Bottle bought at the brewery and tasted in ‘avant-première’ as this will only be released officially at the coming Zythos Bierfestival, as the starting point of a series of artisanal, unsugared fruit beers based on Witte Mie (Paenhuys’ new witbier), made with real fruit. This first one is made with red raspberries. Papery lacing, moussy and frothy, off-white ‘dirty pinkish’ head, stable; murky tomato juice red colour with vague brownish tinge. Aroma of a lot of red raspberries including strong raspberry seed effects, fried tomato on warm toast, toasted bell pepper, rhubarb smoothie, sesame seed, rusk, gapzacho, green plant leaves, soap, tomato juice with lime. A ton of vivid raspberry fruitiness in the onset, very concentrated and lively with refreshing, even lime-like fruit acidity surrounding a sweetish ripe berry core, covering the beer’s natural esters almost completely; medium carb, soft and smooth, bit soapy mouthfeel. Pleasant rusk- and bread crust-like malt body with a toasted pumpkin- or sesame seed-like edge to it, ongoing drying fruit sourness in the finish, very quenching, with a lot of lingering real raspberry flavour and earthy yeasty notes. Very interesting artisanal unsweetened fruit beer with a remarkable toasted seed- and rusk-like quality to it, adding depth underneath a truckload of fresh, natural fruit, making the base beer hardly recognizable. Certainly Paenhuys’ most interesting product thus far – and I had nearly all of the beers they ever made – making me very curious as to which other fruit beers will follow after this. Hopefully the second batch, the one that will be presented tot he public at ZBF, will be as interesting as this first one. It is in any case clear for me that the gradual replacement of the old recipes by new and a bit more challenging ones, as the young brewer has in mind, is finally coming to fruition… Cheers Dave!

One of Paenhuys' newest products (since last summer), a hypo-alcoholic witbier interpretation. Quite strong gusher... Coarse, egg-white, irregularly bubbled, lacing head settling as a steady moussy ring over a hazy 'old gold' coloured beer with slight peachy hue. Aroma of ripe pear, apricot, strong coriander seed, banana, bread crust, straw, cooked turnips, sweetclover and other field flowers, mandarin (probably just curacao), white pepper, ginger powder. Fruity onset, pear, pineapple, some banana, sweetish (residual white candi syrup) and sourish, the latter forcefully enhanced by very sharp, painfully stinging overcarbonation, very minerally. Pleasantly bready malt sweetish middle, cereally and wheaty but not as soapy as usual for this style, though a 'white bread' wheat factor is obviously there; strong coriander seed spiciness in the finish but also a strong, floral, peppery but elegantly drying hop bitterness, clearly more so than is custom for a 'blanche'. This hoppiness ends earthy and spicy, its earthiness accentuated by earthy yeast features, including a mild, well-fitting phenolic accent. Too bad for the gushing and overcarbonation but purely flavour-wise a very decent interpretation of this worn-out style, deliberately deviating from the Hoegaarden standard into an almost saison-like direction. Well done Dave!

330ml bottle. Slightly cloudy, orangey golden colour with average, frothy, half-way lasting, minimally lacing, white head. Sweet-ish, fruity aroma, hints of orange, orange zest, a touch of coriander, funky overtones. Taste is quite spicy, lots of coriander, a touch of orange and funk. Slightly unbalanced, overspiced, untypical but interesting funky touch.

Bottle at Modeste 2017. Pours dark brown, smell is fleshy, not smoked ) nutty. Taste is bitter, chocolatty, roasted malts. nice ! Earlier Rating: 10/6/2013 Total Score: 3.3modeste 2013 pours dark brown , very big white head. smells sweet, very little taste , bit malty , bit bitter. sweet . not nearly intence enough.

Flaska från belgiuminabox. Bärnstensfärgad, riktigt högt skum som ganska snabbt lägger sig, mycket sediment i sista tredjedelen. Anar början av en infektion i både utseende och doft men den har inte gått för långt. Rejält besk, blodapelsin med skal, bitter marmelad, gräs, aprikos, gula plommon. Jästbottensatsen gör det riktigt beskt utan den mer fruktigt. Lite utmanande och kanske inte helt ren men ändå helt ok.

Thank you Alengrin! 330 ml. bottle sampled @ “Belgian Ticks Tasting Ghent”. Golden, clear huge creamy white head. Nose is chemical, washing powder, painfully sweet banana, soap, sugar,… Taste is all chemical, cleaning product, big green banana, near vegetable,… Body is green chemical plastic, vegetable,… ’t Paenhuys appears to be rebranding itself but they seem to aimlessly drift in the process, their beers used to be okay but this one is actually quite comparable to the Boelens entry in this triptych of beers which is not a good thing in my opinion.

Imported from my RateBeer account as 't Paenhuys Blok van Nieuwkerken (by 't Paenhuys):
Aroma: 6/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 2/5, Overall: 15/20, MyTotalScore: 3.3/5

21/VII/17 - 33cl bottle @ Belgian Ticks Tasting (home) - BB: n/a, but let's assume it's close to the other bottle in the series / same box: 16/III/19 (2017-1088) Thanks to Alengrin for sharing the bottle!

Clear blond beer, irregular off-white head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: lots of banana, some vanilla, yeast, more banana. MF: lively carbon, too much to be pleasant, medium body. Taste: very fruity start, some citrus, soft bitterness, grapefruit, bit sourish. Aftertaste: more citrus, bit acidic, some peach candy, bit sweet, hint of lemon juice.

One of the three new blondes made specifically for the 800 years of existence of the town of Sint-Niklaas, in the heart of my own Waasland region; the three breweries located there have joined forces to celebrate this occasion with a one-off, each making a Belgian blonde to their own insights and abilities. This is Paenhuys’ rendition, enjoyed in the company of the brewer (cheers Dave!) and later at home from a 33 cl bottle. I liked this one the best of the three at the spot in Sint-Niklaas’ busiest shopping street (and needless to say, the label of this one, all three of them having been made by the same artist, attracts me more than the other two), so let’s see if this impression still stands at home under closer scrutiny. Thickly ’paper’ lacing, egg-white, dense and thick head, leaving behind a regular, moussy ring and thick patches of foam in the middle, over an initially clear, deep and warm, pure ’old gold’ coloured beer with light orangey hue - somewhere in the middle between Donum Ignis’ and Boelens’ interpretations in terms of colour; turns elegantly misty and deeper pale orange with sediment. Aroma of raw ’witloof’, mashed potatoes, unripe pear, powder sugar, wet ginger powder, field flowers in a roadside after heavy rain, stewed turnips, celery, peach, straw, pineapple, light banana ester, raw cauliflower, orange flesh, some peppermint tea far away in the background, a dash of honey and, importantly, not a sign of the DMS which slightly ’disfigured’ the other two interpretations of this central idea. Crisp, fruity onset, with very lively carbonation - a bit numbing in fact, adding more sourishness than necessary, but fit for this particular style, accentuating a raw pineapple-like impression which sits next to restrained but unmistakable banana ester, as well as some sugared rhubarb- and ripe yellow plum-like hints. Smooth, slick mouthfeel in spite of the fizzy carbo, with a lot (or rather, too much) of the initial sweetness travelling onwards over a cereally, lightly bready and subtly caramelly malt sweet body; the sweetness even increases towards the finish, with an orange juice-like sensation as a result. Hops provide some background bitterness, floral and a tad spicy in nature, but should have been a lot more outspoken to counter this orange juice- and honey-like sweetness. Earthy and lightly phenolic yeast notes in the finish, as well as a faint glow of warming, vaguely ’jenever’-like alcohol, but this effect fortunately remains very subtle. Technically the best beer in this threesome, but sweet and ’sugared orange juice’-like to the point that it assumes a somewhat Radler-like profile, something I cannot honestly support; seems like a slightly ’softer’ version of their Saleghemse Geseling (a completely unknown one-off), luckily a bit less sweet and citrus lemonade-like, but still way over the top, with the residual sugariness still clinging to my teeth after swallowing. I - merely commercially - understand the idea of making a beer as accessible as possible, but this is, though technically perfectly executed, clearly way too sweet. Paenhuys should learn that the 21st century has arrived meanwhile and if they do not go along with the international trends, they will forever be stuck in a local audience - and seen their technical abilities, I think they deserve more exposure. It’s all a matter of choice, guys!