The tripel in this mass-market-oriented Ostend beer project, from a longneck bottle bought at the Carrefour of the Groene Vallei in Ghent. Quite a violent gusher, spouting out of the bottle during opening - and with the carbon dioxide badly 'bound' into the beer, forming only a loose and rather thin, quickly opening, off-white ring of foam which then dissolves into almost nothing, over a hazy apricot blonde beer with beige tinge and dots of proteins floating around here and there. Rather weak aroma of dried apricot, damp kitchen towel, soggy Graham crackers, coriander seed, raw potatoes, old turnips, unripe pear, honey, field flowers, rainwater. Sweetish onset, estery peach, light banana and pear notes, sharpish effervescence (like a hundred micro needles piercing the tongue) and lean mouthfeel; soggy white bread with notes of crackers in the middle, some honeyish residual sweetness on top and retronasal coriander seed - but also a strong effect of ferrous water or rainwater (I was almost going to say seawater, considering where it comes from, but there is no saltiness). Floral hop bitterness in the end, blending in with the fruitiness and residual sweetness, before a somewhat astringent, not too well hidden 'jenever'-like alcohol effect shows up, scorching away the flavours - but then I had worse of this in other tripels, admittedly. Granted, the basic flavours are balanced and represent what the average Belgian consumer expects from a tripel - so pure flavour-wise, this is not even the worst I had in this overexposed style, but the gushing, the lack of head retention and those odd rainwater effects cannot have been intentional; if these technical issues are solved, then what you get is a perfectly acceptable, if stereotypical Belgian tripel for the masses, nothing more, nothing less.

Organic IPA hopped with Simcoe, Saphir and Pacific Gem, created by a client brewer located in Ostend. Snow white, medium thick, moussey, dot-lacing, slowly breaking head on a misty yellow blonde robe, fully hazy and ochre-ish-tinged with sediment added. Aroma of dried birch tree leaves, margarine, old potato peel, green banana, cold mash, apple blossoms, sweetclover, roasted cauliflower, dust, very vague orange zest. Fruity onset, halfripe banana, pear and a touch of yellow kiwi, sourish underneath a sweeter main flavour with the souring effects of the wheat malt and wheat flakes very apparent early on; softish carb, sweetish white-bready maltiness under continuing fruity esters and something thinly buttery (a trace of bacteria-generated diacetyl perhaps?), generally dry, with an only mild floral hop bitterness, lacking both the New World aromatics and bitterness I was hoping for. Instead, that general wheat sourishness dominates, and the combination of potentially bacteria-generated diacetyl and this ‘extra’ sourish undertone makes me suspect that a bacterial infection is already setting in here. Grassy and green-fruity notes do appear in the end, but clearly this beer does not contain nearly enough hops, either in aroma or in bitterness, to deserve the IPA moniker – not even if ‘Belgian IPA’ is intended. Feels more like a kind of atypical Weissbier (or even witbier), to be frank… Maybe the New World hops used, were old, or too sparsely used, or have already faded, I have no idea, but in spite of what the label advertises, they are in any case dramatically lacking to establish an IPA experience. Odd.

9/II/24 - 33cl bottle @ Gado Gado Indonesian restaurant (Gent), BB: 7/XI/24 22:22:33 (2024-82)

Clear blond to gold beer, big solid creamy off-white head, pretty stable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: pretty yeasty, ripe banana, sweet impression, some vanilla, pretty malty. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very yeasty start, quite some ripe banana, banana peel, spicy, coriander, bitter touch. Aftertaste: more yeast, hoppy, grassy, bitter finish, a hint of citrus. By no means can you call this an IPA. It’s just a hoppy blonde Belgian ale.

33cl bottle from Primeurs Achiel in Oostende. F: medium, white, good retention. C: pale gold, hazy. A: malty, peach, banana, apples, spicy, yeasty touch. T: medium malty base, banana, red apples peels, spicy, bit herbal, decent bitterness, medium carbonation, bit mineral water, not bad yet hops are quite lost here, enjoyed yet bio so ok.

33cl bottle from Primeurs Achiel in Oostende. F: medium, white, good retention. C: pale gold, hazy. A: malty/wheat, banana, coriander, spicy, red apples peels, citrus. T: medium malty base, banana, spicy, coriander, citrus, nice balanced bitterness, medium carbonation, refreshing, enjoyed.

33cl bottle from Primeurs Achiel in Oostende. F: medium, white, average retention. C: gold, light hazy. A: malty, bready, light hoppy. T: medium malty base, bready, sweet grainy, light bitterness, medium carbonation, bio so what probably ok, partially enjoyed.

Feels a little thin, but decent coriander notes, grassy malts, fairly clean. Just ok.

--Bottled. -- Clear pale golden, rich firm head. Spicy grassy nose. Mid sweet with medium body and rounded mouthfeel. Sweet, fruity malty malt. Spicy grassy hops, notes of citrus. Low to medium bitterness.

Bottle from Dranken Vandewoude and drunk on a campsite with Nelson. Hazy orange gold colour lasting white head. A moderate strawberry flavour. not too sweet. a very light beer underneath. ok fruit beer.