Can shared. Very hazy golden with a white head. Aroma of grass, herbs, fruits, light spice and citrus. Flavour is above light sweet and over moderate bitter. Light to medium bodied with light carbonation.

50cl can courtesy of and shared with Kermis. Medium white head. Cloudy blond pour. Nice and refreshing

Wallonian ’ambrée’ from a 50 cl can - apparently this is the first Belgian brewery to use craft beer cans for ’artisanal’ beers. They do not yet master this well enough, though: like the witbier I had from them last week, this can was under heavy pressure (even ’palpably’) so opening it resulted in violent gushing - sigh... Elaborately cobweb-lacing, off-white, moussy head with decent retention, overlying a deep and warm, slightly hazy orange blonde beer with pinkish hue, perhaps a tad too light and not ’red’ enough to be called true amber. Estery, very fruity aroma of overripe peach, lots of soggy banana, nice lime peel and lemon blossom freshness from the Centennial, powder sugar, almond, pomegranate, passion fruit, freshly baked cake, stewed apple, honey, peanuts, wet leather touch, minerals, hint of ’naturally feeling’ iron. Fruity onset of the expected combination of sweet and sour fruits, both relatively intense, with impressions of pineapple, banana, passion fruit, gooseberry, hint of mandarin peel; strong and spritzy carbonation but not disturbing me in this case. Caramelly and nutty malts in the middle, sweetish with a strong toasted bitter edge, bit metallic as well; esters keep lingering on top of this and carry on till deep into the finish, where they are met with a quite sharp, peppery, grapefruity hop bitterness, sticking to the throat for a relatively long time and at the same time displaying a retronasal fragrance of orange peel, lemon blossom and a whiff of pine. Too bad for the gushing, but otherwise a decent, aromatic Belgian amber with American ambitions; there is an effective hop bitterness providing enough balance against the sweet fruitiness and due to the yeastiness, it has certain saison-like aspects to it as well, but we all know how tricky it is trying to define that. I especially appreciate the fact that they aim to showcase an American hop variety here without much reservation or ’fear’ of how the Belgian consumer might be shocked by this - we need more of this in Belgium, yet in this case the delicate Centennial bouquet clashes a bit with the Belgian yeast esters, so a cleaner yeast strain would perhaps have been better (yet would have made this a lot less ’Belgian’ and much more APA-like at the same time, doubtlessly). In all, and whatever it is: quite enjoyable.

17/01/2016 @ home 50cl can from Malt Attacks, Brussels. Nice artwork on the can. GUSHER. Hazy light blonde with lots of foam which dissapears fast. Nose is wheat, orange peel. Taste is wheat, orange, some lemonade, bitter and dry ending.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Belgo Sapiens Colonel Arch (by Belgo Sapiens Brewers):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 15/20, MyTotalScore: 3.5/5

17/I/16 - 50cl can in a trade from Malt Attacks (Brussel) @ Algemene Vergadering Gentse Biervereniging - BB: 11/IX/2016 (2016-48) Thanks to Bierridder_S for the trade!

Clear orange beer, big creamy solid beige to yellow head, very stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: sweet, caramel, some banana, bit spicy. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: fruity start, bitter, bit sweet, some exotic fruits, caramel, malty. Aftertaste: bitter, citrus, grapefruit, somewhat sweet, sugary, bit of banana, grassy, honey, sweet malts, more sugar.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Belgo Sapiens Polarius (by Belgo Sapiens Brewers):
Aroma: 5/10, Appearance: 2/5, Taste: 5/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 10/20, MyTotalScore: 2.5/5

17/I/16 - 50cl can in a trade from Malt Attacks (Brussel) @ Algemene Vergadering Gentse Biervereniging - BB: IX/2016 (2016-47) Thanks to Bierridder_S for the trade!

Clear blond beer, creamy off-white head, pretty stable, adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: very yeasty, bit chemical, grains, some banana. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bitter start, bit yeasty, sweet, grassy, quite some banana. Aftertaste: bitter, dry, some citrus, banana, almonds. These are not flavours and aromas that one would link to a lager/pilsener.

One of the first beers of this new micro brewery in Nivelles, from a 50 cl can which gushed violently upon opening... Thick but loosely structured and quickly collapsing, coarse, eggshell white head vanishing altogether after ten minutes, colour completely cloudy straw blonde with deep peachy hue, looking a bit like artisanal apple juice after a while. Aroma of sweet red curry, ginger powder, lime zest (as in: American hop presence), mouldy grapefruit, soaked white bread, soap, pink pepper (which could be the seeds of paradise), fermenting apple, chalk, apricot, banana. Fruity onset, a basket of passion fruit, lychee, banana, mango and kumquat, still refreshing though with a deep red berry sourishness and crisp, but not overly sharp carbonation; ’fluffy’, bready, full and slightly caramelly barley in the middle along with soft soapy wheat sourishness while spiciness builds on top of it, bittersweet and a bit resiny, quite sharpish, clearly not the ordinary coriander seed so this must be the seeds of paradise, which show, in comparison with coriander, a sharper, more ’peppery’ and even dried citrus peel-like sharpness; ginger is an unmistakable presence all the way through and like the seeds of paradise increases in the finish, to the point of becoming perhaps a little bit tiresome. Ends still juicy nonetheless: the spices have a drying effect, but cannot prevent the malt sweetness from flowing down the throat. Hops, though noticeable and clearly aromatic, have no deep bittering power as expected from the style but add a lovely fragrance to the whole, lending a bit of support to the exotic, almost curry-like spiciness lingering afterwards. Different in applying more hop aroma as well as another combination of spices than one is used to from a witbier - and all deviations from the ubiquitous Hoegaarden standard are welcome - but still an overly spiced ale like there are many more in Wallonia. You will have to like ginger a lot in order to like this, but I can see this work well with spicy, e.g. Asian-inspired dishes and if you’re into spicy beers, this is surely recommendable, as it does have a certain ’stimulating’ and appetizing effect. If Belgo Sapiens learns to use these fancy ’craft beer cans’ the right way and avoid the gushing and the unattractively premature loss of head, their range may prove interesting in the future. In any case much more interesting than all those Hoegaarden clones, that much is clear.

0,5L Can shared with/at Rens’. Dark brown with cream head. Roasted malts and smooth chocolate. Light sweet, under medium bitter. Medium body, dry powdery finish. Very nice.