33 cl bottle. Pours clear and golden yellow. Small white head. Aroma is grainy and slight grassy. Yeasty. Mild fruity. Mild sweet. Mild fruity and slight sweet finish.

The second in this series of Beerbugs beers - beers named after bugs. Here's the grasshopper, the follow-up to the ladybird apparently. Belgian blonde with a modern, international tweak to it: dry-hopped with Tomahawk, Citra and Mosaic. A near-gusher: the foam reached the upper rim of the bottle neck, but without rising above it - nice. Medium thick, off-white, dense and moussy, regularly shaped head, only very slowly thinning and remaining completely closed for a relatively long time; initially almost clear, pure and warm yellowish-tinged golden robe with minute yeast bits here and there; shifts to a pale ochre-tinged, misty golden with sediment. Aroma of lemon drops, buttercups, ripe banana, camomile flowers, stewed pear, fresh orange peel, starfruit, dried bitter herbs, straw, fresh cucumber, bread crumbs, white pepper, yellow raspberries, vague dried mango flesh, butter, vague cooked potato somewhere - in all, technically as good as flawless and quite delicate, but with the 'new' hops remaining all too subtle as usual in these 'updated' Belgians, which is a bit of a shame really. Crisp, refreshing onset, subdued in sweetness, its subtle presence surrounded by a pleasant fruity sourishness, resulting in a blend of crisp red apple, some banana, unripe pear and a slight dash of starfruit, somewhat estery in general but at the same time relatively clean for a Belgian ale. Carbonation is quite sharpish and minerally, clearly accentuating the sourish factor, but in this type of beer, I cannot be bothered with that and the overall mouthfeel remains supple and lean. Bread crust- and cereal-like malt body, slim, pale and a bit grainy, but still soft enough especially as the breadiness is a bit thickened by adding the sediment; meanwhile, a resinous, grassy, leafy hop bitterness builds, floral and only mildly citrusy retronasally, too mildly so for this trio of hop varieties actually - yet it does deposit a quinine- and dried wormwood-like, long-lasting bitterness on the back of the tongue, paired with remnants of bready, thinly earthy and slightly phenolic Belgian yeastiness, albeit not overly so, as is often the case in these Belgian IPA-influenced blondes and tripels. The international hop forward movement, kicking off in the States in the late seventies and early eighties, has reached Belgium some ten years ago and ever since then, more and more of these IPA-influenced interpretations of the old blonde and tripel have popped up; many of them are, frankly, just the old blondes and tripels with more hops thrown in, which then get a bit confused as a result. I usually tend to like this clash of Belgian yeastiness with international hoppiness, but only within the limits of Belgian traditions - and I am aware of the fact that this is to many Belgian beer afficionados a tad controversial, as many of them, primarily the younger generation, would prefer to see 'real' IPA happening here. I get that, but this particular beer was never intended as such: instead, like so many others in its precedence, it presents itself as the ordinary Belgian blonde 'pimped' with New World hops. For me personally, this beer works just fine, also because Anders managed to execute it as good as flawlessly, but the hophead in me would not have minded those wonderful, lush, citrusy aromas of Citra, Tomahawk and (especially, perhaps) Mosaic to be a lot more apparent. If you look at this Grasshopper as a well-made, quenching, elegant Belgian 'bitter blonde', though, you will not be disappointed. I am left wondering which insects are to follow in this range - but since there are roughly a million and a half species known to science at this moment, I have no worries that these guys will be able to find sufficient inspiration. How about the humble fruit fly perhaps, an insect all the lovers of artisanal beer are doubtlessly familiar with as it tries to steal our good beer only to ingloriously drown in it as a consequence, but which has contributed so much to our knowledge of genetics? Just a random thought...

bottle bbe 1/19 oro torbida discreta schiuma non molto persistente cereale citrico fieno acida aspra succo limone amaro medio

Bottle at home, Golden with a hint of orange, small to medium head. Aroma is citrus, hops, some malt. Taste is the same, bitter with some sweetness. nice one.

Slightly unclear medium golden colour, tall loose frothy white head, mostly diminishing, patchy lacing. Aroma pale malts, grapefruit, orange, hay. Mild taste, medium sweet and bitter, malty, grapefruit, grassy Mild bittersweet aftertaste, orange peel, lingering fruitiness, bit husky, medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation Refreshing and well-balanced blonde.

Bottle @ Bierpunt, Hasselt. Clear yellow golden color, full sized white head. Fresh hoppy, hayish aroma. Flavor is malts, hay / straw, hop, bitter hop, bitter. Typical hoppy Belgian Ale. Not unpleasant, but I don't see myself ordering another one. Decent beer though.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Beerbugs Grasshopper Blond (by Brouwerij Anders!):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 2/5, Overall: 12/20, MyTotalScore: 3/5

6/IX/17 - 33cl bottle @ home - BB: 2/VI/19 (2017-1476) Thanks to Hilaire for the bottle!

Clear blond beer, big fizzy aery irregular white head, unstable, falls down quickly. Aroma: pretty hoppy indeed, bit soapy, picking up mainly floral notes, fruity, yeast touch with some banana, sweet malts, overall sweet sugary impression as well. MF: lively carbon, medium to light body. Taste: pretty bitter start, bit of citrus, dry, bit grassy, metallic, touch, soapy bitterness. Aftertaste: very bitter, dry and soapy, not much else. Not malts, yeast or distinct hop flavour to be found, just very plain bitterness, slightly sourish in the finish. I like the bitterness but it could've had some more aroma hops I think... Bit (more) dryhopping maybe?

bottle bb 7/6/18 oro filo velato schiuma media non molto persistente lieve fruttato vinoso spezia terroso polvere filo mandorla