Brasserie iLLeGaaL
Microbrewery in Vorst / Forest, Brussels, Brussels Capital Region, Belgium 🇧🇪
Contact
Rue Bollinckx 300, Brussels, 1190, Belgium
Description
The ILLEGAAL brewery brings together artists and brewers around a common project: creating the best beers possible in order to produce, support and share artistic projects.
The idea is not revolutionary but common sense: in Belgium, beer accompanies cultural events, vernissages, concerts, shows and various gatherings. Through beer, we want to share our Art and defend the social, political and philosophical values that unite our collective.
The idea is not revolutionary but common sense: in Belgium, beer accompanies cultural events, vernissages, concerts, shows and various gatherings. Through beer, we want to share our Art and defend the social, political and philosophical values that unite our collective.
7.3/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 7
Overall 7
Can. Comptoir Belge. Pretty muddy dark brown. Quite a scummy beige foam. It’s no looker. Nose has coffee malts. Some well done crusty brown bread. Some light earthy semi citrusy hop. Taste is a little earthy and dry before a decent hit of hoppy bitterness. Drinks pretty well overall. Bitter finish errs toward CDA territory. Ok. Tastes better than it smells or looks.
Tried
from Can
from
Le Comptoir Belge
on 16 May 2026
at 17:00
7.1/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7.5
Flavor 6.5
Texture 7
Overall 7
Good yellow head over muddy yellow beer. Interesting nose with soft resisns, cypress, woodwax and exotic hops, lightly fruity, bananapeel. Dry-strawlike flavours; only faintly resiny, mainly in the very finish. Exotic fruit, dried and without much sugars; bananapeel and sweet potato. Hint of minerality. Feels very carbonated. Quite hopoilslick, medium bodied, almost refreshing. Not bad; strange discrepancy between what the nose suggested and the resulting flavours. Txs to Stef!
Tried
from Can
on 05 May 2026
at 12:23
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7.5
Texture 7
Overall 7.5
Hazy IPA by this Brussels brewery which has been active as a socio-cultural project for ten years now; apparently belonging to their core range and shifting colours, as my can - with the beer canned a day before my fiftieth birthday earlier this year apparently - has a red background, but I have also seen photos of green and brown versions. On this variously coloured background, the artwork at least partially seems to depict living organisms (or subparts of them), including tropical fruits which may be associated with the aromas of the beer... Audibly crackling, egg-white, coarse and large-bubbled, shred-lacing, frothy and stable head, milky pale straw blonde robe with beige hue. Aroma of guava, freshly cut cactus, pitaya, granadilla, honey pomelo, meringue, touch raspberry ice cream, crushed lemongrass, very ripe Early Desire pear, fruit porridge, milk, minerals. Colourfully tropical-fruity onset, sweet with a citric edge, hardly any esters but all coming from hops: guava, pineapple, pomelo, granadilla - highly aromatic from onset to finish. Meanwhile a sharpish carbonation stings on the surface of the tongue a bit - perhaps a tad much for this style, but adding a refreshing minerality at the same time; smooth, doughy, mushy pale malts are completely soaked in both the tropical hoppiness and this spritzy minerality. The hops act as a tropical fruit cocktail, with all the lychee, pitaya and pomelo from the bouquet returning retronasally, lending a sweet impression while still depositing a mild, superficial bitterishness on the root of the tongue - in itself a bit accentuated by the minerality of the carbonation, which remains sharp till the end. A whiff of hopburn is there, but not to the extent where it becomes bothersome. The kind of tropical fruit hop bomb one expects from a postmodern IPA I guess - overcarbonated for many, sure, but in my experience this spritziness adds a nice contrast to the sultriness of the 'tropical-fruit' hoppiness one rarely sees (otherwise put, I guess I am condoning a brewing error here...). Some very late grapefruity bitterness lingers at the back of the throat seconds after swallowing so in spite of its initial creamy sweetness, there is more to this beer than first observed. Very 'international' and postmodern craft beer, far below the true greats in the NEIPA genre but still holding its own very well. Enjoyed it.
Tried
on 13 Mar 2026
at 23:50
6.9/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Can in 't Brugs Beertje on 11th November 2025. Lively clouded orange body, white crust. Tropical fruit aroma and taste (what a surprise given it's name). Bit too 'fizzy' for me, but it does what it says on the can!
Tried
from Can
at
't Brugs Beertje
on 11 Nov 2025
at 17:00
8.3/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
17/X/25 - 33cl can form Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: 18/VI/26, “Silky IPA” (2025-1015)
Pretty cloudy beige yellow beer, huge creamy solid broken white head, stable, non adhesive. Aroma: lovely, lots of tropical fruits, citrus, ripe peaches, mango, mandarins. MF: nice carbon, medium body. Taste: sweet start, very juicy, lots of tropical fruits, peaches, a little dank, ripe mango, gentle bitterness, fruity, citrus, grapefruit, zesty, nice!
Pretty cloudy beige yellow beer, huge creamy solid broken white head, stable, non adhesive. Aroma: lovely, lots of tropical fruits, citrus, ripe peaches, mango, mandarins. MF: nice carbon, medium body. Taste: sweet start, very juicy, lots of tropical fruits, peaches, a little dank, ripe mango, gentle bitterness, fruity, citrus, grapefruit, zesty, nice!
Tried
from Can
from
Dranken Geers
on 17 Oct 2025
at 21:30
6.9/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Can from Delhaize Dok Noord.
A: hazy orange, stable, frothy, off-white head.
A: grass, straw, rusk, melon, grapefruit peel, lemongrass, spring onion.
T: sweetish melon & mandarin, bitter spring onion, starch, bread crust.
F: grassy & some resinous hops, grapefruit peel, yeast.
P: medium body, slick texture, average carbonation.
Stylewise even "Belgian Hazy" would be a stretch. Needs some refining, and we have a decent Belgian IPA at hand.
A: hazy orange, stable, frothy, off-white head.
A: grass, straw, rusk, melon, grapefruit peel, lemongrass, spring onion.
T: sweetish melon & mandarin, bitter spring onion, starch, bread crust.
F: grassy & some resinous hops, grapefruit peel, yeast.
P: medium body, slick texture, average carbonation.
Stylewise even "Belgian Hazy" would be a stretch. Needs some refining, and we have a decent Belgian IPA at hand.
Tried
on 28 Sep 2025
at 09:28
6.8/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 6.5
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6
330 ml bottle. Pours a hazy mahogany color with moderate head. Aromas of bittering hops, candied citrus, grass and toasted malts. Flavors of dried fruit, caramel, stale hops and toasted malts. Fruity and bitter finish
Tried
from Bottle
at
CHAFF
on 04 Sep 2025
at 18:05
6.3/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 6
Flavor 6.5
Texture 6
Overall 6
33cl can au Bar Rebel, Ixelles - BB 01/07/2027.
Dorée sur un col blanc léger pétillant.
Arôme est en ligne avec une pils classique orientée sur le grains - le bouquet laissé par le houblon reste en retrait mettant l'accent sur l'apport du malt pils. Le volt 'lager' est discret tant ici que ne bouche.
Palais est 'crisp' malté pils avec un caractère plaisant de houblon noble oscillant sur un léger fleuri et terreux. Assez sèche en fin de bouche avec ce côté céréales concassées.
Dorée sur un col blanc léger pétillant.
Arôme est en ligne avec une pils classique orientée sur le grains - le bouquet laissé par le houblon reste en retrait mettant l'accent sur l'apport du malt pils. Le volt 'lager' est discret tant ici que ne bouche.
Palais est 'crisp' malté pils avec un caractère plaisant de houblon noble oscillant sur un léger fleuri et terreux. Assez sèche en fin de bouche avec ce côté céréales concassées.
Tried
from Can
on 29 Aug 2025
at 08:23
5/10
Tried
on 21 May 2025
at 20:51
7.3/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
12/IV/25 - 33cl can from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ holiday in France, BB: 6/XII/26 (2025-342)
Clear yellow blond beer, big creamy off-white to white head, unstable, falls down quickly, a bit adhesive. Aroma: very malty, grains, hay, wort, a hint of banana, a little bready. MF: ok carbon, medium to light body. Taste: nice, very decent lager, nice metallic touch, grassy hops. Aftertaste: dry finish, a bit grassy, hay, some grapefruit peel (pith), good bitter ending. Very decent pilsner!
Clear yellow blond beer, big creamy off-white to white head, unstable, falls down quickly, a bit adhesive. Aroma: very malty, grains, hay, wort, a hint of banana, a little bready. MF: ok carbon, medium to light body. Taste: nice, very decent lager, nice metallic touch, grassy hops. Aftertaste: dry finish, a bit grassy, hay, some grapefruit peel (pith), good bitter ending. Very decent pilsner!
Tried
from Can
from
Dranken Geers
on 12 Apr 2025
at 20:00