A second version of this commissioned Vliegende Paard beer - not under the Préaris brand, mind you - spiced with giant hyssop, a plant genus native to Asia and North America, some of which are cultivated as ornamentals; except for their ornamental value, though, they are also noted for their hyssop-like fragrance, which hovers somewhere between aniseed, mint and basil. Many thanks to my colleague Kathy for this bottle! Contrary to the blonde lemon verbena version (which came first), this is a dark beer, apparently. Pours with a thick and very regularly shaped, dense, notably creamy, egg-white, very stable head sitting on an initially lightly hazy, dark mahogany brown beer with ruby red hue. Aroma of indeed pronounced giant hyssop, a scent reminiscent of anise, peppermint and even liquorish but a spicy character in its own right, deeply penetrating - and, frankly, dominating - basic impressions of hard caramel, cooked apple, soggy brown bread, unripe banana, dry tree leaves, chewing gum, vague nutmeg, clove, walnut, some faint wet dog. Sweetish onset but relatively restrainedly so, mildly estery with notes of halfripe banana (even a slight note of bubblegum but not too strong), red apple and fig, medium carbonated with some minerally side notes, 'deep' and dull underlying sourishness, rounded hard-caramelly maltiness with a clear nutty edge shifting towards soft toasty bitterishness, eventually coloured by the liquorish- and anise-like Agastache but - luckily - not too strongly so; ends with clear herbal spiciness paired with bittering toastiness and a leafy hop bitterishness, but the estery and malty sweetishness also comes through, making for a finish that turns out to be more balanced than I was expecting. The 'drop'-like features of the giant hyssop linger, with a very faint 'wet dog'-like aspect retronasally. A typical Belgian dubbel in its basic nature, but the Agastache twist sets it apart from any other beer I ever had for the simple reason that I never encountered giant hyssop in a beer before - and yet Andy succeeds in keeping this added herb at bay, letting it play with the beer's natural maltiness and yeastiness without overpowering it too much. The giant hyssop spiciness in this ones seems less strong than the lemon verbena spiciness is in the other version, but in the case of this very particular herb, I think this is a good thing. Not for everyone, but there is no denying that the spice has been very cleverly applied here - and as I have stated with the other version, only Andy of Vliegende Paard seems capable of applying unusual herbs (and even vegetables) to a beer without making it unpalatable. Well done for what it intends to be, but for me personally, this is somewhat less appealing than the very refreshing lemon verbena version, with a more dull, earthy and sweet character.

Bottle at home. Clear a bit pale yellow golden color, full sized white head. Smell and taste malts, yeasty a bit, a bit sweetish, lightly dry. Hard to describe. Decent body, a bit fizzy carbonation. Meh. 5-3-5-2-10.

Bottle shared with TomHendriksen. Clear golden color, average sized white head. Smell and taste malts, distant coffee, pleasantly bitter. Hard to describe but pretty nice. 7-4-7-4-15.

Bottle picked up from Dranken Geers, Oostakker nr Gent, Belgium and consumed at home Attenkirchen, Thursday 23rd May 2019 listening to Huw Stevens standing in for Steve Lamaq on Round Table on 6 Music. Pours very dark brown with a light beige head. Aroma is clearly sherry, woody, but also a little beef stock. Thick in the mouth, a tingly tongue from the abv, a tangy dark dried fruit edge offers a good balance to the sweetness. I like this, some boozy fumes come back down the nose. Good.

Fles gedeelt door Benzai. Het is een helder goudgeel bier met een medium wit schuim welke snel weg ebt. Het heeft een koffie achtige geur. De smaak is koffie achtig, bitter en wat zoetig.

Bottle at home. Clear pale yellow color, initially a huge foamy head but in the end there is nothing left. Smell and taste wheat, sweetness, peachy indeed, slightly sugary perhaps. Average body and carbonation. Ok. 6-3-6-3-13.

27 April 2019. At Zythos Bierfestival. Deputy Taster: Anke. Cheers to Ama Deke, Erwin, John & Meeki! Hazy orange, lasting, small, frothy, off-white head. Aroma of orange peel, mellow mango, grapefruit, breadcrust, pepper, onion, herbs. Taste is light to medium fruity sweet, orange & mango on a doughy malty base with a citric sour touch, vaguely sulphuric retronasally but not too disturbing; rye-like & grapefruity bitter tones lead to a piney hoppy finish where onion and grapefruit peel linger, some mellow fruit & pepper too. Medium body, oily texture, fizzy carbonation. Firm American IPA, a bit on the harsh side perhaps but who wants a compromise nowadays?

Spice beer brewed by Vliegende Paard Brouwers for a social project in nearby Beernem, where herbs are grown; this one is an organic blonde spiced with lemon verbena, a lemon-scenting ornamental herb you do not see in a beer every day. Many thanks to Kathy for the bottle! Yellowish egg-white, fairly thick and dense, creamy, only very slowly breaking head sustained by very lively sparkling everywhere throughout a misty peachy warm golden beer with somewhat khaki-ish tinge. Aroma carries the lemon verbena forward in a very explicit, unmistakable way, with both the lemon effects (lemon-scented hand soap, lemon candy) and the herbal effects (freshly cut green garden herbs, ginger) being very obvious, against a background of ripe banana, fried apple, sweetbread dough, honey, white pepper, raw carrot, turnip, cooking mangetout peas, gypsum. Fruity, vivid onset, lots of banana and pineapple ester, red apple and melon aspects, sweetish with lively, yet very refined carbonation adding only minerally effects without the stinging; a glueish, very herbal, soapy effect of lemon verbena is obvious early on, accompanying a soft, bready-pulpy malt sweetish middle to an even more soapy-herbal finish, where the ethereal, almost a bit liquorish-like and sweet 'fake' lemony character of the lemon verbena grows to full force, supported by a floral, lightly earthy hop bitterness and lingering yeasty-breadiness and fruity esters. With beers like this, placing one special non-beery ingredient at the centre of things, it all comes down to whether you like said ingredient or not; lemon verbena is more commonly used as an ornamental than as a kitchen herb, but I am familiar with its aroma and flavour and - even though I would prefer lemonbalm instead - I can certainly appreciate what Vliegende Paard's Andy Dewilde has done here. This is a solid Belgian blonde with a heavy dosage of lemon verbena, but if there ever was one brewer suitable to bring this kind of bizarre botanical flavourings and additions to a satisfying end, it is surely him... Enjoyable and well-made technically, but you will have to like lemon verbena, and that, on a side note, is definitely not the same as liking lemon.