Clear golden colour, white foam. Yeasty , sweet, a bit syrupy, light bitter.

Op tap bij Graspop '22. Diep rood-amber kleur, lichtroze kraag. Kersen, marsepein, ruikt vrij zoet, smaak is licht zuur, kersen, moutig, zoete Kwak-basis, licht bitter. Medium body. Tussen alle Jupiler door was dit redelijk verfrissend.

0.33 L bottle from Belgium - many thanks, Benjamin! :) clear ruby colour, large, dense and long lasting pinkish-brownish ecru head; aroma of cherry, sour cherry juice and marzipan; taste has the same notes as can be felt in the aroma with sugar syrupy sweetness and some hoppy bitterness; I like it

‘Special’ version of the legendary DeuS by Bosteels, pioneering the ‘bière brut’ family of still primarily Belgian luxury ales; this one came after AB InBev’s acquisition of Bosteels, which is enough to spark suspicion, is bottled in much ‘uglier’ and smaller bottles than the original and allegedly only differs from it by having been refermented with ‘live yeast’ for an extended time. Irregular, snow white, fluffy, densely plaster-like lacing, thick head on a hazy yellow-straw golden beer with lively sparkling. Aroma indeed reminiscent of the original but seemingly even more perfumey, with impressions of star anise, allspice, fennel seed, ripe banana, rosé champagne, ripe pineapple, honey, pumice, spice bread, Granny Smith apple slices, parsnip, old dried lemon peel, moist white pepper and ‘jenever’. Fruity with strong banana ester in the onset, next to impressions of Granny Smith apple, Conference pear and ripe pineapple, lively carbonated (even numbing the tongue – certainly on the coarse side compared with the original); light sourish touch underneath the sweetness, moving into a full, rounded, white-bready malt profile deeply soaked in this perfumey spiciness of star aniseed, coriander, clove and allspice, while residual, honeyish sweetness continues. Light grassy hop bitter notes in the finish along with dominant ethereal spiciness (star anise and coriander), lingering residual sweetness and banana ester and, finally, an afterglow of warming, calvados-like alcohol. Sweet, strong, very spicy Belgian ale with indeed a slight champagne yeast flavour, but the refermentation – I assume with a Belgian ale yeast of some kind – has muffled the elegant champagne-like features of the original a bit, and the whole seems to have gotten sweeter and more banana ester-forward too, though I have to admit that it has been many years since I tasted the original version. A tad breadier and fuller, due to the yeast, but this is not necessarily a good thing – feels much more ‘ordinary’ among Belgian specialty beers than the original did (and hopefully still does). In all: alright I guess, for an AB InBev offering at least.

bottle from Belgium - many thanks, Benjamin! clear golden colour, medium sized dense white head; aroma and taste is quite tripel-like with grainy, some floral, fruity and long lasting spiciness (in the taste); very good blonde ale