13/V/21 - 33cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ Akke’s place, BB: 10/IV/21 (2021-383)

Pretty clear blond to orange beer, big creamy beige head, stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: bit malty, oxidized, some banana, herbal touch, bit spicy, ripe fruits. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bit yeasty, bitter, honey, bit oxidized, good hoppy notes, malty, some caramel. Aftertaste: spicy, dried fruits, malty, bit hoppy, more caramel.

15/IV/21 - 33cl bottle form Geers (Oostakker), shared @ my parents’ place, BB: 3/VIII/21 (2021-287)

Clear pale blond beer, huge creamy white irregular head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: very yeasty, weird, a bit off, funky, chemical. MF: very lively carbon, medium body. Taste: bit chemical, yeasty, sweet, overripe banana, band-aid, rubbery. Aftertaste: soft bitterness, bit acidic, wheat notes, some citrus, yeasty, bit chemical in the finish.

29/I/21 - 33cl bottle from De Hopduvel (Gent), shared @ home, BB: 8/X/21 (2021-92)

Clear blond to light orange beer, big aery fizzy irregular white head, unstable, falls down quickly, non adhesive. Aroma: very malty, grains, hay, cow fodder, very yeasty, slightly fruity, quite some coriander. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: lots and lots of dried orange peel, quite some coriander, soft acidity, some wheat notes. Aftertaste: bit peppery, orange peel, lots of coriander, pink pepper corn.

The first beer by this microbrewery near Wetteren (southeast of Ghent), a witbier brewed with the obligatory coriander seed, but also with ginger, replacing the old curaçao. Thick and frothy, very mousy, barely lacing, eggshell-white head, remaining thick and closed for a long time, sustained by enthusiastic sparkling beneath, rushing upwards through an initially only very lightly hazed but in practice near-clear, pure golden coloured beer, turning misty with an ochre-ish apricot tinge when the sediment is added. Aroma of pear, flour, lots of bread crumbs and drying white bread, ethereally sweet-spicy ginger indeed but not overpowering too much (which is what I was afraid of, to be frank), banana peel, soapy coriander seed, freshly cut sweet red apple, raw pineapple, vague note of lemongrass, fresh camomile, some sourdough in the background. Fruity onset, sweetish, banana and pineapple esters with a touch of pear, medium carb, some subtle minerally notes here and there, rounded and slick mouthfeel; bready and soapy wheatiness with a clear sourishness to it as befits a witbier, soft bread crumb 'barleyness' as well - both grains are well balanced here. Before long and turning the attention away from the fruity aspects, the spicing sets in: the soapy coriander seed effect one can expect from the style, but also this more perfumey, sweetish ginger effect, and bizarrely enough, none of those two fights for domination; in fact this 'dim' sourishness from - I guess - the wheat remains an important factor, still linked to yeasty and malty breadiness and minerally side notes. The finish maintains this soapy-spiciness to the same degree of relative subtlety, adding more breadiness and sourishness - the latter feeling more 'yeasty' than 'wheaty' at this point, strangely. Relatively short finish, in all, but this is a witbier so apart from a dash of floral, gently bittering hops working briefly, I did not expect a long finish anyway - and those hops are certainly there. Not bad at all for a (commercially) first attempt; replacing the old combo of coriander and curaçao (set as a standard by the great Pierre Celis) by other herbs and spices has been done in witbier before, even in the previous century, but considering how the consumption of the style here in Belgium has dramatically declined in the past two decades, it takes a certain amount of bravery to come up with such an idea again - I guess the brewer is a dedicated 'blanche' lover. In all: not your average witbier, a bit hoppier and indeed clearly replacing the citrus peel effect by a ginger effect, but doing so in a very balanced, easily drinkable, non-offensive and accessible way. Even if witbier is not really my preferred beer style, I had way worse in this specific segment.