6.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Bottle @ De Heeren van Liedekercke. Hazy red brown with a lasting off-white head. Aroma is sweet, malty, caramel, candy sugar and light spicy. Flavor is quite sweet and moderate bitter. Dry and moderate bitter finish. 180317

6.1

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5

Gin barrel aged ’massieve ale’ from Sint-Canarus, limited to 1000 bottles; this is number 614 (written in handwriting on the hangtag), bought at Fontana for about 12,50 €, which is less than some other ratings mention below but still too high for a 75 cl Belgian even if it is barrel aged - and I don’t even like gin, so I guess curiosity got the better of me today. Gusher, but slowly so manageable. Moussy, medium thick, irregular, lightly greyish white and rather loosely structured head, quickly reduced to a steady rim and a veil in the middle, over a hazy bronze coloured, translucent beer with coppery hue. Aroma of gin indeed, dried juniper berries, sour apples, hard butterscotch candy, caramelized brown sugar, wild cranberries, caramel sauce, pear juice, yellow raisin, fainter whiffs of banana, cough syrup, wet wood but very subtly so, tequila, brown bread, apple sauce, hazelnuts, dry earth, cooked carrot, cloves, white methylated spirit (probably just that gin again), band aid - a mixture of a classic Belgian strong brown, gin and medicinal, unpleasantly phenolic off-flavours. Sweetish onset, soft in its basic nature but quite harshly carbonated, souring a bit, with impressions of nectarine, orange, banana and blackberry, full mouthfeel coarsened a bit by the light overcarbonation but only initially - quieting down after a while. Sweetness (candi sugar) is there and accompanies the rest of the palate but more or less avoids offensive stickiness; a bready, caramelly malt sweet core shines in the middle but is quickly overpowered by the gin barrel effect, manifesting itself in an ethereal, juniper-like spiciness (the thing I hate most in not just gin, but gin-inspired beers alike), drying wood tannins but not much actual oak flavor and - unsurprisingly - a whole lot of ’white’, heating to almost burning, long-stretching, literally gin-like alcohol; bready yeast effects, an overdosis of phenols (to the point of becoming a bit medicinal) and some herbal, earthy hops linger along with this effect. Candi sugar sweetness and alcohol remain after swallowing. I will never understand this current gin craze - I repeat that I hate both gin and its Flemish / Dutch ’jenever’ counterpart - but the fact that more and more brewers try to cash in on this, is even further beyond me. The ethereal, medicinal spice effect of gin just does not fit in any beer, period. I understand why Sint-Canarus wanted to try this but it is a good thing that they kept it limited to one thousand bottles only. Not my cup of tea, but I hasten to add that this is considerably more enjoyable and much more genuine than many other gin-inspired beers I had to endure lately, some of which drew their gin factor only from heavy and completely inappropriate spicing (a - luckily still limited - range of such infernal beers has arisen from this, Hop(e)less Ginny is one, and please let no one ever remind me of that ghastly Gordon Xplosion Gin Spices again). Easily the best gin-inspired beer I had so far, all things considered, but not free of flaws.

6.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

Pours hazy dark brown with an amber hue and a lasting beige head. The aroma contains yeast, cheese, caramel, (over)ripe dark fruits and bread. It tastes medium sweet, light bitter and light sour. Creamy texture and decent carbonation. Unlike a typical brown beer because of its yeasty and character.

4.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 3 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4

330 ml. bottle sampled. GUSHER. Dark ruby amber, tanned line only on the side for a head. Nose is rotting fruit, glue, off thick malts, spoiled honey, egh. Fizzy bodied. Taste is unpleasant rotting fruit, rotting, off, plastic, honey varnish, thick malts, spoiled raisins, candy. Thin fizzy bodied. This just tastes spoiled, infected, off,... Scores are good here this bottle wasn’t. Pretty rubbish. Shame. Dumped it.

7

Imported from untappd on 02-05-2020

6.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 7

Imported from my RateBeer account as Machelen Guldebier 20 (by Huisbrouwerij Sint Canarus):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 2/5, Overall: 14/20, MyTotalScore: 3.4/5

29/IX/16 - 33cl bottle from a trade @ home - BB: V/2018 (2016-1190) Thanks to Jerre for the trade!

Clear dark blond beer, huge aery off-white head, unstable, dissipates quickly, bit adhesive. Aroma: fruity, sweet, peaches, little floral, soapy touch. MF: very lively carbon, medium body. Taste: pretty fruity start, yeast, some citrus, pretty bitter, spices, coriander. Aftertaste: sweet, malts, nice bitterness, fruity, little metallic, some banana. Decent but not very original.

6.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

0.33 l bottle from ’Prik & Tik Baelus’, best before July 2018 (apparently a very fresh bottle). Due to the warnings here and on the front label, I opened the cap very cautiously, and after the slightest bit of opening, the foam ran out of the bottle. Would have been a massive gusher I suppose, but I managed to pour more or less a full glass by that. Hazy, golden yellow with a massive, fluffy, almost stable, white head. Fruity-grassy, herbal-spicy aroma of lime, lychee, fresh grass, some clove and Belgian yeast. Slightly sweetish, yeasty-spicy, moderately fruity and quite herbal-spicy taste of banana, Belgian candy, some butter, clove, lime, grapefruit and fresh grass, followed by a medium long, moderately bitter, quite dry-grassy and yeasty-spicy finish. Medium body, quite effervescent mouthfeel, lively carbonation. The hop flavours are really nice, but the strong yeast aroma lets it appear a bit immature. - I think it’s really questionable to produce these kind of gushers almost on purpose, probably not too many people check ratings on ratebeer before opening a bottle (or pay too much attention to the label). I wonder if the brewery has ever been sued for damages?!

7.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

25/08/2016 @home - 33cl bottle from a trade with jerre. Dark golden with a big white head. Nose is fruity, malts. Taste is fruity, malty, some sweetness, some bitterness. Refreshing

7.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

24/08/2016 @home - 33 cl bottle from a gift. Hazy light yellow with huge head. Small gusher because of the hopflower jumping out. Nose bitter hops, fruity, sweet malts. Taste is fresh hoos, sweet malts fruitiness, citrus, long soft bitter aftertaste.