Hoppy blonde from a client brewer in Nieuwpoort at the Belgian seaside, steinie bottle from Belgian Brewed. Thick and frothy, crackling, egg-white, irregularly lacing, dense and stable head, hazy warm golden blonde robe with apricot tinge and persistent fine-bubbled but very active sparkling, turning opaque and murky beige-blonde in the end. Aroma of peach jam, brioche bread, banana, faint lemon zest, cooked turnip, sweet potato, powder sugar, pear, old 'herbes de Provençe', cantaloupe, hint of papaya which I guess represents the Citra hops used here but only faintly so, candied orange, sweating abbey cheese, musty old cloth, clove, moist sawdust, warm rubber, plaster. Sweet fruity onset, ripe peach, banana, Doyenné pear and cantaloupe, with sourishness added by sharp, stingy carbonation; supple, 'fluffy' middle, pale malts with soft brioche-bready effect and a slight biscuity touch, under growing phenolic spice (clove) and potato peel-like earthiness from the hops, which also - very faintly - display a citrusy aspect echoing in the background (crying for help, one could say). The hops do add a lengthy earthy bitterness, but the sweet fruit effects mainly come from esters and unfermented sugars here, all somewhat scorched in the very end by considerably wry, moonshine-like, crude alcohol. I guess the brewery's statement of this being a 'hoppy blonde' prompts many present-day consumers to automatically regard it as an IPA but this is 'Belgian IPA' at best - meaning a blonde (or tripel in this case) ornamented with New World hops, which are in practice used completely wrong more often than not. A waste of Citra hops, in this case - not the first time I encounter this in Belgium. This is better regarded as a typical Belgian (sweet and 'commercial') tripel with a dash of American hops than anything truly IPA-like - believe me, you will be deeply disappointed otherwise. Seen as a tripel, it is clearly too sweet and too boozy (with the alcohol very badly hidden), so for me there is nothing heroic nor incredible about this beer, sorry...

75cl bottle from Beers@Moviefun. Thanks, mom & dad! Hazy golden, stable, foamy, white head. Aroma of ripe red apple, pear, plum, fennel, aniseed, liquorice, wet wood, vanilla, bread crust, white rum. Taste has sweet apple, pear & vague banana in a white-bready, slightly white-sugary malt body with aspects of yeast, spicy clove & aniseed. Floral hoppy finish offers more ripe yellow fruits, spices, a touch of vanilla and warming white rum-like alcohol. Technically decent, barrel treatment is well incorporated in an otherwise somewhat crude 'Belgian Strong' base beer.

22 March 2022. At Sjefs, Nieuwpoort. Shared with the lovely Anke.

Hazy orange, stable, foamy, off-white head. Aroma of orange peel, cooked apple, honey, cheese, bread dough, apricot. Taste has sweet apricot & apple over a doughy & honeyish malt base, bit cheesy, yeasty. Floral hoppy finish, more ripe yellow fruits, some bitter orange peel, tad sugary. Medium body, oily texture, soft carbonation. At least it's not marketed as a (Belgian) IPA, but this is still too sweet for its own good (and name).

21/VII/21 - 33cl can from Beers@MovieFun (Brugge), shared @ my parents’ place, BB: 31/XII/22 (2021-658)

Little cloudy yellow to gold blond beer, big creamy white head, stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: lots and lots of ripe banana, very yeasty, sweet impression, bit floral. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: all ripe bananas, sweet, sguary, yeast, soft soapy bitterness, sweet malts. Aftertaste: floral, soapy, overripe banana, unpleasant bitter finish, banana peel, way too sweet as well. Needs more aroma hop, instead of just bitter hops and lots of yeast.

Hazy blond with thin head. Aroma and flavour have a load of farmyard shitty funk (not in a bad way). Sweeter notes of grains and honey come through later.