11/08/2018 - 33cl bottle shared by tderoeck and his wife @ their place. clear blonde, small white head. Nose is malts, bit spices, fresh hops. Taste is malts, bit sweetness, bit spices, nice hops ending, dry. Not an IPA but a nice hoppy blonde however. --- Beer merged from original tick of Meester Blond IPA on 07 Feb 2022 at 10:49 - Score: 6.5

Imported from my RateBeer account as De Meester Blond IPA (by De Meester):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 13/20, MyTotalScore: 3.5/5

11/VIII/18 - 33cl bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck (Vichte), shared with the famous Bierridder @ home - BB: 29/I/20 (2018-971)

Clear deep blond beer, big creamy off-white head, pretty stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: sweet, malty, oxidized, some ripe fruits, pretty soapy. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: sweetish start, very malty, very soapy, bitter, fruity notes, bit sugary. Aftertaste: pretty bitter, hoppy, grassy, fruity, ripe banana, coriander, yeasty. Ok beer, but by no means is this an IPA.

The “twelve” (no doubt a subtle reference to Westvleteren’s legendary 12), a quadrupel by De Meester, bottle from Bierhalle Deconinck. Irregularly moussy, medium thick, pale yellowish beige head, slowly opening and breaking down into small islands over an initially lightly hazy, deep copper-hued ruddy bronze beer, more cloudy with sediment. Aroma of old soggy raisins, gingerbread, dried banana, treacle, brown candi sugar, coriander seed, fig compote, plum wine, caramel candy, dust, wet straw, cloves, damp earth, some vague rusty iron. Very sweet onset, candied dates and yellow raisins, with a light, vaguely wine-like tartness underneath but mostly dominated by candi sugar sweetness; medium carbonation, caramelly malt sweet body with a light toasty bitterish touch underneath the expected coriander and phenolic spiciness and rounded off by an earthy hop bitterish note, heated by a glow of rum-like alcohol. Very decent quad, better than expected, but a bit too alcoholically wry in the end and a tad too sweet perhaps.

Bottle, slow gusher. Cloudy golden, small white head. Aroma has yeast, a little pepper, floral hops. Yeasty, spicy flavour. Some citrus. Quite rough yeastyness and some paint thinner in the finish.

33cl bottle: BB 10th July 19. Poured into an old Hoegaarden Grand Cru stemmed tulip glass at home on 6th July 18, just after Belgium beat Brazil in the World Cup quarter finals. Black body, tanned crown, sadly soon a wisp and collar. Coffee esters rule the nose, coffee flavours rule the taste. Boozy brew with some liquorice notes in the coffee centric brew. Nice nightcap. Another cracking beer from Rudy in De Bierboom, Brugge.

Black with beige airy froth. Aroma has caramel, roast, light licorice notes. Sweet flavour, caramely, sugary, syrupy, light yeasty notes. Some dried fruit. More like a bsa than a stout.

The tripel in this series of classic but still young Belgian ales, bottle from Stadsbrouwerij Koelschip in Ostend. Egg-white, cobweb-lacing, thick and frothy yet large-bubbled head on a hazy pale orange blonde, peachy beer with lively sparkling. Aroma of apricot, spoiled leek, soggy white bread, cold green vegetable soup, candy apple, honey, rose petals, coriander seed, sweet honey, onion jam, straw, yellow plum and something iron-like. Estery onset, a tad ‘messy’ in that respect with notes of peach, banana, apple peel and pineapple with even a touch of strawberry sweetness, which continues as a layer of residual sugary sweetness on top of a sweetbread-like and lightly caramelly malt body, softly carbonated; meanwhile a notable sourish undercurrent stretches through the whole, possibly a first sign of infection, which would also explain the somewhat ‘dirty’ aspect of this beer. Ends with this sweetness piercing through a soft, floral hop bitterness which gives an impression of old, bit ‘dank’ hops, with an ‘old onion’- and withered lettuce-like aspect retronasally; something vaguely metallic lingers in the end. Bit too sweet and rather messy, gives a somewhat amateurish impression. Not at the same quality level as their quadrupel, though I only had that one once and I am uncertain it has maintained its quality up till now.

F: big, white, good retention. C: gold, hazy. A: malty, bit spicy, honey, yeasty, bit candy sugar. T: malty, spicy, orange peels, bit yeasty, nice harmonic bitterness, bit fruity, bit candy sugar but nice dry on the palate, not bad beer, good balanced, for me more hoppy tripel than IPA actually yet enjoyed, medium to full body, medium carbonation, 0,33l bottle from Spar supermarket in Oostende.

Bottle picked up at Bierhalle Deconinck, Vichte, West Flanders, Belgium, consumed at Fire in the Mountain Festival, nr Aberystwyth, Wales, 31st May 2018. Difficult to be exacting on colour owing to green plastic glass that is festooned with a Northern Rock Patrons Project label, however I am guessing it is murky brown with an off white head. A little bit lively on the pour. A touch of Coca Cola, but it's nothing special, soft in the mouth, a bit of sasprilla. Ok but rarely excites. A7 A4 T6 P3 Ov13 3.3

Bottle picked up from Dranken Vande Woude, Pervijde Diksmuide, West Flanders, Belgium, consumed at home Sunday 27th May 2018 sat by the pond. Pours amber with an off white head. Lots of caramel but there is a tangy fruity edge, the alcohol is surprisingly well hidden. Soft in the mouth, it finishes a little bit dry. A7 A4 T6 P3 Ov13 3.3