Sampled @ KBF 2016, Essen. Red-brown color, average sized off-white to beige head. Smell and taste malts, somewhat smoky, sweet, grainy. Meh.

75 cl bottle. Pours cloudy orange with a small white head. Aroma is fruity and roasted malty. Caramelish malty. Sweet, fruity and toasted malty. Milky. Sweet and fruity far finish.

33cl bottle shared with kermis. A minor gusher. Thick creamy white head. Hazy amber pour. Some honey in the aftertaste.

Bottle shared, slight gusher. Near clear amber with floaters and an off white head. Aroma of citrus, yeast, orange peel and light nutty notes. Flavour is moderate sweet and bitter. Light medium with fairly high carbonation.

Beer with guarana, apparently named after an ancient form of ’Hemiksem’, a small town near Antwerp. Very sober blue label. Medium thick, lightly lacing, pale greyish beige, moussy, well-retaining head over an initially lightly hazy burgundy coloured beer, dark but translucent with ruby hue. Aroma is quite refreshing and free of off-flavours; the ethereal ’sweet-and-spicy’, at times almost liquorish-like guarana aroma is clear but feels ’pure’ and natural without dominating other impressions of candied fig, mocha ice cream, caramel, banana, cinnamon, toffee, brown rum, candied cherry, melting brown sugar, chestnuts, apricot, damp forest floor, some vague FFF and pear drops. Notably sweetish onset, candied fruits and brown sugar, cloying just a little bit in the beginning, with cherry, pear and elderberry flavours, the expected ’dull’ sourishness underneath and a softish carbonation ensuing. Sweet caramelly maltiness with honeyish edges in the middle quickly turning bitteringly toasted and very ’toastedly nutty’, while the fruity esters continue; the guarana flavour, volatile as it may be, becomes increasinly apparent towards the end and adds a retronasal fragrance you’ll either love or hate (I’m still in doubt at this point). The toasted malt bitterishness strengthens in the end, supported by an earthy, herbal, slightly peppery hop bitterishness but, more importantly, a great deal of warming ’jenever’-like alcohol, perhaps unsurprisingly for a beer of this ABV, but still too brutal and astringent to my taste, bringing the rest out of balance. The bitterness that remains is strongly reinforced by the lingering, almost wry alcohol effect. The premises are good here, but this beer lacks refinement and class: the guarana factor is more or less acceptable as far as I’m concerned (though I sincerely hate it in soft drinks), but is not well integrated into the whole, and the alcohol is way too obvious. What starts off fine and promising, ends wry and hard to swallow. I had Fantôme brews with the same ingredient at a higher level. Still, quite an interesting beer since this spice is not often used, and I’m glad I finally tasted it after having seen these bottles at Hopduvel every time I went there... Bought this one at Frui Vita though, a beer shop in Hemiksem, after which this beer is named.