Bottle at home. Opaque dark brown color, fairly white head. Aroma is malts, roasty and smoky a bit. Flavor is similar. Fizzy carbonation, decent body but that high carbonation is really annoying.

Fles 33cl thuis. Zurig, bittertonen, wat melkchocolade, rood fruit, caramel, klein beetje rooksmaak, maltig, redelijk koolzuur. (8-10-2021).

Hazy blond colour, white foam. Nose of banana, lots of banana, spices, herbs. Rather sweet, light bitter. Not bad.

This Circus brewery started off as a client brewer five years ago, but has recently moved production to its own kettles, and this one is the first beer fully produced in their own installation, hence the name 'Première', fitting well in their circus theme. Spiced stout from a 75 cl bottle with irregularly shaped, bubbly and open but edge-retaining, beige head and black robe with hazy burgundy edges. Aroma of old coffee filters, brown bread crust, old liquorice, dry tea bags, bitterroot, wet leather, roasted chicory, salmiak, black pepper. Dry onset, light sourish undertone, light umami too but hardly any sweetness, medium carbonation through a supple, medium thick body. Dry, brown-bready, toasted-nutty and eventually roasted chicory-like middle, the dryness enhanced by wormwoody bitterness even though this roasted grain effect prevails; bayleaf, liquorice and salmiak accents appear in the end, with a light yeast breadiness lingering on. I was fearing for too much spicing (and too many phenolic effects) as is too often the case in Belgian stouts, but this Première remains remarkably focused and 'clean', never losing touch with an old school, Irish and British dry stout idiom in spite of its subtle Belgian features. I love a good dry and roasty stout and this was certainly an unexpectedly pleasant one - a promising sign for future Circus beers from their new brewing installation, I hope.

Best drinkbaar, maar de Porter style komt er wat flauwtjes door.

Dark brown with massive head that fizzes out quickly. Aroma has some sweet malts. Flavour too. Also some caramel and light smoke.

Gusher. Straw blond with egg white head. Aroma and flavour have a delicate spicy coriander note against a fresh citrus hop bitterness. Very refreshing and easy to drink.