6.6/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
18/VIII/20 - 33cl bottle from the brewery, shared @ home, BB: 14/XI/20 (2020-794)
Little cloudy dark amber beer, big creamy off-white head, pretty stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: malty, grains, some caramel, yeasty, some banana, sweet ripe summer fruits. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bit sweet, caramel notes, fruity touch, ripe banana, soft acidity, some lime notes. Aftertaste: fruity, lots of peaches, some caramel malts, ripe banana, pretty yeasty, bit sweet, banana peel, bit fruity.
Little cloudy dark amber beer, big creamy off-white head, pretty stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: malty, grains, some caramel, yeasty, some banana, sweet ripe summer fruits. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bit sweet, caramel notes, fruity touch, ripe banana, soft acidity, some lime notes. Aftertaste: fruity, lots of peaches, some caramel malts, ripe banana, pretty yeasty, bit sweet, banana peel, bit fruity.
Tried
from Bottle
at
Brouwbar
on 18 Aug 2020
at 16:00
8.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
The second interpretation of the old triple (or 'imperial') IPA Brouwbar makes, after last year's TI26. Tasted (in 'avant-première') from a bottle in the early stages of the beer, which will no doubt evolve quickly in the coming weeks, something I must keep an eye on... Irregularly lacing, off-white, opening head, reduced to a ring and a thin veil in the middle but in that sense holding well, over a lightly hazed, deep amber-tinged warm orange blonde beer, misty with sediment. Intense and indeed classic IIPA nose: orange liqueur, marmelade, yellow raisins, candied peach, cognac, 'mangojenever', orange water, wodka, soggy biscuit, moist white pepper. Sweet onset, ripe pear, candied peach and orange with a dash of mango somewhere but all cleanish and streamlined, softly carbonated with a full, oily, even vinous mouthfeel; lovely biscuity, caramelly and marmalade-like middle, deeply but elegantly malty under an elaborate hop structure bringing retronasal impressions of fresh orange peel, pink grapefruit, mandarin, olive oil and paprika, but also a long, yet soft-edged citrus pith-like bitterness that works well with the warming glow provided by a Grand Marnier-like alcohol presence. Sweet biscuity malts function as a softening 'bed' on which it all happens - keeping the whole, intense as it may be, elegant, streamlined and accessible, as typifies Brouwbar's house style. This TI48, however, does seem to surpass the original TI26 a bit in (hop) intensity and boldness, but also in balance and elegance; barleywine-esque (the American way), powerful and beautiful beer, one of Brouwbar's all time best so far for me.
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Aug 2020
at 22:22
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Mango IPA with a pinch of lactose and hopped with Callista and Mosaic hops, from tap at Brouwbar. Irregularly edged, egg-white, shred-lacing, opening and eventually all but dissolving head on an equally cloudy 'yolk-yellow' blonde beer with warmer orangey tinge. Aroma of unripe mandarin, mango indeed but in a 'natural' and not too overpowering way, baby fruit purée, freshly whipped cream, honey, guava, pomelo, minerals. Very juicy onset, sweetish with a sourish edge and clear mango flavour - yet again, not overdone and remaining restrained and balanced; fizzy carb, creamy, smooth, lean body. Bread-pulpy malt core covered in halfripe mango fruitiness; the lactose adds creaminess, but not overly so, and remains quite subdued in sweetness. Light grassy and citrusy hop bitterness in the finish, but at that stage too, this natural fruitiness remains the key element, followed by some 'hop burn'. Well, Brouwbar did it again: take a craft beer (sub)style which is still very underexposed in Belgium, and moulding it to their own house style, in keeping it elegant, restrained and balanced - the lactose adds a pleasant creamy note but no 'milkshake sugariness', and the fruit feels like actual, natural fruit juice rather than overly sweet tropical fruit lemonade. A light 'beery' core is maintained more than I have gotten used to from milkshake IPAs, but the whole does feel like a homemade, 'farm fresh' fruit juice - which I guess is kind of the intention in this type of beers... Very well done and very welcoming and refreshing on a hot summer evening!
Tried
from Draft
on 10 Aug 2020
at 18:01
8.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
7/VIII/20 - on tap @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a (2020-733)
Pretty bloudy bright gold yellow beer, small creamy off-white head, very stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: pretty fruity, very dank, tropical fruits, some onions. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very juicy and fruity, citrus notes, mango, papaya, slightly sourish touch, very gentle bitterness. Aftertaste: very fruity, lots and lots of mango, juicy, Looza Ace (tropical flavoured juice), very gentle bitterness, more juicy, mango sorbet, lots and lots of real mango, very decent.
Pretty bloudy bright gold yellow beer, small creamy off-white head, very stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: pretty fruity, very dank, tropical fruits, some onions. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very juicy and fruity, citrus notes, mango, papaya, slightly sourish touch, very gentle bitterness. Aftertaste: very fruity, lots and lots of mango, juicy, Looza Ace (tropical flavoured juice), very gentle bitterness, more juicy, mango sorbet, lots and lots of real mango, very decent.
Tried
from Draft
at
Brouwbar
on 07 Aug 2020
at 18:00
7.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
American style pale ale (APA) by this sympathetic Ghent brewpub, created during the Covid-19 lockdown and sold at the brewery at that time – which is how I got my bottle, just before it got an official label. Thick and frothy, egg-white, pillowy, plaster-lacing, firm head on a misty amber-tinged, orange-glowing peach blonde beer with strings of lively sparkling everywhere – a true beauty. Aroma initially hampered a bit by an overload of prickling carbon dioxide, but once this fades, everything opens up: dry biscuit, old crackers, stewed bell pepper, pink peppercorns, peanuts, dry grapefruit zest, dried old ginger root, fresh thyme, lemonbalm, lime peel, old dough, brown soap. Fruity, fizzy onset, sweetish but restrainedly so, hints of dried apricot, unripe peach and green pear; sharp carbonation, very minerally, through a slender, lightly oily body; dry cracker-like, eventually mildly toasty-bitterish maltiness under a long, spicy, grapefruity hop bitterness developing a light tonic water-like tone in the end, but still refraining from becoming too aggressive – thus keeping this beer firmly in the APA realm rather than switching to (old school) IPA. Classically conceived, this APA looks back to the earliest days of American style craft brewing – the great archetype, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, echoes in the background – and does so in an elegant, streamlined, accessible way. Well done.
Tried
from Can
on 07 Aug 2020
at 12:00
7.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
Take-away bottle. Pours clear yellow with a lasting, thin, white head. Aroma of unripe pineapple, mandarin, breadcrust, yellow apple, green banana, kitchen herbs, wheat. Taste has sweetish mandarin, apple, pineapple, quickly countered by bitter yellow grapefruit peel, pine & some spices, bready maltiness underneath but not adding extra sweetness per se, touch of sour wheat too. Dry, earthy hoppy finish, grapefruity still, more unripe fruit & yeast. Medium body, oily texture, fizzy (bit minerally) carbonation. A bitter Ale first and foremost indeed, good stuff!
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Aug 2020
at 09:41
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
11 June 2020. At Brouwbar. Shared with the lovely Anke! Pours hazy dark orange witha stable, foamy, off-white head. Aroma of ripe orange, mango, brioche, lychee, white grape, pepper, banana peel, herbs. Taste has sweet green banana, orange & melon on top of soft biscuity & brioche-like malts, sour touches of wheat & citrus zest against a spicy, tad herbal backbone. Dry, spicy & earthy hoppy finish, soft estery & tropical accents lingering with breadiness returning retronasally. Medium body, slick texture, medium carbonation. Aromatic hops pairing well with estery Saison profile. Quenching, nice!
Tried
on 28 Jul 2020
at 14:50
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
Take-away bottle from Brouwbar. Pours hazy golden with a stable, foamy, white head. Aroma of fresh mandarin, carambola, pineapple, ripe white grape, yellow grapefruit peel, lychee. Taste has sweetish mandarin & pineapple, some carambola also giving off a sourish effect, next to bitter stonefruit, grapefruit & grapes. Floral hoppy finish, not too dry, nice bready maltiness enhancing a sweet, tropical fruity aspect. Medium body, slick texture, fizzy carbonation. More 'juicy' than expected but I can't complain about that.
Tried
from Bottle
on 20 Jul 2020
at 13:33
6.9/10
—
Appearance 4
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Takeaway bottle. Pours hazy yellow with a quickly dissipating, white head. Aroma of fresh melon, yellow apple, banana, lemongrass, white pepper, breadcrust, kitchen herbs, lychee. Taste has sweet melon, banana, apricot, quite estery indeed but spicy pepper tingling in the back as well as a sourish lemony effect; bit yeast, soft bready & a sweeter honey-like malty base. Dryish, peppery hoppy finish, softly spicy still, but fresh yet sweet yellow fruit remains apparent as well as a subtle fruity jenever alcohol glow. Medium body, slick texture, fizzy carbonation. Straightforward & utterly Belgian 'Blonde' but well-made (as expected of course) and tastier than any industrial blonde ale. 11 June 2020. Banana & apricot, estery profile, a bit medicinal in the end.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Jul 2020
at 15:56