2 February 2019. At Brugs Bierfestival. Cheers to tderoeck, 77ships, Jerre, Kevin & Anke! Hazy red with a lasting, small, foamy, pinkish head; little lacing. Aroma of red candy, sweet cherry, strawberry, sugary fruit jam, industrial red yoghurt. Taste is heavy sugary sweet, mixing red candy with overripe sweet cherry, toned down a little by a light fruity sourness, some strawberry, red jam but remaining artificial, and a lactic touch of yoghurt. Sweet finish, lingering sugary jam & red candy, only slightly wheaty and very vaguely grainy bitter. Medium body, slick/fluffy texture, fizzy carbonation. Who could care about another overly sweet Belgian cherry beer?

2 February 2019. At Brugs Bierfestival. Cheers to tderoeck, 77ships, Jerre, Kevin & Anke! Hazy golden with a lasting, small, foamy, off-white head. Aroma of mouldy orange, honey, banana, bordering on bubblegum, grain, soap, white bread, DEET. Taste is medium fruity sweet, notes of overripe orange, honey & apple cake; light to medium spicy bitterness brings bitter orange peel, some mint (in a slightly artifical way), supported by a 'white' bready malty base & a sourish, wheaty-soapy touch. Dry, grassy hoppy finish, bit floral, lingering orange peel & yeast. Medium body, slick texture, fizzy carbonation. Not the most interesting 'Cuvée'.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Coin Cassé Heroes Amazing Blond (by Gulden Spoor):
Aroma: 5/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 10/20, MyTotalScore: 2.8/5

2/II/19 - sample @ Brugs Bierfestival, BB: n/a - (2019-196) Thanks to the Belgian ratebeer crew for sharing todays' beers!
Clear orange beer, creamy white head, stable, adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: very malty, grains, cow fodder, rather unpleasant. MF: lively carbon, medium to light body. Taste: sweet start, malty, grains, hay, cow fodder, metallic. Aftertaste: sweet, malty, some spices, a bit dirty, don't like it.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Gulden Spoor Cuvée Jean Pierre (by Gulden Spoor):
Aroma: 6/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 12/20, MyTotalScore: 3.1/5

2/II/19 - sample @ Brugs Bierfestival, BB: n/a - (2019-192) Thanks to the Belgian ratebeer crew for sharing todays' beers!

Clear orange beer, creamy off-white head, stable, bit adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: lots of yeast, overripe banana, hay, cow fodder. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very malty, lots of ripe banana, sugary, meh. Aftertaste: slightly sourish, soft bitterness, some spicy notes, pretty sugary, not very impressive. A crowd pleaser, probably.

Belgian IPA by the guys at Gulden Spoor, steinie bottle from Wijnegemse Drankenhal. Thick and frothy, tight papery-lacing, beaten egg-white, foamy head over misty deep orange beer with amber-ruddy tinge and vivid sparkling. Aroma of old abbey cheese, dried orange peel, pink peppercorns, sweet paprika, hint of iron shavings, spoiling ginger root, old chili peppers, chicken soup, stewed oyster mushroom, old bread. Crisp, sweetish onset, orange flesh note amidst impressions of dried apricot and dried mango, sharp and bit numbing (over)carbonation, adding strong minerally effects; still supple, bit oily mouthfeel, peanutty and dry cracker-like maltiness with that nuttiness lingering underneath a robust, confident hoppiness, adding both retronasal aroma (old citrus peel, herb cheese, bell pepper) and long-stretching, spicy, grapefruity, bit quinine-like bitterness, with a subtle alcohol warmth accentuating its pepperiness. Remains fairly soft, though, but in a good way; only issue here is that this bottle has spent a bit too much time on the shelf, with the hops having gone a tad cheesy and the malts already showing early signs of oxidation. In trying to mentally reconstruct a picture of this beer in fresh condition, I can imagine it being aromatic, crisp and pleasantly bitter, so in that sense it approaches the 'new' international IPA standard a lot better than many other present-day attempts in Belgium do. Gulden Spoor, as always, proves very decent and trustworthy here.

Gulden Spoor's classic Belgian style tripel, steinie bottle from Wijnegemse Drankenhandel. Their quadrupel I quite liked, so I figured I should seek out more of their classically styled brews. Medium thick, irregularly 'papery' lacing, off-white head showing gaps in instants but otherwise remaining stable over an initially lightly hazed, pale orange-hued peach blonde beer with 'old gold' tinge, misty and more deeply orange with sediment. Quite strong, yet very 'Belgian' aroma of half-ripe peaches, ripe pear, lots of camomile flowers, coriander seed, cooked potatoes, soggy white bread, honey, bubblegum, dried orange peel, damp clay, 'oude jenever', parsnip stew, dried wormwood leaves, moist hay, vague notes of cooked chicken, cloves, carrot, plastic and Christmas cake. Sweetish onset with sourish edges, pronounced and lightly bubblegummy banana ester, notes of pear, apricot and pineapple, lively carbonation with minerally side effects accentuating the sourish aspect, full and rounded body. Bready, caramelly malt sweetish middle as expected, with this estery fruitiness continuing in a well-mannered way, accompanied by notes of spicy phenols; moist, almost earthy breadiness remains dominant, underneath a refreshing dried citrus peel-like effect, soapy-ethereal coriander seed and, eventually, quite well-developed but still persistently mild, hayish and very floral hop bitterness, releasing camomile-like notes retronasally. Sweetness of residual sugars and banana ester remains the main theme, as the hoppiness only partially succeeds; a bready, potato starch-like, phenolic yeastiness eventually more or less pushes away the floral elegance of the hops retronasally. A brandy-ish but bearable, gently warming alcohol effect ensues. Very classic, banana ester- and coriander-forward, boozy but still elegant tripel, as old-fashioned as it gets in this style, but technically of a relatively high level, like indeed their quad. Too sweet, too boozy and too coriandered for my tooth, but 'physically' well executed so within its intended style, this scores relatively high on the scale for me. Doesn't dissappoint, though after some of their other brews, I did expect more dryness and depth even if this is just your 'everyday' sweet Belgian tripel... Het Nest on the other side of Flanders, to name just one, does better at this particular style, if only the 21st generation of tripel makers is to be considered. Within Gulden Spoor's commercial range, though, this is born to be a hit.

F: big, egg-white, long lasting. C: amber, hazy, yeasty debris. A: malty, fruity, bit floral, red fruits, bit candy sugar, yeasty. T: malty, fruity, bit candy sugar, yeasty, bit orange peels, medium body and carbonation, ok Belgian ale, not great, yet partially enjoyed, 0,33l bottle from Spar supermarket in Oostende.