Strong ‘ambrée’ by this new Walloon brewery, bottle from Willems in Grobbendonk. Papery lacing, thick and frothy, beige-ish off-white head, initially clear, deep reddish copper-hued dark and pure amber coloured beer, misty with sediment. Aroma of ripe peach, banana, cigarette tobacco, cloves, bourbon, liquorice, a vague hint of manure, damp forest floor, coughing syrup, soap, bourbon, sweetbread, stewed apple. Sweet onset, candy apple and banana mush with ripe peach thrown in, light underlying sourishness, fizzy carbonation, soft and full, fluffy mouthfeel. Bready, soft caramelly malt base carrying a heavy weight of residual, honeyish sweetness with even a thin, vague chocolatey edge to it, towards a very earthy, eventually even a bit ‘dirty’ finish with quite pronounced lingering sweetness, a bready yeast effect, a soft and late earthy and leafy hop bitter touch, an overload of spicy phenols (even liquorice- or eucalyptus-like), a vague smoky edge and an afterglow of warming, bourbon-like alcohol which does become a tad tiring in the end. Too sweet and phenolic for me but not unenjoyable.

Strong 'ambrée' from this young Walloon craft brewery, typical Walloon in opting for a traditional approach and linking economical considerations to it. Slow gusher, but manageable. Tightly but irregularly lacing, eggshell-white, moussy, dense head slowly breaking in gaps in the middle, over an initially lightly hazy, pure and dark orange-hued bronze-ish amber coloured beer. Aroma of dry cookies, baked banana, chewing gum, warm toast, ripe pear, peach, cooked sweet carrots, straw, hazelnut shells, some fresh spinach-like iron, young 'jenever', cloves, dry earth, old ginger powder, dried orange peel, bath foam, honey, rhubarb compote, dough, volatile whiff of manure. Fruity, estery onset, unmistakable bubblegum- and banana-like isoamylacetate surrounded by notes of ripe pear, pineapple and peach with a notable sourish edge, medium carbonated, full, even rather thick, supple mouthfeel. Minerally accents accompany a rounded caramelly maltiness with bitterish-sweetish peanutty as well as unmistakably metallic edges, becoming a bit more toasty in the finish yet remaining sweetened by the banana ester; fairly strong spicy phenols balancing on the brink of 'medicinality' but pushed aside by floral, rooty, noble hoppiness providing a soft bittering ending, with an earthy, bready yeast note lurking underneath. Just before the play of toasty bittersweetish malts, sweet esters and subtle floral hops can be completed, however, a wry, heating, old 'jenever'-like alcohol element sets in, dominating the finish in a - to me - somewhat too obtrusive way. I can even physically 'feel' the alcohol burning at the back. Even for an 8% ABV beer, this alcohol should and could have been better hidden, I hate overly boozy beers especially at this strength; other than that, this is a decent Walloon 'ambrée', bready and yeasty, a bit too phenolic but acceptably estery - yet I wonder why the new micro brewers in the French speaking part of our country keep relying on old 20th-century concepts even more so than the new Flemish micro brewers. Of the many new Walloon micro brews I tasted in the past year or so, a strikingly high amount fits into this - granted, tried and tested - strong amber ale formula and this one is no different. Enjoyable, but a bit crude and lacking in refinement, I am sincerely looking forward to the next big thing coming from Wallonia, the region that, after all, gave us the now pervasive saison style.

Süffiger, brotig herber Beginn. Wenig röstig, brotig, geringe Süße. Erhöhte Karbonisierung, steigend malzig, rund. Gelungen. 10/9/10/9//10

Süffiger, hefig bananiger Beginn. Geringe Würzigkeit, wenig herb, Weizen. Gut. 10/8/7/8//9

Süßlicher, herb-würziger Beginn. Spritzig herb, fein bitter, etwas Getreide. Okay. 10/8/7/8//8

Bottle. Slightly unclear copper color with white head. Aroma is DMS, caramel, straw. Taste is straw, hay, earth, vegetable. Silky mouthfeel with medium, rather soft carbonation.

Bottle. Hazy pale yellow color with white head. Aroma is fresh yeast, cardboard, vegetables. Taste is cardboard, vegetables. Silky mouthfeel with medium carbonation. Meh.

Bottle. Hazy orange color with white head. Aroma is belgian yeast, candy, banana. Taste is candy, banana. Oily mouthfeel with medium carbonation. Meh.