Low alcohol fruited Berliner Weisse by Stroom, the local microbrewer in the Heirnis quarter of Ghent and one I have been following since its beginnings. Can from the Delhaize supermarket at the Sterre in Ghent. Audibly crackling, pale off-pinkish, moussey, small-bubbled, quite dense and creamy, very slowly breaking and eventually dissolving head over a hazy tangerine-amber robe with rosy tinge. Aroma of a ton of fresh red raspberries, raspberry juice but homemade from actual raspberries, red apple, kefir, homemade fruit yoghurt, a very vague background touch of Camembert past its prime, rosehip, raw cucumber, pitaya, roses in spring, hint of raw oysters faraway at the back. Crisp, fruity onset filled to the brim with red raspberries in a most 'fresh' and natural way even for a brewery I expected this from - in this case even lacking that tangy tomato-like flavour I usually get in any beer made with real raspberries; prickly carb running through a rounded body, feeling more 'full' than what one tends to expect of a beer at this ABV. Nevertheless very thin cereally 'ground' under sweetish-tart, fresh raspberry juice effects backed by a lactic, yoghurty effect of lactic acid, which remains altogether very soft and mellow, only accentuating the natural tartness of the fruit without overly sharpening it as is so often the case. Ends with both tartness and sweetness of the raspberries in perfect balance, light-footed with a mild chalky note, even something lightly salty and raw seafood-like. The inspiration was clearly drawn from the 'Himbeere Berliner Weisse mit Schuss', a tradition in Berlin, but the end result is very different, offering real raspberries in a soft yet entertaining, tasteful way. Not my personal cup of tea - I do not even like 'full' Berliner Weisses or Goses with fruit all that much - but in its intended genre, no one can deny that this is very well done.

Stroom's contribution to the new league of non- (or low-) alcoholic IPAs, making use of the undermodified 'chit' malt and hopped with Belgian grown Cascade and Idaho 7. Like many up-market NABLABs these days, it was fermented with a yeast strain (branded "Lona" by its creators) that produces only a very limited amount of alcohol in the process. Thematically, this Soigneur honours the caretakers working in cycle racing, a very popular sport in Belgium; in one go, it also honours comic book author Marc Sleen, whose "Nero" adventures I basically grew up with - and in reading the accompanying text, I think they quite nailed Sleen's importance in that field, even though I never looked at his work that way because it was too close and familiar for me, if you get my drift. Anyway, I digress: on to the beer. Snow white, medium thick, tiny-bubbled head lacing in 'rings' over a near clear, pale yellow-straw blonde robe with visible sparkling. Aroma of green banana, children's medicine or generic soluble tablets, industrial lemon juice from a plastic bottle, fresh chervil, white hand soap, young grass in spring, green plum peel, industrial and pre-cut white bread slices, wet bird seed. Sweetish onset with vague sourish accent, low in esteriness and quite (pale) lager-like in that respect, touch of green banana perhaps but nothing more; lively carb, minerally, through a rounded mouthfeel, admittedly feeling 'thicker' than one would expect at this ABV. Smooth but also somewhat annoyingly glueish grainy core, sweetish like the sweetishness of an Asian style macro lager probably due to that 'chit', increasingly yet softly hopped by the Cascade more than the Idaho 7. A certain bittering 'grapefruitiness' is established in the ending phase, making for a dry, zesty ending, but there are also these soapy and chalky flavours at the back - overshadowed by the bitter aspect of the hops, perhaps, but still persisting way after that. This is the one thing that has bothered me in so many NABLABs and it also bothers me here. We are far removed from that 'perfect imposter', VandeStreek's Playground IPA, and it should be noted that Belgium is now teeming with NABLABs outcompeting each other in trying to imitate 'real' beer as closely as possible, so competition is stiff to say the least. In its defense, though, this is certainly not the worst example of a nearly non-alcoholic IPA - it still has a certain 'real' IPA feel to it, even more so than some alcoholic Belgian attempts at postmodern IPA in general. Have a point for that.

33cl can, merci Tim, no BB.
Léger doré, col blanc crémeux.
Arôme est frais assez flroal, malt pâle - grains, effet sur les esters belges - petite touche épicée - étole anisée, badian tout en gardant un léger houblonné noble floral en retrait.
Palais sur une fine douceur ester tirant ver sun style belge - pointe de banane - badian, qcq notes épicées en support.

18/I/26 - 33cl can from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: 3/XII/26 (2026-53)

Clear gold blond beer, small creamy white head, unstable, falls down quickly, non adhesive. Aroma: very malty, lots of CO2, toast, caramel malts, biscuit malts, a little fruity. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: malty, slightly sweet, some caramel, biscotti, toast, gentle bitterness, a little grassy. Aftertaste: slightly metallic, nice clean malt profile, slightly sweet, caramel, gentle bitterness, dry finish, decent one!

Oranjegeel bier met schuim. Smaak is kruidig zoet met iets van vanille, honing, wat bubble gum, banaan en een klein beetje gras en hooi. Heel aperte maar best goede tripel.

Solid offering overall. Not particularly ‘west coast’ but it’s a nice and dry IPA. Some pine needles, dried citrus peel, lean pale malts. Good balance, quite clean and drinkable.