The third in this series of food-pairing beers, 75 cl bottle with crown cap, from the Delhaize supermarket at Watersportbaan in Ghent. After red meat and fish, Delhaize now suggest this hoppy beer as an accompaniment to white meat and fowl. I’m having it on its own. Egg-white, thick and foamy, cobweb-lacing, frothy head over a misty straw blonde beer with warmer golden tinge. Aroma of white bread slices, soap, straw, white pepper, fried potatoes, green banana, hard pear, camomile tea, crackers, fresh wormwood leaf accent. Restrainedly fruity onset, banana peel, unripe pear and apple peel, medium carb, soapy mouthfeel (a tad glueish even); grainy-cereally body with softer bready edges, dryish in general, with a relatively long and outspoken, floral an grassy, bit spicy and eventually even wormwoody hop bitterness mingling with mild phenolic-spicy accents and the bready effect of the malts. Simple, bit too grainy Belgian style blonde, but I can appreciate its relatively confident hop bitterness – given that this is aimed at a large audience. I can even imagine this hoppiness working well with spiced chicken, though even then, a modern IPA is probably a better option…

We are in the midst of a non- and low-alcohol beer hype in Belgium right now, a hype I largely fail to appreciate so far because most of it is produced by the established family and industrial breweries, but admittedly it is interesting to see how new alternatives to the old non-alcoholic pale lagers are being created today – and Delhaize, the supermarket chain that commissions these Perfect Match beers from the ‘Proef’brouwerij, has now come up with an alcohol-free version of the regular Perfect Match beer intended to accompany ‘white meat’ and fowl. This (close to) non-alcoholic version is bottled in small bottles, whereas the regular comes from 75 cl bottles. The sample upon which this rating is based, comes from the renewed Delhaize plant in Lokeren. Thick and very frothy, cobweb-lacing, snow white, large-bubbled yet stable head over a misty pale straw blonde beer with greenish tinge and very lively sparkling sustaining the head. Rather weird aroma – as usual with non-alcoholic beers – of raw leek, baking powder, soap, pumice, old and disintegrating polyester cloth especially in the end, green apple, minerals, bath foam, dried out white bread, salted lemon flesh. Neutral onset, a tad sourish due to very lively, very minerally carbonation, almost like soda; early on, a dull graininess develops, becoming a tad more rounded in the middle, with a light white bread-ish side but in all remaining very grainy. From the middle onwards, a firm and robust hop bitterness is added, ‘wormwoody’ and tonic water-like with light floral-grassy notes, lingering in a spicy, resiny way over the root of the tongue for quite a long time. Kind of like a Belgian ‘bitter blond’ in low alcohol form, but frankly the thin grainy body lacks the strength to support such a robust hop bitterness, so that the whole becomes a bit harsh in the end. Perhaps more aromatic New World hoppiness would have been a better choice, but then the Belgian consumer / Delhaize customer in the broader sense of the word may still not be sufficiently accustomed to that… Still, compared with what you traditionally find among non-alcoholic or nearly non-alcoholic beers, this is at least original and less unpleasant than I was fearing. Needless to say, I’d prefer the regular one if I must accompany my chicken or turkey dish with these customized Delhaize beers, though – and I won’t go into the food-pairing discussion of which other beers can probably make that match better than either of these two.

Thick, dense light yellowish head, leaving shards of lace over hazy pale yellow-golden beer, mossy sheen. Dry-spicy nose, coriander. Bit gassy nose too. Dry, again quite spicy flavour, with malt sweetness arriving behind. Palate has some metallic tang, but gives a pretty rounded impression. Gristslick, good carbonation. Not bad.

Süßlicher, hefig bananiger Beginn. Geringe Herbe, hohe Süffigkeit, steigende Süße. Etwas Alkohol, weich getreidig zum Ende. Gut trinkbar! 9/7/8/8/7/8

F: huge, snow-white, long lasting. C: straw, bit hazy. A: malty, bit citrus, spicy, floral, lemon, hint of tropical fruits, yeasty. T: malty, floral, bit citrus, hint of yeasty, dry on the palate, decent bitterness, grassy, light body and medium carbonation, not bad actually, 33cl bottle from Delhaize Chazal @ Schaerbeek in Brussels.

F: big, snow-white, long lasting. C: blonde, hazy. A: malty, spicy, floral, grassy, fruity, orange peels, yeasty, bit basements. T: malty, spicy, floral, bit bready, fruity, caramel, bit grassy, hint of earthy, nice harmonic bitterness, toast, medium body and carbonation, this is more like saison and not tripel for me, nice balanced and bit unusual yet I can imagine this with white meat, 75cl bottle from Delhaize Chazal @ Schaerbeek in Brussels.

Quand une chaine de supermarché "haut de gamme" rencontre un "sommelier de la bière" belge renommé cela donne une bière...moyenne...Bref, nous sommes clairement sur du marketing. Vous me direz, de grands chefs français mettent bien leur nom sur des plats cuisinés très loin de la grande cuisine. Je ne suis pas certain que ces personnalités en sortent grandies. J'aurais mal vu un Michael Jackson prêter son nom pour une telle bière (j'aime à le penser tout au moins). Elle est loin d'être dramatique tout de même, mais elle est quelque peu banale et avec un manque de complexité réel. En verre, nous sommes sur une blond orangé trouble surmonté d'une mousse blanc cassé de 3 mm. Le nez est classique sur la pomme, la poire, la banane, les agrumes et la coriandre. A la dégustation, nous sommes sur une base maltée relativement douce. L'attaque est fruitée avec pomme, poire, pêche et très légèrement épicée. La deuxième bouche présente simplement des épices plus développées et légèrement piquantes. Sur l'arrière bouche, l'alcool ressort légèrement sur des arômes où les agrumes s'expriment davantage. L'amertume reste limitée pour sa part. Sur le final, qui est d'une bonne longueur c'est l'alcool qui ressort, pas complètement bien intégrée mais qui donne une certaine chaleur sur des airs de gin, allié à de l'orange et des épices. Que Ben Vinken reste sur ce qu’il sait faire….

A new one in this series of Delhaize beers intended to be paired with food, fish in this case; 75 cl bottle with crown cap from Delhaize Watersportbaan in Ghent, big thanks to my girlfriend Goedele for the bottle! Thick, cobweb-lacing, creamy, snow white, rocky head over a misty yellow-straw blonde beer with vague greenish tinge and lively sparkling throughout. Unexpected aroma of lemon rind, lemongrass even, sourdough, dust, raw sorrel leaves, green apple, soap, grass, potato starch. Crisp onset, refreshing with a clear, almost candied lemon peel-like sourish note, almost Berliner Weisse-like at first - but later on, revealing its thoroughly Belgian nature very clearly; green apple and unripe pear notes, some banana peel, medium carb, soapy cereally and softly wheaty malt core. Late and relatively subtle but well-placed hop bitter touch from the Tettnang, while that edgy sourish note, lime- and lemongrass-like, persists. Soapy and grassy aspects further fill an otherwise straightforward finish. More original and edgy in flavour than the previous (meat-customized) version I had last winter, strangely softly sour and lemony, I guess from some or other added lemon-like ingredient - but it went well with the mussels Goedele prepared so I guess it serves its purpose. Better than expected, I must admit.