Thin beige head left a spotty cover on a dark brown body. Malt & cream aroma. Medium bodied, soft on the tongue with a light clean back. Malt, sugar & quite a prominent oyster/shellfish taste. This is tasty.

Cool pull top! Rocky tan head left a cover on a jet black still body. Malt & roasted aroma. Medium bodied, nicely carbonated with a clean back. Roasted, nutty, berries, tobacco & malt tastes with a bitter tangy finish. Nice!

'Imperial' stout at only 6.5% ABV, you don't see that very often these days... Bottle from Geers. Mousy, thick, regularly shaped, membrane-lacing, mocha-beige head on a pitch black beer with less of a millimetre of burgundy visible around the edges. Aroma of coffee cream, 'Haagse hopjes', cold cappuccino, melting toffee, pecan nut purée, black peppercorns, 'blood', hints of burnt raisins, toast, marmite, mocha ice cream, nutmeg, bitter chocolate. Sweetish onset but very cleanly so, slight sourish touch and very faint gravy-like umami, hints of dried blueberries, apple peel and fig, fizzily carbonated but not too harsh in that respect, smooth oily body. Toffeeish, walnutty and caramelly malt body with 'blood'-like metallic touch, more coffeeish and roasty in the end but remaining smooth, with a creamy, mildly spicy, bittersweet finish; the coffee-like bitter roastedness does linger about in the end, laced with a dash of peppery hops, but a sweeter chocolatey and caramelly aspect remains equally strong. I would not call this an 'imperial' stout, rather a creamy 'double' stout if it must have a style designation, with a 'noble' European hop profile and a pleasant creaminess to it. More than anything, though, this is very much Porterhouse, solid and rounded, with a high degree of drinkability. A bit of a special one, but very accessible at the same time. Lovely.

Bottle. Cloudy orange with a large head. Aroma of crushed orange. Flavour of crushed orange, sweet juice, soft hop finish.

American style IPA (which is about as vague as it gets) by this leading microbrewery in Dublin, Ireland. Bottle from Geers, with the familiar pull-off bottle cap quite uniquely used by this brewery. Thick and frothy, eggshell-white, large-bubbled but stable, irregularly lacing head, remaining closed for a long time; lightly hazy 'metallic' orange blonde robe with 'old gold' hue and a suspension of minute, translucent yeast dots throughout. Aroma of wet paprika powder, dried apricot, old bread crust, light green melon, persimmon, lychee even but subtly so, dried pine needles, 'herbes de Provençe', orange zest, cashew nuts, olive oil. Sweetish but clean onset, restrained fruitiness of unripe apricot and green banana, crisply and minerally carbonated; lean, oily body. Smooth peanutty, bread-crusty malts with a light sweetish biscuity accent as well as a refined bitterish toastiness; long bittering hoppiness, citrus pith- and dried bitter herb-like but nowhere harsh or resinous, while some of that subtle biscuity malt sweetness peeps through in the end. Retronasally, a melon-like fruitiness from the hops joins the dried citrus peel dominance. Old school West Coast idiom 'updated' to the present time, so an internationally oriented 'compromise IPA' in a sense, which I am completely at ease with. Elegant, highly drinkable, quenching ale, works fine for me.

Wat floral en earthy, meer een english style IPA, ondanks de modern world hoppen. Ook wel weer redelijk bitter, maar ook wat thee. Toch niet onaardig in dit haze craze tijdperk

30/IV/20 - 33cl bottle from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: n/a (???) (2020-386)

Clear orange blond beer, big creamy white irregular head, very stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: pretty malty, caramel, somewhat floral, soapy, fruity, orange peel. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very bitter start, bit resinous, malty, oxidized, some orange peel. Aftertaste: passion fruit, little sour, bit sugary, some tropical fruits, bitter, some citrus, dry and bitter finish.

Kostte geen klap volgens mij, dus in dat opzicht prima.

0.33 l bottle as 'Porterhouse Red Irish Ale' from 'Craft Bier Bude', best before January 2021. Clear, ruby with a medium large, frothy, almost stable, beige head. Sweetish-malty, gently fruity-resiny aroma of caramel, raisins, marmelade, some pine and a touch of tea leaves. Gently sweet, malty, moderately bitter, rather fruity-resiny taste of caramel, raisins, tea leaves and some marmelade, followed by a short, gently bitter, quite herbal-resiny and a little grassy finish. Medium body, smooth and gently effervescent mouthfeel, soft to average carbonation. Nice Ale, not really classic a Irish Red but somewhere between English and American taste-wise.