330 ml can. Pours a pale gold with light head. Aromas of biscuity malts and dull citrus. Flavors follow same with some additional stale hops and grain. Comes across like a non alcoholic beer.

Can from Hopduvel. Hazy black, thin, foamy, beige head. Aroma of dried fig, date, vanilla, praliné, fondant, sweet whisky, soy sauce, liquorice, almond, wood, varnish. Taste has sweetish fig & raisin in a dark-chocolatey malt body, complemented by herbal liquorice and umami soy. Herbal hoppy finish, touch of vanilla & wood, slightly roasted too but dominated by warming sweet whisky alcohol. Full body, oily texture, soft carbonation. Tasty, with a firm BA profile.

One of Stroom's new beers, a "session pale ale" hopped with Magnum, Cascade (grown in Belgium), Citra and a dash of Simcoe and fermented with US-05 yeast, meaning that this one is intended as an American style ale rather than a Belgian style one (not surprising seen the source - and perhaps luckily so, in this case). Inches thick, beaten egg-white, membrane-lacing, regular, dense, foamy head over an initially crystal clear pale and pure golden blonde robe with disparate visible sparkling, turning misty and deeper golden further on. Aroma of grapefruit zest, orange pith, spiced dry crackers, lemon thyme, green apple skin, halfripe pear, sugared rhubarb stew, lemon orchard, jasmin blossoms, matcha, raw Kohlrabi, green algae faraway in the background. Crisp onset, lively carbonation with very stingy, minerally effects (hindering drinkability a bit initially), dryish with some vague hints at dried apple peel, green pear and unripe green plum - contrasting in its dryness with the sweet elements in the orthonasal aroma. Quite full-bodied middle in spite of its modest ABV, a straight-edged cereally and dry cracker-like pale maltiness, a bit grainy at the edges but rounder, quickly bittered by peppery, wormwoody and herbal (thyme) hops, offering a confident, leafy, somewhat tonic water-like bitterness which lasts for a long time. Retronasally, some tiny 'imperfections' appear, like in old dry potato starch disrupting the hops a bit - but all things considered, this beer does it Carlito's way, and is an interesting addition to Stroom's range, with a pleasant dryness and bitterness still combined with a certain 'roundness'. I can imagine myself drinking this all night in a pub near to the brewery (Kleine Kunst!), but there is something dusty and powdery to my sample which I reckon will not be present when sampled fresh, so I hope to encounter it from tap somewhere in Ghent.

16/V/25 - 33cl can from the brewery, shared with Thirstybird @ home, BB: 2/IV/26 (2025-477)

Cloudy beige blond beer, big solid irregular creamy white head, stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: very malty profile, a bit oxidized, some marzipan, grains, a little floral, a bit nutty. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very malty start, pretty bitter, grassy, some herbal notes. Aftertaste: nice, rich malty profile, nutty, some almonds, pleasant beer, nothing extravagant.

33cl can, BB 29/11/2025, merci Tim!
Brune foncée quais noire, col fin blanc-cassé.
Arôme est malté, chocolat pâle, chocolaté, barrique en retrait, léger côté un ‘nail polish’ mais sans être dérangeant – apport du houblon Magnum assez subtile et sur une petite note florale et herbacée.
Palais est malté pâle, grillé petite note belge dans l’effet de stout impérial. Fruits noirs et rouges – baies, kveik en levure pour le côté plus neutre. Apport de barrique de whisky confère une belle balance qui se prête bien au côté chocolaté et biscuité avec un retour de figue et datte. Pointe d’alcool réchauffant en fin de bouche. Le caractère faible en effervescence vient accentuer la sensation d’épaisseur en bouche.

33cl can, BB 06/06/2025, merci Tim!
Léger rosé, col fin effervescent peu tenace rosé.
Arôme framboise qui s’éclipse rapidement et repris en retrait par ce côté berliner weisse un peu plus citrique.
Palais sur une base berliner – acidulé et citrique avec une bonne fraicheur de framboise mais sans pour cela être trop convaincant. Effet plus purée que de fruits frais, le tout avec la base de berline donne plus une sensation de pamplemousse rose, fini assez sec avec une petite pointe fleurie.

33cl can, BB 05/06/2025, merci Tim!
Léger voile orange/pale, col épais blanc-cassé.3
Arôme sur un bouquet épicé marqué, surtout par l’apport de ces graines de paradis – le reste garde une base plus centrée sur les malts avec ici des pointes de pâle et léger cara.
Palais met bien en avant le caractère de graines de paradis, le tout est finement poiré avec un retour gingembre délicat sur une base maltée cara pâle avec une petite nuance chocolatée – le tout passe pour une bière festive de Noël tout en gardant ce fini plus farmhouse que de saison. Le gingembre revient sur la fin.

33cl can, BB 17/05/2025, merci Tim!
Dorée, col épais crémeux blanc.
Arôme au bouquet fruité sur les agrumes – mandarine, finement herbacé avec un rétro-nasal belge malté pils.
Palais sur une base de levure kveik plutôt neutre, garde cependant un côté belge avec l’apport d’une pointe banane et un léger citronné houblonné assez délicat. Pointe épiée avec une effervescence légère. Malt pils sur la fin avec un retour fruité des agrumes – zeste citronné en appui.

One of the newer beers by Stroom in Ghent, a blonde infused with lemongrass and therefore dubbed an "Asian inspired golden ale"; can from the Jumbo supermarket in the Darsen region of the brewery's hometown (the southernmost part of the harbour area). Thick, foamy, cobweb-lacing, egg-white, densely moussey, pillowy head on a hazed peach blonde robe with 'dirty' (pale brownish) orangey tinge. Aroma of spiced crackers, indeed a whiff of dried lemongrass but far less fragrant than I was hoping for, cake bottom, rainwater, cooked turnip, cooked jasmin rice, dried orange zest (the Mandarina Bavaria speaking), vague cantaloupe, cold potato mash, dry earth in the background, dry straw, hint ripe persimmon. Quite crisp, fruity onset, sweetish with a sourish edge, apricot, vague pineapple, persimmon and a background touch of papaya from the Mandarina Bavaria, lively carb but nothing too sharp or stingy, soft 'fluffy' body; cracker- and leftover dough-like maltiness, pale malts with a light caramelised edge, sweetish and honeyish but nowhere sticky, with this lemongrass effect aromatically hovering over it all but in a very subtle, background and 'dried' kind of way - in fact even difficult to pinpoint, as it is swiftly being overruled by the orangey and melon-ish effects of the Mandarina Bavaria hops, which continue further into an earthy, bit peppery end bitterishness. The sweetness of the malts and esters persist well into the finish as well, so that everything ends with a quite citrusy, orange-like flair, albeit in a rather dull and reserved way. I guess the lemongrass supports the Mandarina Bavaria here but it is most certainly the latter which carries this whole beer - frankly I would probably not have picked out lemongrass if I had not known it was effectively used here. In all, a pleasant, sweetish, malty and yeasty Belgian style blonde with a light postmodern twist, rather than a true Anglo-Saxon golden ale (which is exactly what I was expecting anyway). Stroom has made some very solid beers in the past years, but still I feel they will have to take things up a notch to fully compete with Ghent's current leader in craft brewing (Dok). Nice enough though, this Cymbo - I will probably even repeat this one if I meet it again here in Ghent in more fresh and crisp condition.