittedly remained in place for a long time; misty deep and pure copper red colour, with a vermillion glow, but turning into an almost purple-tinged cloudy burgundy with sediment - clearly darker than either Belgian or American style amber ale, averagely speaking. Aroma of baker's yeast, freshly cut red sweet apple, perfumey lavender and rosemary, soggy brown bread, pecan nut, roses, violets, ripe cranberries in autumn, rusk, brown honey, cloves, fresh fig, wet clay, dry earth. Sharply stinging carbonation at first, very minerally and dominant, but strong fruity esters are obvious as well, hinting at fig, peach, red apple, pear and cranberry, sweetish with clear residual dark sugariness but not too sticky, and countered by an undercurrent of almost blackberry-ish sourishness; rounded, bit resinous mouthfeel, coarsened by the sharp carbon dioxide. Deeply pecan-nutty, hard-caramelly and softly toasty-bitterish maltiness; the sweetness overrules the bitterness, but the finish does develop a pleasant, quenching dryness too, while spicy phenols become ever more abundant, ranging from clove and thyme to almost lavender-like aromas, paired with a herbal, bit spicy and medium long hop bitterness that blends with the bitter touch of the toasted malts. Nuttiness, hoppy accents and strong yeastiness linger, the latter in the form of bready, fruity and spicy phenolic aspects, eventually turning even a little bit 'dirty' - maybe a slight infection could even be going on here, accounting for the heavy gushing as well. Has the general flavour profile of a Walloon style 'ambrée' (stronger, often maltier and almost always yeastier than the classic 'spéciales belges'), I do like that strong pecan-nutty core and can also appreciate the generous hop dosage, but the yeasty 'dirtiness' and very strong gushing obviously reveal that something went a bit awry here. Good idea, good in its core, but not well executed from a technical viewpoint, which is a shame in this case.