Berry white tasting (sneak THT July). Hazy golden with white head. Lemony and white peppery. Moderate sweet and bitter, light sour, green leafy bitter and dry, flinty and metallic finish. Medium body and over medium carbonation. --- Beer merged from original tick of Saison d'Erpe-Mere on 12 Jul 2019 at 22:09 - Score: 7

Bottle shared at a THT type mead type thing. Fairly hazy golden with a white head. Aroma of peppery saison yeast, herbs, citrus and malt. Flavour is above moderate sweet and moderate bitter. Medium bodied with high carbonation.

Belgian dubbel from De Glazen Toren, recently relaunched, but its recipe apparently dates back twelve years already; now simply called Slagersbier without further specifications, as only this dark version has been resurrected from the dead and not the blonde one which originally accompanied it. From a 75 cl bottle shared with Goedele at Velootje in the Patershol quarter in Ghent. Pale greyish beige, mousy but quite loosely knit and quickly opening head; initially near clear mahogany brown robe with ruddy-burgundy hue, misty with sediment. Aroma of hard caramel candy, pecan nuts, cloves, dried lavender, bayleaf, dusty old nutmeg, brown bread crust, dry tea bags. Subdued in sweetness, some dried fig and apple peel aspects, lively carbonation with minerally notes, slick and bit resinous mouthfeel, actually rather thin for a dubbel; walnutty and caramelly maltiness, slick and a tad metallic at the edges, phenolic spicy notes in the end (liquorish, clove, even a touch of lavender) merging with a late toasty bitter edge to the malts combined with a leafy hop bitter tail, a bit earthy too especially after adding the sediment. Dry dubbel, also a bit more hop bitter than I am used to from this classic Belgian ale style, but a bit thin, straightforward and metallic as well. I never had the original version so no idea if this new one is any different, for the better or for the worse.

27 April 2019. At Zythos Bierfestival. Deputy Taster: Anke. Cheers to Ama Deke, Erwin, John & Meeki! As 'Lentebier'. Clear pale golden, lasting, thin, frothy, off-white head. Aroma of ‘margarine’, ripe banana, wheat, clove, mouldy apple & pear, white bread. Taste is medium fruity sweet, hints of ripe banana & apple on a wheaty & lemony sour base, butter returning retronasally, spicy bitter tones of clove, coriander & pepper, leading to a dry, grassy hoppy finish, in which the clove, banana & butter linger. Medium body, slick texture, soft carbonation. Needs some fine-tuning and cleaning, although I don't think it has a lot of potential. Anyway, Saison?

Pours a very nice dark amber which is still semi-transparent. Quite surprisingly the head is just about one finger and not too dense. It still holds decently well, leaving some lacing too. Average intensity in the aroma. Caramel and slightly roasted malts, maybe a nutty hint. Sugary sweetness. Red fruits. Taste follows the aroma quite closely. Sweet entrypoint with caramel malts and slight nuttiness, a soft-sweetish sugary kind of feel, red/dried fruity notes. Finishes semi-sweet, but surely balanced enough for the style, with a bit of spiciness in the mix. Alcohol is well hidden but the beer still feels quite warming. Some earthiness/muddiness gets a bit too much in the way in the last sips. Medium to dense in body with medium to high carbonation with an overall quite full mouthfeel.

7-3-7-3-14 On tap @ Bergen Craft Beer Fest. Pours cloudy, pale yellow, with a creamy head. Aroma is wooden yeast, with hay, farmyard, wooden brett and hoppy citrusy notes. Medium to full body, with soft carbonation. Flavour is tart yeast, with hay, wood, herbal notes and wooden brett, as well as hoppy citrusy notes.

Tap at the Riga Pours 2019 (as Saison d'Erpe-Mere Lentebier). Pours golden. Aroma and flavor are fruity, apricots, sweet, belgian yeast, dry. Overall: very good.

Tap at Kwakinn, Riga. Pours golden with whiteish head. Aroma and flavor are fruity, spicy, sweet, dry, apricots, peaches. Overall: classic Belgian style saison.