Another hobby brewer posing as a brewery, but at least these guys are honest about where their beers are actually brewed - the first ones (of a few years ago) at Paenhuys, this newish one at nearby Boelens. It is currently the only beer commercialized by this Brouwerij Coucke. Egg-white, frothy, regularly shaped, mousy and stable head on an initially clear peach-golden beer, turning hazy and more deeply orangey with sediment. Aroma unfortunately plagued by strong DMS (overcooked cauliflower), next to banana peel, coriander seed, stewed carrots, white bread, peach, straw. Fruity onset, banana ester with peach and red apple aspects, sweetish with a slight sourish edge and lively carbonation; supple, bready and ever so slightly soapy body, spiced with clear coriander seed which explains the soapy aspect; floral hops in the end, softly bittering, while the coriander lingers and the DMS makes a final appearance retronasally. Apart from that latter aspect, not the worst Belgian blonde imaginable, but very basic, simplistic and predictable...

The second commercialized Coucke beer, after a witbier; made by a hobby brewer who lives in an old mansion in the village of Sint-Gillis-Waas, where once a local brewery was accomodated. Like the first one, this regular blonde is brewed commercially at Paenhuys in nearby Nieuwkerken-Waas. Bottle from Fontana. Thickly and continuously membrane-lacing, egg-white, creamy, dense, regular and closed, very stable head over an immediately hazy deep ochre-hued straw-golden beer, deeper apricot blonde and equally misty with sediment. Aroma of ripe banana, chewing gum, strong soapy coriander seed, baking soda, white bread dough, camomile tea, half-ripe pear, pumice, cloves, old ginger powder, dried and 'faded' orange peel, powder sugar, soaking wet white paper. Fruity, crisp onset, sweetish with a ton of banana ester (isoamylacetate) with very bubblegummy effect, notes of green apple, pear and unripe nectarine, strong and rather harsh, stinging (over)carbonation with souring and very minerally effect; rounded, soapy mouthfeel impaired by this extreme carbonation. Soggy white bread basis with lingering honeyish white candi syrup sweetness and banana ester, soaked in a very strong dosage of soapy and spicy coriander seed, seizing power over the finish, where a grassy hop bitterish accent appears alongside soggy pale malt sweetishness, outspoken phenolic spiciness and strongly lingering banana ester. No true off-flavours here, but all the clichés typifying your standard Belgian blonde are there: an overdose of coriander and banana ester, hugely overcarbonated and sadly uninspired. As cliché as it gets, but admittedly there is even worse in this particular, still highly overexposed Belgian segment. I can, however, see a beer like this gaining local success commercially speaking, as it certainly ticks all the boxes when it comes to the simplicity and 'easiness' the average Belgian beer drinker expects.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Couck Tarwe Dubbel (by 't Paenhuys):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 2/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 11/20, MyTotalScore: 2.9/5

9/IV/18 - 33cl bottle from a trade @ home - BB: 11/VII/19, bottled: 11/VII/17 (2018-361) Thanks to Alengrin for the trade!

Clear blond beer, small aery creamy white head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: bit dirty, some rotten fruits, orange peels, bit funky, spicy, coriander, cabbages. MF: very lively carbon, medium to light body. Taste: bit sourish, lots and lots of oranges, orange peel, soft bitterness, bit sourish. Aftertaste: more oranges and orange peel, little funky, dirty touch, sourish, some cooked cabbages.

Paenhuys ’tarwedubbel’ commissioned by an aspiring new beer company referring to itself as both "brouwerij Coucke" and "brouwerij Straffe Couck" - now this is a bit confusing... Apparently located at Sint-Gillis-Waas, they have already developed this wit, a blond and a tripel, so not a very inspired assortment to say the least. Anyway: this one was a slow gusher, but nothing dramatic. Thick, frothy, very moussy, egg-white, typical ’witbier’ head remaining largely closed for most of the time, atop a misty yellow blonde beer with vaguely ochre-ish tinge, the mist being perturbed by fierce strings of fizz rising up from the bottom; turns a deeper, fully cloudy peach blonde with sediment. Aroma of banana, pear, old cheese, margarine, white pepper, coriander seed, old dried out lemon peel, soap, pineapple, dry breakfast cereals, wet cardboard, radish, dough, spicy phenols becoming a little bit medicinal after the sediment has been added, some very faint DMS. Vivid onset, very spritzy carbonation even for this intentionally refreshing beer style, very minerally and a bit numbing; sweetish (but not too exagerrated) banana ester mingles with impressions of raw unripe pineapple, green apple peel and gooseberry, more sourish than sweetish in all, but well balanced. A basic, soapy wheat sourishness continues this play of sourish and lightly sweetish fruitiness and blends in with a pleasantly bready barley malt flavor in the middle; a sharper grainy edge, paired with a soft, slightly creamy mouthfeel reminds of the fact that oats have also been applied, but the creaminess suffers a bit from the overcarbonation. Soapy coriander shows up in the end but not obnoxiously so - the soapiness of the whole, one factor that sometimes puts me off witbier a bit, therefore remains luckily limited, although it does necessarily linger a bit. Some vague zest-like ’old citrus peel’ flavors appear in the end as well, along with clove-like phenols, a deep, soft, earthy hop bitter touch, lingering minerals and breadiness from both barley and yeast. A faint but refreshing lemony sourish touch lurks in the tail after swallowing. The classic witbier spicing, though still obvious, has been kept relatively limited here compared with the old Hoegaarden standard and the oats and above average ABV (’tarwedubbel’ as 6-7% witbiers are sometimes called) lend this a bit more body as well. Not bad, actually, but I do hope these guys will come up with something at least a little bit more innovative than these very stereotypical Belgian cliché styles...