Bottle. An unclear orange-golden beer with a big, firm white head. Nice curtains. The aroma has a generic fruityness, some tropical and piney notes, and a sweet maltyness. The malts are subdued when fridge cold, but show up as the beer warms. It's medium bodied and nicely carbonated, with a very gentle bitterness. There's some bready, lightly biscuity malts in the flavor too, with fruity hops in the leading role. A bit short finish. A refreshing but quite dull brew. 240511

Belgian 'kruidenbier' with black pepper as the defining ingredient, also containing wheat malt; commissioned by a transport company called Trafuco. 'True' gusher, floating out of the bottle neck immediately upon opening, so be warned. Medium thick, egg-white, fizzing, moussey, sparsely lacing but pillowy and quite stable head, hazy peach blonde with 'old golden' hue and a suspension of dead yeast dots throughout - doubtlessly related to the gushing. Notably sweet aroma of cold apple sauce, canned pineapple, banana squash, brioche, honey or even mead, peach jam, very little to no real pepper (alas), sweetclover, ripe pear, sweet potato, white bread dough, clove, vague cinnamon, touch vanilla even, wet kitchen towel, hint of rusty iron (oxidation) at the end. Very fruity, sweet onset, peach jam, pineapple, banana, ripe pear and apple sauce, soft in carbonation (the carbon dioxide hardly 'bound' into the beer and all but gone during the gushing), soft and fluffy mouthfeel; soft wheaty-breadiness with a slightly nutty barley layer underneath, lots of residual, honeyish sugars keeping everything firmly on the sweet side, with a slight metallic 'zing' at the edges. Some of that 'rusty' oxidation returns retronasally alongside floral hops and some clove-like phenols, but the star of the show has apparently cancelled tonight because pepper in any way or form is nowhere to be seen... Floral hoppiness continues in the tail, with a soft bitterness lingering amidst all that ongoing malty, sugary and estery sweetness. Oxidation remains detectable, though not overpowering. Very sweet blonde with a heap of residual sugars, gushing and oxidized with a slight metallic side to it: this is well below what Circus usually delivers, and on top of that, the ingredient I was most looking forward to (the pepper) is as good as absent. More or less drinkable, even mildly enjoyable perhaps, but in many ways the opposite of what I was hoping for: this should have been a dry, hoppy, sleek blonde packed with a daring punch of actual black pepper. Very disappointing if viewed that way - so point off for not (at all) living up to my expectations, but I admit this is a personal thing.

Lukt: Citrus, honning. Utseende: Gulbrun. Skum/kullsyre: Tykt dekkende skum, heng. Smak: Citrus, honning. Medium: Rating:3-645411, Flaske@330ml, ABV@4%, Når@28.04.2024. Hvor: Vaaland Bryne, Nydt@Hjemme. Circus Session IPA ISA - Session IPA

Golden colour with lasting fluffy head. It's very flavoursome. Lots of fruity aromatic hops. Citrus and tropical notes. Nicely bitter.

Lys gul med hvitt skum. Lukter urter, oregano, basilikum timian.. Middels fylde. Noe bitter. Smaker urter og brød. Må testes til mat.

Lys gul noe tåkete med hvitt skum. Mild lukt av bondegård og krydder. Lett. Smaker lyst brød med noe sitrusbitterhet. Middels lang.

Superficial festival rating @ Rebel Beer Fest 2024. Unclear pale golden body under a lacing, white head. Aroma has malt, spicy yeast, slightly herbal and mild esters. Taste has sweet, pale malt, some kind of generic fruitiness and Belgium Saison yeast. Moderate bitterness. Balanced body with same aftertaste. Decent saison.

Bortimot klar gyllen med hvitt skum. Lukter malt og noe fruktig. Frisk. Smaker malt, brød og litt sitrus.

The Circus brewery's attempt at a fruit-flavoured Gose (blueberries in this case), apparently spiced as well, but annoyingly the label fails to mention which ones - it is about time the legislator in Belgium makes this mandatory. Very thick and foamy, audibly fizzing, egg-white, very regular and densely pillowy head, lasting very long and supported by a whirlwind of champagne-like sparkling rushing fiercely through an initially clear, old-golden beer with rosy-apricot tinge, the rosiness - however vague - doubtlessly coming from the fruit, turning misty and deeper orangey with sediment; in all, quite an impressive sight to behold. Punchy aroma of sourdough, crushed fresh blueberries, mandarin peel, sweaty Camembert or actual human sweat, pickled apricots, freshly baked bread (crust), gherkins from a jar (very old ones), wakame, redcurrants, sushi rice, hints of cooked salmon, goat cheese, tulips, sugar-glazed beetroot, green tea. Crisp, refreshing onset, some fruity sweetness (ripe apricot, persimmon, even vague banana) mingled with a soft, lactic yet fruity sourness, together combining in an almost citrusy flavour, setting the taste buds for a more pronounced sweet-sourness from the blueberries, the pure 'berry flavours' of which are clear enough even though their typical spiciness is lacking a bit. Lively, minerally carbonation adds to the overall 'fraîcheur' while a pinch of saltiness, more subtly so than in many other present-day Goses but justly so, contributes a light 'marine' whiff - a sea breeze as it were, or indeed hints of seaweed and fried fish, but all very subtle and fitting well into a soft, fluffy, soapy wheatiness with a bread-crusty edge. Everything continues to be gently dried by yoghurty lactic acidity but the sweetness, of added fruit and residual sugars, continues as well, especially in the end, where the blueberry fructose seems to have accumulated, even in a jam-like way, almost completely pushing aside the tartness and the saltiness. Less fresh, dusty and sweaty aspects also show up at this point; bitterness (of hops) remains very limited and 'behind the scenes', as it ought to be in this genre. Commences crisp and lively, remains soft and colourful throughout and oddly ends with a lot more sweetness than tartness or saltiness - almost to the point of this sweetness becoming all-powerful and candyish. The tartness does linger beyond all this, with a very light, brief lemony streak finishing everything off. The basic recipe stayed relatively close to classical East-German Gose (think Bayerischer Bahnhof or Ritterguts) which I can appreciate - many 'postmodern' Goses exaggerate the salt, the sourness or both - but it gets buried under a lot of very sweet, even sugary (I imagine frozen) blueberry fruitiness, which eventually distract from the balance of the base beer. That said: this is elegant, technically well-brewed and entertaining, with a lot happening on the way, so yes, I enjoyed it - more so even than I was expecting.