Black IPA by this Bird brewery of ornithologists, brewing at Jopen in Haarlem; thanks Craftmember for sharing. Thick and frothy, pale off-beige, irregularly edged, opening head, very dark bronze robe with copper-red hue – not entirely ‘black’ though. Aroma of old walnuts, hard caramel, unsugared black chocolate, dandelion and other bitter (dried) weeds, old pine needles from a dry forest floor, very old pipe tobacco, dusty cardboard, tree leaves. Clean onset, vague dried fig and apple peel sweetishness and sourishness, softish carb, oily body; walnutty, old-toasty ‘black’ maltiness, dry and clearly more bitter than sweet in spite of a subtle caramelly core. A firm, leafy, hayish hop bitterness takes over in the end, perhaps a tad late for a BIPA, but long-stretched and earthy; caramelly malt sweetishness and toasty malt bitterness, however, remain equally strong. Qualifies, in a ‘dusty’, leafy way – typical present-day Euro BIPA, because in order to really convey the Cascadian feel, many of those and this one included would benefit from a stronger and much more aromatic New World hop dosage. Not many European craft breweries seem to understand black IPA well, and as a ‘fan’ of the style, I find this quite frustrating.

Jägermeister barrel aged (!) version of Bird’s winter ale – a first for me. Thanks to Craftmember for sharing the bottle. Medium sized, off-white, shred-lacing head, misty copper red-hued bronze robe. Aroma of indeed very perfumey-spicy Jägermeister with all its liquorish, anise, ginger and curaçao, over impressions of banana, bubblegum, caramel, clove or allspice, soap, tea, dough. Sweet onset, very pronounced isoamylacetate (bubblegum) with sweet banana flavour, red apple and ripe pear aspects, touch yellow raisin, softish carb; slick caramelly and resinous maltiness, flanked with this strong bubblegum effect and – later on – the Jägermeister, returning in full glory with all its wintery, ethereal spiciness, liquorish still upfront. Warming, liqueurish alcohol but low in tannins, making me wonder if this was really barrel aged or rather oak chip aged; clove and banana effects lingering, bitterness remains low at least in hoppy form, but the malts add a bit of toasty bitterness. The overall effect, as soapy and bubblegummy as it is, to me is reminiscent of a classic Belgian ‘Scotch’ style Christmas ale more than a Bock of any kind...

29/I/22 - 33cl bottle @ Alengrin’s place, BB: X/2024, lot: 21327/14 19:01 07J21 (2022-129) Thanks to Vincent for sharing the bottle!

Clear red brown beer, small creamy irregular beige head, a little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: lots of banana, yeasty, spicy, lots of cloves, some bubble gum. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very yeasty, lots of ripe banana, bubble gum, some vanilla, sugary, caramel, alcohol, more alcohol. Aftertaste: lots of ripe banana, bit sweet, malty, some chocolate, very boozy, bubble gum.

Three-grains tripel by Bird, from a 75 cl bottle shared by Craftmember, cheers! Off-white, thick and moussy but slowly opening head on a misty peach blonde beer with ochre-ish tinge. Aroma of banana peel, moist coriander powder, raw potato juice, damp straw, white bread, clove, nutmeg. Fruity, sweetish onset, banana, pear and peach, medium carbonated with slick, smooth mouthfeel; white-bready and cereally core under clove-like phenolic spiciness and a dash of coriander, ending with a medium strong, hayish to grassy, drying hop bitterness. Alcohol remains well hidden. Technically well done, but I can hardly be impressed, living in a country where gazillions of these circulate - though admittedly this one does feel hoppier than the average Belgian tripel these days…

7/I/22 - 75cl bottle @ Wim VL’s place, BB: IX/2023, lot: 21288/14 07:58 23I21 (2022-49) Thanks to Vincent for sharing the bottle!

Clear orange yellow beer, small creamy off-white head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: very malty, sweet and sugary, sweet impression, lots of ripe banana, yeasty, bread. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: nice bitterness, malty, grains, fruity, banana. Aftertaste: malty, bit sweet, lots of alcohol, spicy touch, yeasty finish. Very mediocre.

Fles 33cl thuis. Rood fruit, bittertonen, malten, caramel, kruidig, rogge, citrustonen, vrij hoppig, tropisch fruit, grapefruit, zoeten, vrij droog. (31-12-2021).

0.75 l bottle from 'Drankgigant.nl', bottled in October 2021. Clear, amber with a medium large, frothy, slowly diminishing, white head. Sweetish-malty, gently yeasty-spicy, a little fruity-floral aroma of honey, vanilla, some clove and a touch of banana. Quite sweet, malty, gently yeasty-spicy, a bit fruity-floral taste of honey, vanilla, banana bread, clove, candied pear and hints of nettles, followed by a medium long, gently bitter, moderately yeasty-spicy and a bit grassy finish. Medium body, gently effervescent mouthfeel, average carbonation. Solid Tripel, quite hoppy, still a more classic approach than 'Kanarie Piet'.

Bottle 33cl. from Boerenjongens Deli @home poured into a tumbler. Hazy pale amber colour, good frothy white head, half-way lasting, light lacing. Aroma saison yeast, lemon zest, peach, juniper berries. Taste medium sweet and light bitter, sourish notes, yeasty, lemon zest, spicy notes. Medium body, creamy texture, soft carbonation, short mild semi-dry sweet and light bitter and sourish aftertaste, spicy notes, very nice.

0.75 l bottle from 'Drankgigant.nl', bottled in September 2021. CLear, golden with a thin, frothy, slowly diminishing, white head. Sweetish, moderately fruity-floral and slightly yeasty-spicy taste of honey, vanilla, some apricot and a touch of banana. Gently sweet, malty, moderately bitter, quite fruity, grassy and slightly yeasty-spicy taste of honey, vanilla, apricot, banana, clove and fresh grass, followed by a medium long, quite bitter, grassy, gently yeasty-spicy and a bit boozy finish. Medium body, quite effervescent mouthfeel, average carbonation. Nice hoppy Ale, very different from your standard malty and yeasty Tripel.

Black with fluffy head. Aroma and flavour have nice fresh, grassy hop notes. Dark roasted malts too but overall the hop bitterness wins.