75CL bottle at home, yelloworange beer with a medium head, aroma is hoppy, taste is hoppy, bitter, dry. Ok beer.

Another one in the "special yeast" collection for Delhaize, again in a limited edition of only 8000 bottles of 75 cl. Off-white, firm, quickly thinning head, pure golden blond colour with light haze. Aroma very fruity, orange, apricot, banana, pineapple, grapefruit, bread, honey, white pepper; taste fresh sweetish fruity in onset, orange peel, peach, rather strong carbonation, minerally, smooth with honeyish and caramelly maltiness, finish yeasty, a bit alcoholic and above all very hoppy, long and bitter, like the other ones in this series. Intended to allow the consumer to discover the impact of different yeasts on beer (they did the same thing with hops and wooden barrels) so, although very enjoyable as such, best compared with its three congeners.

One of the four ’yeast beers’, again a series of "Limited Beer Collection" for Delhaize, 8000 bottles of 75 cl each. This one is refermented with Brettanomyces and could be regarded as a forerunner to the Brett series they had made this year. Stable, off-white, sticky head, pure golden blond colour with equal haze. Pretty complex nose of banana, vanilla, leather, sherry, field flowers, hay, limoncello, musterd seed, sour cream, dried mushrooms. Dry fruity taste, some apple and apricot, minerally, cookie- and toast-like, a tad honeyish, touches of leather and hay because of the Brett but in a (too) subtle way, finish assertively hop bitter, long and grapefruity, along with some warm but not disturbing alcohol. I had expected something more out of the ordinary I suppose, but still enjoyed it.

One out of the three Single Hops made for Delhaize in 2012 in limited quantities of 4000 bottles each; IBU of 30. Thick, sticky, stable, snow white head, misty orange blond colour. Aroma has grassy and leafy hops, orange peel, bread, ginger, caramel; rounded, refreshing palate, citrus frehsness, some peach, lightly oily mouthfeel, yeasty touch, caramelly and bready malts, spicy and lightly peppery, English hop bitterness in the finish, medium long. I liked the Cascade version somewhat better but still enjoyed this.

One of the three beers in this Delhaize series, made in limited quantities of 4000 bottles each in 2012. IBU is shown as 23. Snow white, sticky, stable head, warm orange blond colour, hazy. Strong flowery hoppy nose, grapefruit, ginger, bitter honey, mint, orange peel; smooth and refreshing palate, citrus touch, soft malt sweetness with below average body, long and oily, spicy, resinous and floral hop bitterness in the finish, with a lightly sweetish accent which is apparently typical for Cascade. Interesting.

sample courtesy of a friend. Thin creamy white head. Cloudy blond pour. It’s not as good as the German versions. Still fairly good but it misses something.

The third of this series, this time matured on Hungarian barrels. Looks pretty much the same as the American Oak version, so just a little bit lighter and more ’yellow’ than the French Oak version. The aroma is comparable more to the French Oak version than to the American Oak version, but seems to show more grassy hoppiness and less tannins as well as some more ’horseblanket’ funkiness and less exotic fruits; vanilla, as in the American Oak version, is equally subdued as in the French Oak. Taste is closest to the French Oak, but a tad more sourish with more (very subtle) ’saltiness’; in my experience, this is the driest of the three, with the most explicit Brett effect, less fruity and less sweet than its two brethren. Finish is also more dryish than in the two others, with a bit more acidity. I can’t quite figure out why the different barrels have a slightly different effect on the same beer, but in any case: these are not really ’wild’ beers, more a kind of compromise between a ’simple’ Belgian strong and a real wild beer. I would like to quote Orval as the example again - but Delhaize will have to make a much bigger effort to top Orval. This series, however, has been very interesting to taste comparatively; after all, Delhaize has to do something to counter their declining sales in times of economical crisis. As for me: the American Oak version has won the battle, the differences between the three are clear enough to express a preference. I liked all three of them but the sweet, exotic vanilla touch in the American Oak version does it for me.

The French Oak version in this series, with the same basic recipe as the American Oak version with which I am comparing it. It has the same look, but the colour is darker, more full orange. Aroma comparable to the American Oak, inviting and pleasant with exotic fruitiness and woodiness, but strikingly, this one is a lot less sweet in the nose, with a lot less of the vanilla impressions the American Oak version has. Same story in the mouth: though basically the same beer, it shows considerably less vanilla, less sweetness and a bit more acidity, but in the same subtle and elegant way. Finishes almost the same. Dryer, less vanilla-like, less sweet and actually very close to Orval (except for the woodiness), if this is to be taken as a reference. And why not take Orval as a reference to an amber coloured, Brett-fermented Belgian ale of 7% ABV...