Belgian witbier not just containing pale barley malt and unmalted wheat, but also einkorn, a primitive wheat species - the name of which in Dutch sounds quite a lot like 'eekhoorn' (squirrel) which I assume explains the name of the beer. Seemingly one of the first real BRAUW beers, as the head brewer created it during his training as a microbrewer at the Syntra school in Leuven. Thick and creamy, thickly plaster-lacing, snow white, densely moussey, firm and stable head on an initially lightly misty, yellowish straw blonde beer with pale golden tinge and lots of visible sparkling, turning hazy with sediment. Aroma of lavender-scented white hand soap (strongly so!), soapy coriander further accentuating the overall soapiness, white bread dough, chamomile, unripe pear, green banana, raw Kohlrabi, hints of white celery, acacia honey, touch orange flesh faraway in the background, moist grass, Jerusalem artichoke, gypsum. Quite crisp onset, bit estery with notes of unripe pear, green banana and raw Kohlrabi, spritzy carbonation with minerally effects, underlying wheat (and einkorn) sourishness and graininess but generally very slick in the middle, with pale malts (as in pale lager) joining the slickness of the wheat and the einkorn. The inherent soapiness of both grains comes to full development towards the finish, where added spices further amplify this effect - almost certainly good ole coriander seed, but tasting lavender-like as well, to the point where I have the impression that I just swallowed a liquid poured from a glass that was washed in white hand soap and badly rinced afterwards. This annoying soapiness goes on and on, past a light floral hop bitterish touch, lingering 'green' fruitiness and a light phenolic yeast spiciness; something citrus peel-like is there as well, but far less strongly so than the coriander. In all, a classically devised 'blanche' with the one deviating element of einkorn having been added, but somehow it turned out much too soapy to be truly enjoyable - too much coriander, I guess. Witbier is never going to be my preferred style but this is a mere personal taste and I can distinguish a good one from a bad one - this one is admittedly technically flawless which in itself will certainly got this guy a degree in microbrewing (or craft brewing as we call it nowadays - Syntra needs to update their course material from time to time), but I cannot say that such an overwhelming soapiness in aroma and taste is something I can hugely enjoy... Not my thing, but doubtlessly many witbier drinkers (if that still exists today) can appreciate it; and who knows, maybe it can be used as the starting point of a host of sweetened witbier-based fruit beers like Floris or Mystic - but I probably should not give this brewery any ideas...

There was a time when 'Scotch', called 'wee heavy' in its land of origin, was very popular in Belgium, but very few of those 'old' Scotch beers have remained (Gordon X-Mas being one of them); I can certainly appreciate one if it is well done, so I am glad to see that this young Limburgian brewery tackles the style now, even if my sample is not the regular one but a special variant aged on Cabernet Sauvignon wine-soaked oak chips. Thickly moussey, creamy, membrane-lacing, pale greyish beige, dense, somewhat crackling but stable head on an initially clear deep and dark chestnut brown beer with burgundy glow and fine sparkling throughout, misty with sediment. Aroma of caramel candy, brown soap, chewing gum, walnut paste, medlar, fresh fig, pear, cognac (quite pronounced somehow), red apple peel, Brazil nuts, dry cookies, brown bread crust, hints of Poire William, green kiwi, dry earth, wood glue, very vague vanilla from the oak, creamy red wine faraway in the distance. Cleanly fruity onset, dried fig, medlar, old raisins, pear and red apple, sweet but not sticky with some sourishness added by very active, minerally carbonation; smooth, full, bit glueish mouthfeel. Deep brown-bready, caramelly and dry cookie-like dark maltiness with a nutty edge, sweet with that typical Scotch feature of soft toasty bitterness, clear from the start and growing a bit in the end; oak wood is also much more clear in the mouth than in the nose, with tannic effects, probably enlarged a bit by the wine they were soaked in - but the toasty bitterness dominates along with its sweeter caramelly side, bittered by leafy hops and, long before the actual finish, heatened by peppery, cheap brandy-like alcohol, which eventually scorches away the other flavours and ends up wry and obnoxious. I am bothered by the very badly hidden alcohol even for an 8%+ ABV beer: this really is a pity, considering how the other main flavour parts actually do fit well into the whole - a whole that conveys a credible Scotch experience. The oak chips are unnecessary but that burning, wry alcohol effect is something that needs to be addressed - if I mentally omit it, I end up with a perfectly decent, sweet-bitter example of its intended style. May very well improve with ageing as the sharper edges of the booze shave off a bit - so benefit of the doubt for now.

Client brewer in the (Belgian) Limburg capital offering this 'bitter blonde' without claiming it to be an IPA - this approach sparks curiosity in me. Egg-white, firm and foamy, regular, stable head on an initially misty deep 'old golden' robe with light peachy tinge, turning more ochre-tinged and clouded in the end. Aroma of strong fresh grapefruit, orange pith and mandarin, lychee even, dry biscuit, bread crumbs, bitter honey, olive oil, lemon thyme, puddle water. Crisp onset with lots of fizzy carbonation (but not unusually so for this kind of beer), hints of drying apple peel, green pear and orange peel yet generally low in esters, with smooth, bit oily body and dryish cereally, slenderly biscuity maltiness, increasingly flavoured by orange- and grapefruit-like hoppiness unfolding more complexity retronasally, adding elements of dried dill, tamarillo, young wormwood and even slight persimmon (almost approaching lychee), yet all in a subtle, refined kind of way. Bitter yet elegant, smooth, aromatic finish with no disturbing or even distracting off-the-road flavours: this is Belgian blonde modelled to the classic American APA idiom, maintaining balance and subtlety while still conveying personality and focus. Technically very well executed and - I will say this only once - actually adding something to the vast Belgian blonde pool. Certainly not a typical Belgian 'bitter blonde' - so I guess one could just as well regard this as a Belgian style APA (or IPA), in which case it performs better than many (dozens of) similar attempts. A nice surprise from a 'brewing company' I never heard of until last week or so.

Bottle 33 cl. Pours an opaque black with a small and rough, beige head. Sweet vanilla and lactose aroma. Rich, roasty body. Now less sweet and much more potent and muscly. Some typical Belgian phenols from a not so clean fermentation. Carbonation to the low side. A bitterness in the finish that may mostly come fro the roasted malts. Some licorice towards the end. Interesting but very unclean Stout. 270722

Bottke 33 cl. Pours a clear, dark brown with an orangey hue and a small, beige head. Nutty, toffeeish nose, some crude brown sugars. Rich and immensely sweet body, molasses, a hint of licorice and quite some phenols. Very hard to drink. 050522

Zythos 2022. Pale blond colour with thin head. Simple malty beer with a light bitterness. Well balanced. Nice.

Sampled @ Zythos Beer Festival 2022. A hazy dark golden beer with a white lacing. Aroma of sweet strong pale malt, honey. Taste of sweet honey, straw, strong pale malt.

Sampled @ Zythos Beer Festival 2022. A hazy golden beer with a white head. Aroma of herbal hops, citrus, tangerine. Taste of herbal bitter hops, citrus, yeast. Good.

Sampled @ Zythos Beer Festival 2022. A hazy yellow golden beer with a white head. Aroma of grains and straw. Taste of straw, grainy malt, yeast.