28 October 2021. At Brouwbar. Cheers to Anke, Ama & Johan!

Clear golden, small, foamy, white head. Aroma of sorrel, cabbage, wet barley, wort, yeast, Brussels sprouts. Taste has sourish apple, cabbage, wet wheat, quite wort-like with apparent pure (crude) barley. Grassy hops in the finish, some yeast & wheat. Medium body, slick texture, average carbonation. Feels unfinished but it's uninviting overall too.

28/XI/21 - 33cl can from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: XI/2022 (2021-1520)

Clear gold blond beer, big creamy bit irregular off-white head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: malty, grains, hay, bit yeasty, some banana, spicy touch. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bit sour start, pretty bitter, some banana, fruity, yeasty, some orange peel. Aftertaste: very bitter, orange peel, yeasty, bit spicy, sourish touch, malty finish.

28/XI/21 - 33cl can from Geers (Oostakker), shared @ home, BB: XI/2022 (2021-1519)

Clear blond beer, huge creamy bit irregular yellowish head, stable, adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: lots of ripe banana, yeasty, malty, grains, fruity touch. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: sourish start, very yeasty, pretty bitter, bit grassy, some citrus notes, orange peel, bit peppery. Aftertaste: very yeasty, bitter, banana, bit malty, more sourish notes, some lemon peel, spicy finish. Not bad, but not my taste.

21 August 2021. At Gents Bierfestival. Cheers to the Ghent beer crew! The official version of the Demo #7, presumably. Hazy orange, small, frothy, off-white head. Aroma of banana peel, pear, apple, orange juice, pepper, clove, juniper, eucalyptus. Taste has sweet apple, orange & peach, sourish juniper note, bitter spicy & herbal middle over a honey-malty base. Peppery hoppy finish, lingering clove, ripe yellow fruits, distinctly herbal & perfumey. Medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation. Not entirely my style but at least it's a promising, original start.

A surprising newcomer on the Ghent brewing scene, the Stroom project in the ‘Heirnis’ quarter in the eastern part of the city, was set up by a local and an American, the latter having already brewed with Humboldt & Gauss (another Ghent brewing initiative, sadly discontinued now), and seems intent on delivering only modern, U.S. or ‘international’ style craft beers – definitely one I will follow with great interest. This Yak is a saison spiced with Szechuan pepper, an East-Asian spice I encountered several times before in beer – sometimes with bizarre results. Small-bubbled, medium thick, moussy, snow white head, hazy peach blonde robe with amberish and beige-ish shades. Very herbal and indeed ‘Far East’ coloured aroma, basil or even peppermint leaf, Asian chicken soup with a lot of cilantro (or even ‘carbonades à la Flamande’ with a lot of bayleaf in it, according to another taster), eucalyptus leaf somewhere, yarrow, herb tea, rusk, black pepper. Sweetish, fruity onset, bit estery (kveik!), peach and stewed fig notes, softish carb, smooth body; bread-crusty and soggy rusk-like malts, touch of old peanuts, slight sourish edge, with this very pronounced herbal effect from the Szechuan pepper returning, bringing back all that chicken broth, cilantro, flowery yarrow, basil and mint leaf – a combination of flavours all attributable to that one ingredient, achieving total dominance, with only a streak of floral hop bitterness and a bready malt effect remaining noticeable. Extremely herbal – as in some other Szechuan-spiced beers I had, so I should not be too surprised. Unusual choice with unusual result, took a while to get used to, but at least it is another kind of start than the umpteenth generic APA or IPA… Not entirely sure what to think of this one, but one thing is for sure: this new Ghent brewery can expect a visit from me in the near future, because this beer sure made me curious.

Can sample during Gents Bierfestival '21 - shared with Tderoeck and Nathan. BB 08/2022.
Dorée oscillant sur orange, col fin crémeux blanc.
Arôme au bouquet frais rendant de suite un côté houblonné noble anglais - pointe terreuse avec un léger fruité agrumes - l'ajout de poivre de Sichuan rend de belles effluves poivrées mais avec une fraicheur plaisante en retrait sans trop du résidu épicé.
Palais est léger, finement malté, ajout neutre de cette base de levure kveik qui permet de bien ressentir les notes houblonnées - dont un léger côté agrumes et un caractère aromatique subtile du Sichuan.

Belle surprise de cette nouvelle micro-brasserie gantoise.

Average of two ratings, one from can, one from tap.

13/IX/21 - sample on tap @ brewery visit Stroom Brouwers (Gent), BB: n/a (2021-xxx)
Ap: 6, Ar: 7, Fl: 7, Txt: 6, O: 7.5, Total: 8.5

Clear orange beer, small creamy off-white head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: bit malty, grains, cow fodder, spicy, bit peppery, little soapy. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: malty start, some caramel, soft bitterness, bit yeasty, more bitter hops. Aftertaste: some citrus notes, malty, grains, spicy touch, gentle bitterness, bit sourish. Not getting much szechuan pepper here…

21/VIII/21 - 33cl can @ Gents Bierfestival (Gent), BB: VIII/2022 (2021-909)
Ap: 8, Ar: 8, Fl: 6, Txt: 6, O: 5.5, Total: 6.6

Clear orange beer, creamy beige head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: a little spicy, yeasty character, some banana, lemony touch, citrus notes, some grapefruit. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very yeasty, banana, spicy touch, herbal, soft bitterness, ok. Aftertaste: dry finish, little fruity, spicy, bit herbal, banana, yeast, a little sweet, ok beer, not great. Was hoping to taste that szechuan better…

4 July 2021. At Dok Brewing Festival. Shared with the lovely Anke! Hazy orange, small, frothy, off-white head. Aroma of clove, rosemary, perfume, bath soap, eucalyptus somewhat, white pepper. Taste has sweet orange, mango & vague lychee, adding to a perfumey effect; bitter spices & herbs in the middle with soapy edges. Floral & herbal hoppy finish, retronasal bread, yellow fruit & spices. Medium body, oily texture, average carbonation. Nice experiment, the perfume does soften the spiciness a bit.

4 July 2021. At Dok Brewing Festival. Shared with the lovely Anke! Hazy orange, small, foamy, white head. Aroma of ripe orange, apricot, pineapple, (canned) peach, cheese, honey. Taste has sweet peach, orange & mango in a honeyish, bready malty profile, bit dank & cheesy. Bitterish, floral hoppy finish, notes of citrus peel & zest, lingering peach & mango. Medium body, oily texture, average carbonation. Not bad but it does have an 'oddness' about it that e.g. Uiltje has too lately.

4/VII/21 - sample on tap @ DOK bierfestival (Ghent), BB: n/a (2021-576) Thanks to the GBV-crew for sharing today’s beers!

Little cloudy blond yellow beer, small creamy irregular white head, pretty stable, non adhesive. Aroma: banana, yeasty, spicy touch, some eucalyptus, sweet impression. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bit malty, grains, banana peel, little spicy, bit dry, peppery touch. Aftertaste: alcohol, overripe banana, spicy, sweet touch, herbal notes, a bit too sweet and sticky for a saison, but not too bad.