Smooth white head left a spotty cover on golden body. Sweet citrus, malt & Belgian yeast aroma. Medium bodied, smooth & cloying. Confectionery, sweet citrus, marmalade & Belgian yeast tastes with tangy hopped finish. Nice......

Strong blonde ale brewed at Deca for a Brouwerij Vindevogel, which is actually an initiative of Dieter Vindevogel and his wife Heleen, intended to commemorate their deceased daughter Pauline, hence the name. Many Belgian beers have a background story, sometimes fabricated, sometimes even ludicrous and often redundant at best, but rarely have I encountered a background story so heartbreaking. Thick and frothy, eggshell-white, tightly plaster-like lacing, firm and closed head, sustained by fierce sparkling in an initially clear, deep 'old gold' coloured beer with pale orangey tinge, turning into a misty apricot blonde with sediment. Aroma of dusty old coriander seed, potato chips, 'oude jenever', dried orange peel, banana, slight bubblegum, freshly cut sweet red apple, deep-fried parsley, hints of honey, bread crumbs, raw and freshly cut green cabbage, margarine, pear, moist white pepper, calvados, old jute bags, dry earth, dried camomile. Spritzy onset, quite sharply carbonated with numbing but also very minerally effect, fruity notes of banana, unripe peach and red apple, sweetish - with a thinnish layer of honey-like residual sweetness continuing over a smooth, full-bodied white-bready and somewhat rusk-like, clean maltiness; the effects of white candi syrup completing the malt bill (or rather: replacing part of it) are clear enough here. The fruity aspects are carried onwards over this generally sweetish middle to a bittering finish, in a rather gentle, inviting way, consisting of spicy coriander seed, some phenols, a floral and mildly peppery hoppiness and - expectedly - a 'jenever'-like, spicy and eventually rather wry alcohol presence. It is a technical achievement in itself to hide the alcohol in a blonde ale at this level of ABV and Deca never excelled at said achievement - something that becomes painfully clear here as well. The coriander is overly present, too, and not in a flattering way; the whole beer comes across as rather crude and unrefined, and surely the late Pauline deserves a more memorable beer than this. As moving as the story is, the beer representing it does not quite live up to expectations, nor does it convey the message well; maybe a dark barrel aged ale in the vein of Vleteren 8° or Vleteren 12° (also Deca) could have done the job more elegantly and convincingly than this, and I sincerely apologize to the parents, rather banal, boozy, sweet and unrefined tripel?

Botella de @StruiseShop, Online. 04/01/2021. Color amarillo corona de espuma blanca aromas herbales, especiada, levadura, cereal, sabor cereal, notas herbales, maltosa, cuerpo medio. Agradable.

Large foamy white head left a froth on an unclear dark amber coloured slowly carbonating body. Belgian yeast, spice & citrus aroma. Medium bodied, gassy with a sharp dry back. Citrus, tangy, yeast, spices & boozy tastes with a hoppy finish. Standard

Many Thanks for this Beer to Jacek Wigier (wineofdreams@gmail.com). Piwo ma spora piane, choc jak na Belgie srednio trwala, spora metnosc, fajne aromaty, w smaku srednio slodowe alko ukryte mnostwo owocow z twardej skory, ciasteczka kruche i nieco chmielnej szyszki na koniec. Dobre.

Newish hoppy blonde by Deca with a fun label of anthropomorphic grasshopper – initially prompting me to think this was a new creation by Beerbugs in Limburg, but they already have a beer called Grasshopper, of course… Anyway, you do not see a new Deca beer every day, so I was curious for this one. Thick and sticky, egg-white, very dense and frothy, foamy, stable head on an initially clear, ‘metallic’ pale orangey-blonde robe, turning misty with sediment. Aroma of orange peel, dried rosemary, old biscuit, bread crust, moist white pepper, parsnip, fresh wormwood, dried apricot, grass, field flowers. Fruity onset but not too sweet or estery, hints of unripe peach and red apple, lively carbonated with quite pronounced minerality; supple, smooth body. Bread-crusty and slightly peanutty maltiness, lean with a slight cracker- or rusk-like edge, increasingly bittered by a spicy, rooty, softly but still convincingly quinine-like hoppiness, evoking wormwood, citrus pith and bitter weeds without becoming overly exuberant; lingering maltiness and fruitiness as well. Predictable, old school ‘Belgian IPA’ if this is a category that must have its own status – a category which, more accurately phrased, consists of hop-forward Belgian blondes and tripels, and that is exactly what this is, even if the yeast factor (which often sits in the way of the IPA intentions of this type of beers) has been kept well under control here and the hop bitterness is firm enough to evoke at least a very basic IPA association. In all, a very solid, enjoyable and well-crafted Belgian hoppy blonde rather than true IPA, but this is something I have absolutely nothing against.

Occasional celebration beer - the occasion here being the 1350th anniversary of the village of Werken in the heart of West Flanders, hence the name 'Weretha', which is how said village was called in Oudnederlands (old Dutch). Intricately cobweb-lacing, egg-white, medium thick, mousy head, slowly opening but generally very well-retaining over an initially as good as clear, pure golden blonde beer with ochre-ish tinge and lively strings of sparkling. Aroma of banana-flavoured bubblegum, candyfloss, honey, powder sugar, ripe pear, sweet potato, soapy coriander seed, plaster, Granny Smith apple, rainwater and - arriving late to the party so I was already wondering where it was - DMS (overcooked Brussels sprouts). Spritzy onset, lots of banana ester with additional hints of green apple, pear and unripe pineapple, very strongly carbonated with an almost painful 'sting' to it, very minerally and fizzy - distracting from the actual flavour; rounded, slick body, a straightforward white-bready pale maltiness with a thin layer of residual sweetness on top, carrying the banana to a somewhat more dryish finish where soapy coriander meets a floral, bit resinous and leafy hop bitter note. Spicy phenols, fruity esters and a raw potato-ish earthiness linger beneath the coriander and the hops, while that touch of DMS, though not overly strong in this case, manages to return retronasally and ruin my day, or at least the finish of this beer. This whole beer shouts old-fashionedness: the simple, medieval style label and name, the old and lame 'story' behind it, and the beer itself in all its predictability: Belgian style overcarbonation, coriander spicing, DMS and banana ester prevalence. I have never been in Werken, but I assume its people deserved a more memorable beer when they celebrated the 1350th birthday of their village five years ago... Apparently Den Buiten kept this beer in its assortment, however, so who knows, maybe we'll get something a bit more exciting for the 1400th birthday of Werken?