West Coast style IPA by Ghent's newest craft brewery, hopped with Chinook, Columbus, Mandarina Bavaria and Citra; can at Steen. Egg-white, thick and foamy, moussy head on a lightly hazed, warm and pure golden blonde beer. Aroma of grapefruit zest, dried wormwood leaf, toasted onion, dried orange peel, bread crust, cheese rind, touch of armpit sweat. Dryish fruity onset, dried apricot and some green pear, softish carbonation, smooth and slick body; cereally-sweetish and bread-crusty maltiness slowly but decidedly bittered by grapefruit pith-like and peppery hoppiness with slight oniony and piney accents, long and dry finish. Streamlined, sleek IPA, very decent but accessible as well; for me it could do with a more outspoken citrusy and piney hop aroma as well as, perhaps, a bit more biscuity maltiness, but it works well the way it is and is flawlessly executed. Still, in terms of approaching the old school West Coast IPA style, I think Tourette does a better job with their Belgian Westkust as far as Ghent's craft brewing scene is concerned.

Huge, cream head, stable over clear copper beer, still. Caramel, passion fruit and fresh green herbs; slightly oxydated hops, biscuit. Quite bitter flavour even a tad metallic - the last especially in the finish. Caramel underneath, sweet peach. Root herbs, hint of horseradish. Medium bodied, hopoilslick, on the verge of undercarbonation. West Coast? Don't think so. Not enough citrus - or my can is past its best. No way to verify, lacking BBd and/or canning date. And I've never been a big fan of beers where nose and taste are seriously different.

New APA (or, as the brewery puts it, 'Transatlantic Pale Ale') by an inspiring new microbrewing project in the ‘Heirnis’ quarter of Ghent, can generously offered to me by Erwin P., cheers! Thick and foamy, egg-white, plaster-like lacing, irregularly edged head, clear orange-golden robe with lively sparkling, turning misty and deeper peachy-orange with sediment. Aroma of (old) dried orange peel, dry biscuit, stewed red onion, dust, bread crust, field flowers, old cotton rope, crackers, paprika powder, rose petals. Dryishly fruity onset, dried apricot and a dash of dried apple peel, fizzy carbonation with slender but sufficiently full mouthfeel; dry bread-crusty and old-cracker-like malts quickly superseded by a firm, citrus pith- and wormwood leaf-like hop bitterness with a grapefruity aroma; ends dry, bitter and a bit ‘dusty’ and powdery, weirdly so for a young pale ale. Decent enough, basically a hop-forward Belgian blonde (and more or less intended as such) in a clean, ‘Americanized’ way, but a bit more New World hop aroma would have made it more enduring.

Pours a clear, amber-blonde. Medium sized, fairly stable white head. Scent is rather mild. i get some piny features, but not as expressed as I had hoped. still, more in style than expected, which is a good start ! Taste is quite full, with a respectable amount of bitterness. Feels a bit 'hollow' and thin though, a tad more maltyness for support could really amp up this beer. Medium carbonation. Not as expressive on the aroma as I had hoped to find in a West Coast. Also the bitterness may be (doesn't have to be) higher - just to make this beer stand out more. In it's current state, it's a respectable attempt ( even a succeeded one) at a WC IPA, which I already love for them to have done. On the actual game of WC IPA's though, it doesn't stand out at all.

On tap at the 14th Brugs Bier Festival, Brugge, Belgium. A hazy golden/orange coloured pour with a medium white head on top. Hoppy, citrus, tropical fruit taste/aroma. Refreshing IPA.

Golden colour with thin head. Pale malts and rounded hop bitterness. Light citrus. Some off notes, perhaps a touch diacetyl too.

Can from Hopduvel. Clear dark orange-red, thin, off-white head. Aroma of raspberry, cranberry, redcurrant, berry peels, wheat, vague hay, vague iron. Taste has sweet-sour raspberry & redcurrant, earthy cranberry and even some rhubarb; slightly bitter, minerally, in a wheaty malt body. Tart, red-fruity finish, lingering tannic berry peels. Medium body, slick texture, average carbonation. Good one, just never really comes to the fore.

Clear yellow colour with thin head. Lots of citrus. Especially mandarin. Juicy sweetness and bitter, pithy finish.