Sloefmans (15519) reviewed Naft from Brandstof VOF 6 months ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7
Slightly aged sample Huge, dense, faintly yellowish head over well-carbonated orangeish golden beer with a delicate pink sheen; lacerings. Spicy, pale malts in front. Dry grains; dry, bit old hops, spices. Very "beery"/pubaromas. Dry, even bit dusty grains and yet a following sweetness - not unlike chewing old bread for some time. Spices obvious, though thankfully way more chamomile than coriander. The chamomile, combined with the lively carbonation lend a much needed freshness. Medium bodied, gristslick, smooth MF. Aftertaste is a tad soapy. Not unmeritorious, likeable, despite mostly run-of-the-mill features.
Alengrin (11675) reviewed Naft from Brandstof VOF 5 years ago
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
The first beer commercialized (through Paenhuys near Sint-Niklaas) by 'Brandstof VOF', a new self-proclaimed 'bierfirma' in Sint-Amandsberg near Ghent, founded by two hobby brewers. Bottle from De Hopduvel. Light gusher but slowly so, so perfectly manageable. Thick and sticky, thickly plaster-like lacing, very frothy and even creamy, eggshell-white, dense head atop a misty golden blonde beer with ochre-ish tinge and fine strings of sparkling everywhere, turning hazy with deeper apricot hue after the sediment has been added. Aroma of indeed clear camomile (camomile cookies), bubblegum, white bread, madeleine cookies, unripe pear, coriander seed, banana, old potatoes, damp straw, vague whiffs of apricot, grass, iron, cooked rice, plaster, rubber. Fruity onset, banana ester mingled with impressions of green pear, dried apricot and some light red apple, sweetish but subduedly so, lively carbonated with some minerally accents but nevertheless retaining a rounded, smooth, bit fluffy mouthfeel. Pale malt sweetish middle, white bread pulp-ish, with ongoing fruity esters but low in residual sugars, leading to a dryish finish flavoured with obvious camomile (sweet and floral, a tad honeyish) and - luckily - less obvious, but still clearly discernable coriander seed (soapy). Grassy, floral hop bitter finish, lingering for a bit, along with bready yeastiness and fruitiness. Apparently these guys wanted to create a 'fuel' for the thirsty - so an easygoing, not too strong, 'familiarly' tasting 'terrasjesblondje' was the obvious choice, I guess. The addition of camomile, which in this case provides a sweetish-honeyish and clearly recognizable aroma, sets this beer a bit apart from the standard of Belgian blonde ale, or at least that must have been the intention, but I hasten to add that I have encountered this in similarly profiled Belgian beers before - so it is definitely not a scoop. Technically correct, but rather boring to be honest, very clearly aimed at the ignorant 'standard' Belgian beer drinker. There are many of those around, certainly in and around Ghent, so I can see this work commercially with the kind of marketing they are doing - but for the more seasoned beer geek, it is hard to get excited by this beer, especially with the vibrant and progressive Ghent craft brewing scene in mind...