I knew it: a White Pony beer from a steini bottle coming from Gaverhopke would mean gushing and a lot of it - based on empirical evidence - so I tried to open this over the sink as carefully and slowly as I could, but after lifting the crown cap gradually over a time span of about five minutes, each time losing beer and having to listen to that ominous, mean hissing sound, I just couldn’t bother anymore and pulled it open in one swift movement - knowing that about 1/3 of the remainder of the content would go down the sink, which is exactly what happened. The rest of the beer carries a very regularly shaped, egg-white, densely moussy head remaining closed for a long time and leaving behind a thick, creamy layer of ’membranous’ lacing, atop an immediately clouded, deeply peach blonde beer with ochre hue and dots of darker dead yeast floating near the bottom, eventually (with sediment) turning into an orange-tinged muddy ochre. Aroma of banana bubblegum, canned peach, ’chicken soup’-like oxidation (i.e. oxidation in its least flattering form), sweet (over)cooked carrots, honey, overripe peach, cloves, melon ’jenever’, stewed red cabbage (though no DMS), sweet cherry tomatoes, old bread, rusty iron (probably just that oxidation again), pineapple jam, melting powder sugar, hints of dried orange peel, liquorish (strangely), rainwater and grass. Estery onset, lots of sweet peach, pineapple and banana, some vague and ’dull’ sourishness underneath, medium carbo (less harsh than expected based on the gushing, I have to admit, but still very minerally); ’full’ and supple, lean body, a tad soapy. Phenols retronasally, clove-like and a tad liquorish-like even, over a bready, caramelly malt sweet body with a lot of residual sugars even for this style, lending it a honeyish effect; the ’rusty’ and ’chicken soup’-like oxidation add a very explicit and unpleasant metallic feel, and distort the retronasal aromas to a large extent, making the finish less pleasant than the onset. Earthiness in the finish as well due to dead yeast, as well as some warming ’jenever’-ish alcohol, a dash of curaçao and a very late, ’dim’ and earthy hop bitter touch, but none of these aspects are any match against the ongoing honey- and canned peach-like, eventually even cloying sweetness, which dominates this beer from beginning to end. Technically an abomination of course - this extreme amount of gushing is an insult to the consumer - but conceptually ill-fated as well, sweet tripels are one thing (though not necessarily my thing) but then at least balance the sweetness with a somewhat more generous amount of hoppiness - or even coriander seed for all I care. I will not be nagging about White Pony’s Gaverhopke past again, this is clearly an older bottle from that dreadful era (Roberto does no longer brew at Gaverhopke anymore - I guess this one is at least two or even three years old), so on a technical level this more or less meets my low expectations, but even ignoring the technical flaws, the gushing and the very unpleasant oxidation, this was probably way too sweet and straightforward to begin with. I guess the idea of a ’traditional’ Belgian spring beer - which barely exists outside of a few standalone cases like Boskeun, Grimbergen Optimo Bruno or Contreras’ Especial Mars - has gone terribly wrong here. A loathsome beer, as expected.

330ml bottle from Tiffany’s, near Steenvoorde. Pours a lightly misty gold, frothy white head. Aroma is moderately sweet, doughy. Taste is standard Belgian blonde territory, smooth creamy vanilla icing, moderately sweet yeast. I did expect more of a floral character, but I guess this is open to interpretation.

01/05/2017 @home - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck. GUSHER!! Pale orange, huge white head. Nose is sweet malty, ripe fruits. Taste is sweet, sugary, banana, spices. Not a bad taste and nose but average...

F: huge, off-white, average retention. C: deep gold, hazy. A: malt, orange peels, spicy, toasty, honey, yeast. T: malt, peach, mellow fruity, hint of gin-alcohol, flower, quite sweet, white sugar, medium to full body, medium carbonation, there is nothing bad, good, enjoyed, there are good and bad rates may be infected and not infected bottles :) 33cl bottle from Spar supermarket in Oostende.

F: huge, light off-white, long lasting. C: deep gold, hazy. A: malty, peach, yeasty, floral, spicy, candy sugar, herbal. T: malt, fruity, very dry on the palate, light earthy, peach, yeast, spicy, medium body, medium carbonation, this in my opinion is not IIPA but more like BSA, nothing really special, 33cl bottle from Spar supermarket in Oostende.

Bottle, 330 ml from Brasserie L’Egalité, Bruxelles. Shared with JFK10000 and Max. Pours hazy golden with white head. Yeasty, bit spicy, fruity, malty. Light to moderate sweet, with light bitterness in finish. Medium bodied.

Draft. Hazy golden amber color. Floral and spiced aroma. Taste is light spice, subtle citrus and banana.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Gaverhopke Den Twaalf Bourbon BA (by 't Gaverhopke):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 13/20, MyTotalScore: 3.3/5

7/III/17 - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte) @ home - BBE: 2020 (2017-370)

Clear deep purple to brown beer, sweet, hint of vanilla, caramel, milk chocolate, not very complex. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: malty, pretty roasted, bit sourish, spicy, dried fruits, alcohol. Aftertaste: little bitter, hoppy, bit oxidized, roasted touch, malty, sweet, yeast, overripe banana, sugary, alcohol.