LCI

Bottle 33cl. @home poured into a tumbler. Soapy medicinal nose. Hazy medium golden colour, tall loose frothy white head, slowly dissipating irregularly, patchy lacing. Medicianl aroma, herbs, ginger, anise seed, lemon peel, apricot, yeast. Taste restrained medicinal notes, apricot, light banana, herbs, spices, yeast/dough, Medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation, aromatic sweetbitter aftertaste, herbal and spicy notes till the end, outspoken but quite nice actually.

Witbier by Hugel in this "seven sins" series - and frankly, when this series started and vowed to create one new beer every year dedicated to the seven deadly sins so many years ago, I did not expect the Hugel guy to complete it... But here we are today, with a 'blanche' referring to the sin of wrath - so I guess the name "IRA" is anything but coincidental. Steinie bottle from the Delhaize of (or rather, near) Zwijnaarde. Big and foamy, frothy, plastery lacing, egg-white, uneven-bubbled but tightly knit and stable head, initially clear deep golden blonde robe with apricot tinge, misty with sediment. Indeed spicy and herbal aroma of ginger powder, ground coriander seed, white bread pulp, dried lemon zest, wet flour, white soap to even some bath foam, dry crackers, hard pear, unripe pineapple, banana peel, fresh lemon thyme, lavender, sweet cicely, carambola, perfume, chamomile. Spritzy onset, lively and minerally carbonation piercing through estery-sweet fruity notes of banana, pear and red apple with a touch of pineapple and a vague sourish touch underneath; moves to a bready and even somewhat doughy middle, with lingering honeyish sweetness on top and soapy wheat at the sides, quickly and persistently drenched in ethereal 'herbality' of ginger, orange zest, sweet cicely and even anise, lavender and liquorish to a certain extent, pushed forward by spicy phenolics (clove) and floral hops (chamomile). Ends softly bready, still steeped in this aromatic, eventually ridiculously perfumey herbalness and with little - but still some - hop bitterness, remaining quite fruity and even a tad juicy, though the spicy character does mitigate that sweetness and juiciness a bit. Witbier is traditionally low-hopped and overspiced, the wheat is very obvious here and even if this particular style will probably never conquer my heart, I cannot deny that this particular one is fairly decently made, with a 'different' - albeit seriously overstated - amount of spiciness. Too herbal and too soapy for me to fully enjoy, but admittedly well executed from a technical viewpoint and colourful enough to be interesting, if not overly sophisticated. Weird wit for sure, one is more than enough - if this beer was ever going to incite any form of wrath in me, it would be because of this unforgiving, soapy, perfumey spice overdose.

On tap at the 14th Brugs Bier Festival, Brugge, Belgium. A hazy golden/orange coloured pour with a medium white head on top. Hoppy, citrus, yeasty, fruity number. Not too much happening here.

Bottle from Hopduvel, new label. Hazy dark brown, stable, frothy, tan head. Aroma of liquorice, Cola (candy), cardamom, cinnamon, burnt caramel, toast, date, pear syrup, liqueur. Taste has very sweet date, pear & raisin over a caramelly malt base that is slightly toasty; lots of spices in the back - clove, liquorice, cardamom, aniseed, but not actually bitter. Herbal hoppy finish, more dried fruit, caramel, spices, Coca-Cola, and warming liqueur-like alcohol. Medium body, syrupy-sticky texture, average carbonation. 'Nomen est omen' as this has too much of everything apparently. Moderation would be key. Still, one likes to indulge sometimes...

Bottle from Drinks Vanuxeem, Ploegsteert, Belgium. Pours a hazy chestnut brown colour with a thinnish creamy beige head. Aromas of caramel, chocolate, dry dark fruits, berries and a hint of candy. Taste has rich upfront dry dark fruits and caramel, warming alcohol, this leads to sweet sticky syrup on the finish. Thinnish body, average carbonation and slightly oily mouthfeel. The alcohol is very present from the first sip in this beer and it is also too cloyingly syrupy sweet for my liking. Not great.

Lichtgeel bier met schuim. Smaak is licht fruitig zoet met iets van sinaasappel, mandarijn, limoen en snoepjes.

22/VII/21 - 33cl bottle from De Hopduvel, shared @ home, BB: 26/I/23 (2021-663)

Clear blond beer, huge creamy white head, stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: very floral, ripe banana, sweet impression. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: floral, somewhat soapy, sugary, floral, banana, gentle bitterness. Aftertaste: more soapy, coriander probably, sugary sweetness, more banana and yeast, too sweet, too yeasty, too soapy. Don’t like it.