Moderat hefiger Beginn, weich, etwas Holunderblüte. Spritzig, die erhöhte Karbonisierung stört allerdings. Trockener, bitter-kräutriger Abgang. 10/9/5/9//9

Kräutrig herber Beginn. Nicht alkoholisch, erstaunlich süffig, trocken, ansteigende Bitterkeit. Trocken bleibend, bitter, mittellanger Abgang. Nett. 10/9/10/10//10

Starke Karbonisierung. Deutlich malzig-rauchiger Beginn mit unterstützender, nicht übertriebener Süße. Die starke Karbonisierung stört, zwischenzeitlich außerdem sprittig. Dunkelmalziger und kräutriger Abgang. 8/11/4/10//10

Kernig getreidiger Beginn. Trockene Bitterkeit, moderat hopfig. Stark getreidiger Mittelteil, die Bitterkeit wird dumpf. Ok, muss nicht sein. 10/8/7/7//7

The tripel from these guys, brewing in their garage in Gistel near Ostend; 75 cl bottle bought at the gate of said garage. Irregularly edged, snow white, plaster-like lacing, medium thick, opening head on a misty peach blonde beer with ochre-ish tinge. Aroma of old bread, dried orange peel, coriander seed, freshly cut red apple, apricot, banana, ripe pear, soggy crackers, a whiff of iron, raw potatoes, wodka, rainwater. Estery onset, sweetish with notes of fried red apple, banana, ripe pear and apricot, sharply carbonated (even numbing the tongue); full bready maltiness, soft and sweetish, a bit doughy with slight metallic edges. Dried orange peel and – more strongly so – dusty-spicy coriander seed pop up in the finish, paired with a dash of floral hops providing moderate end bitterness; slightly soapy and vegetable soup-like accents as well, followed by warming, eventually even heating and therefore insufficiently hidden, ‘jenever’-ish alcohol. The hop bitterness does last for quite a while, though, which in tripels is always a good thing to me personally; otherwise, however, this specimen is overcarbonated, on the crude side and frankly rather boring, with an overly boozy finish – definitely not their best beer for me, rather their poorest, even.

Witbier by these guys in Gistel (though they apparently prefer to avoid the term ‘witbier’ as such) flavoured with elderblossom; 75 cl bottle from the brewery, shared with Goedele. Very thickly pillowy, bath foam-like (wheat-enhanced), egg-white, irregularly edged, paper-lacing, even-bubbled head, misty yellow-glowing apricot blonde robe with disparate strings of sparkling. Aroma indeed very much dominated by flowery elderblossom, which also produces this seitan- or cooked turkey-like meaty aspect it usually offers – but its sheer floweriness, in a very herbal way, is absolutely dominant here; other impressions include moist white pepper, white bread, freshly cut green apples, margarine, white soap or even baking soda, unripe pear, chalk, banana peel. Fruity onset, banana ester mingled with impressions of pear, cherimoya and kiwi, but nowhere too sweet; very fizzy carbonation, slick and soapy body, with the inherent soapiness from the wheat strongly amplified by the elderblossom. A dim wheat sourishness accompanies an otherwise bready core, heavily perfumed by this huge dosage of flowery elderblossom – flowery and, again, vaguely meaty. Underneath develops a leafy, bit rooty hop bitterness, lingering about in a much more obvious and persistent way than would usually be the case in a witbier. Ends very soapy – a bit much so for me, but I must admit that – like the other Bère beers I had – this is actually well-crafted for such a small (literally) garage installation. This makes me very curious for the last Bère I have waiting in my collection.

Quadrupel with Rauchmalz, 75 cl bottle from the “Bère Brouwers” in Gistel near Ostend. Extreme gusher: foam began to creep out of the bottle about a second after opening, slowly so but very steadily so as well, an unstoppable stream as it were – it took more than ten minutes for it to stop, at which point about ¼ of the bottle was lost. The only upside to this, was that the overflowing happened slow enough for me to take measures, grab the nearby glasses and catch most of the beer in them. Anyway: tightly cobweb-lacing, frothy, stable, pale greyish beige head on a misty dark chocolate brown beer with deep vermillion red glow. Aroma very strongly smoked – hence the classification here as a smoked beer rather than a quad: smoked bacon, smoked mackerel, smoked prunes, chewing tobacco and even a whiff of freshly extinguished bonfire from beech wood, next to underlying impressions of apple peel, clove, nutmeg, caramel, apricot, brown bread, plum. Fizzy, estery onset, apple, plum and fig aspects, clearly overcarbonated for a either a quad or a smoked beer, but with full, rounded, bit glueish body. Brown-bready malt soil smashed under the weight of a huge amount of Rauchmalz – Aecht Schlenkerla is never far away here – reminiscent of smoked bacon and smoked mackerel again, with this roasty bonfire aspect also returning in the end; the spiciness established by the smoked malts is further sharpened by a spicy hop bitter note and spicy phenols, while a glow of ‘jenever’-like alcohol highlights it all – even, showing up very late and only after a bit of warming up, a sweet brown sugary and treacle-like aspect reminding me that the ‘basic’ intention here was indeed that of a quadrupel. Still, the main theme here is clearly the smoked malt, overtaking so much of the beer that ‘Rauchbier’ will probably inform consumers better than ‘quadrupel’ (a genre I never even had ‘in smoked form’, apart of course from Van Steenberge's newish Gulden Draak Smoked); my girlfriend hates Rauchbier and had trouble enjoying this one, but I absolutely love it, I think there are not nearly enough of these heavily smoked beers on the Belgian market so it is not even too difficult for me to forgive this Grizzly the huge extent of gushing. If that issue can be fixed, then this beer is a notably original and potentially important addition to the Belgian beer map. If only more of these small and beginning microbreweries had this much audacity! Cheers to that, guys!

Spiced ale by Bere Brouwers in Gistel near Ostend, apparently created in honour of a family member (an aunt) called Mia, I assume in extremely limited quantities - but some bottles have been sold, including one to yours truly, so I guess it is legit to add it to this site. Thick and very frothy, eggshell-white, regular, finely lacing, dense and very stable head remaining closed for a very long time; hazy straw blonde robe with ochre-ish hue. Aroma indeed dominated by very obvious spicing, the unmistakable and often rather pushy white cardamom upfront but also reminiscent of ginger powder, dried lemon peel and coriander seed, next to impressions of halfripe banana, white bread dough, freshly cut grass, green apple, unripe pear, dry straw, white pepper, 'kerrie' powder. Crisp, fruity onset, sweetish with a mix of banana ester and some green apple acetaldehyde, vague apricot and pear notes as well, fizzily carbonated but maintaining a soft, bit fluffy, full mouthfeel; minerally side effects accompany a white-bready, bit doughy and slightly honeyish malt middle, quickly spiced by again white cardamom and coriander seed, perhaps a pinch of ginger as well, spicing which in all adds quite some wryness and bitterness, in itself blending with a leafy, floral hop bitterness in the end - but still I remain under the impression that the cardamom provides most of the bitterness, as it becomes a bit astringent in the end, in a sharper way than hops tend to do. The effect of old dusty 'kerriepoeder' (yellow curry powder) lingers along with the bitterness, but the malts carry some residual sweetness to the finish as well, with a somewhat mitigating effect. Warm, Far East spiciness meets a hoppy Belgian blonde - not bad, in all, even considering my general dislike of overly spiced ales, and certainly technically well made, not showing any brewing flaws. Better than expected, to be frank - cheers to aunt Mia!

Belgian IPA by this nanobrewery in Gistel (near Ostend), 75 cl bottle with crown cap; with added honey and orange peel. Quite a gusher, with foam flooding out of the bottle neck right after opening and enormous head development upon pouring (the yeast must have gone berserk over the honey, I guess); eventually resulting in a typical 'gusher head', thick but very irregular, uneven-bubbled, egg-white, with thick patches of papier maché-like lacing, over a misty deep and warm orange blonde beer with peachy hue and strings of sparkling everywhere. Aroma - after the initial sting of overt carbon dioxide has faded - of indeed dried orange peel, sundried tomato, orange blossom, jasmin tea even, bitter honey, peach, lightly toasted white bread, green apple, mandarin juice, hints of pine resin, baker's yeast, bitterroot, frying olive oil, ginger powder. Spritzy, bright onset, lots of citrusiness blending with hints of apricot, pineapple, freshly cut apple and unripe banana, very lively carbonation with somewhat numbing and very minerally effect; still quite rounded, bit 'fluffy' mouthfeel. Minerally carbonation effects travel along over a white-bready and lightly dry-biscuity malt core, bittered early on with a citrus pith-like, lingering rooty effect, probably mostly from hops but also from the orange peel, lasting for a long time, providing impressions of quinine, bitter conifer bark and grapefruit - while yeasty effects, enhanced by the honey which in itself provides a feeble floral aroma, also remain very active, making for a typical 'Belgian IPA' finish. Spicy, yeasty, estery, malty and still drenched in old school American C-hops: I have nothing against this kind of 'hybridisation' of traditional Belgian beer culture with modern American craft culture, as I am not an IPA purist, but trying to accentuate the citrus peel effect of the hops with actual citrus peel will always seem unnecessary to me. In all, a bitter, characterful quencher, certainly enjoyable for what it is.