The obligatory blonde in this series, bottle straight from the brewery, thanks Joeri! Thick, frothy, snow white, bubbly head breaking and thinning over a hazy yellow blonde beer with apricot tinge. Aroma of ripe banana, coriander seed, ripe pear, sweating abbey cheese, potato mash, red apple, honey, damp kitchen towels, 'overripe' white cabbage but not in a DMS way, leftover dough. Sweet onset, banana ester mingled with ripe pear, pineapple and peach notes, medium fizz, smooth and bit glueish, somewhat soapy mouthfeel; honeyish sweetness lingering gently over a lean pale malt sweetishness with bubblegummy and lightly sourish edges, coriander soapiness towards the end followed by a very mild grassy hop bitterishness while the overall sweetness and 'bubblegumminess' linger about. Sweet, easygoing, cliché and bland blonde - not for me, but I'm sure the tourists at the Rochehaut site will easily down a few of these on a summery afternoon, if the catering business will ever be allowed to open again. These Rochehaut beers all failed to convince me, predictable and stereotypical as they are, but I am glad I tasted them.

The amber ale in the Rochehaut series, again thanks to Joeri for sharing. Medium thick, mousy, egg-white, membrane-lacing head on a misty orange-peach blonde beer with amberish tinge. Aroma of soggy peanuts, wood glue, rusk, apple peel, dried fig, linseed, dried grass, thyme and a vague background whiff of DMS (overcooked cauliflower). Dryishly fruity onset, some apple peel and dried apricot, clean with rather sharp carbonation; bit glueish mouthfeel, slick hard-caramelly and peanutty maltiness but slenderly so, bittersweetish in a restrained way, developing a herbal character in the end from the hops (thyme, dried field flowers), providing only soft bitterness; some peanutty maltiness lingers. Clean, straightforward, accessible interpretation of the classic Walloon ‘ambrée’ style, but pleasant enough to drink.

The ‘brown one’ in this series of new Ardennes ales, produced by a microbrewery set up in a family-owned recreation park. Thanks Joeri for sharing. Thick, egg-white, mousy, slowly breaking head lacing in dots over a misty caramelly-brown deep amber beer. Aroma of hard caramel, dry tea bags, glazed beetroot, dried apricot, bread crust, soggy rusk, touch of iron somewhere. Sweet onset in a very clean way, apple peel, medlar, some green banana, softish carb, slick body; caramelly maltiness with rusk- or dry cookie-like core, sweetish and slender, developing a toasty-bitterish edge in the end matching with a herbal, well-measured herbal hop bittering accent. Finishes relatively quickly, with mostly some caramelly malt sweetness lingering; alcohol provides some afterwarmth but is generally very well hidden. Clean, simple and easily drinkable especially for a quad, this should pose no big challenges to the unsuspecting tourists coming to visit the Rochehaut domain apart from being a tad too drinkable perhaps – with drunken tourists as a result… Technically very well brewed, more than averagely so for a Walloon microbrewery in fact, but I still prefer the quads made by Rochefort, with which Rochehaut is not to be confused.

16/IX/20 - 33cl bottle from Au Village Gourmande, shared @ home, BB: 5/V/22 (2020-926)

Clear pale blond beer, big creamy off-white head, stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: vit resinous, fruity, grassy, some citrus notes, onions, bit dank. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bit malty, grains, soapy bitterness, bit floral. Aftertaste: bit funky, fruity, soft acidity, slightly soapy, citrus touch, some tropical fruits, little bitter, decent enough.