Another new Brouwbar creation but an original one this time and not a revisiting of a beer they did before: this is their first triple IPA, tasted the first time from bottle (thanks Benjamin!) and a second time from tap; this rating only concerns the tap version, as this beer, like all of the Brouwbar brews, is intended first and foremost to be enjoyed fresh from tap at the pub itself, of course. Creamy, dense, medium thick, egg-white, tightly paper-lacing, stable head over a cloudy, very deep amberish-hued orange blonde beer with almost brownish tinge. Intense aroma of fresh orange peel, fermenting lime juice, ripe mango, dough, Grand Marnier, lychee, ripe nectarine, maracuja, sweetbread, hazelnut, gin, melon, light sweaty note. Fruity onset, very luscious, quite intense and rather ‘tropically coloured’, hinting at peach, pineapple, melon and lychee with a dash of passion fruit perhaps, softish carb, very full and utterly creamy mouthfeel, with more silkiness than the expected oiliness. Soft doughy, lightly biscuity malt sweetish body with some mineral accents here and there as well as growing tropical fruitiness – the hops coming to full development, becoming very expressive with strong mango, apricot, sweet mandarin and lychee aromas retronasally; it adds a somewhat powdery and mildly peppery bitterness to the finish, with that pepperiness being strongly reinforced by heating, gin- and orange liqueur-like alcohol, which nevertheless remains in place considering its hefty ABV (and compared with the bottled version, which was a lot boozier). An IIPA following the current trend towards more sweet-aromatic and fruity hoppiness than actual harsh hop bitterness – I personally would not have minded if the brewer had opted for the latter, but considering he owns a bar as well where non-geeky beer drinkers need to be treated to something they can easily digest, it seems logical that this IIPA is more directed towards sweet aromatics than towards tongue-scraping bitterness. For what it intends to be, this is a truly beautiful beer, as forceful as it is elegant, with a remarkably high ‘drinkability’ and softness to it – clearly at or near the top of Brouwbar’s achievements so far, and I had all of their brews so far.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Brouwbar TI26 Triple IPA (by Brouwbar):
Aroma: 9/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 9/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 17/20, MyTotalScore: 4.2/5

4/IV/19 - on tap @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a - (2019-430)
Very cloudy deep orange beer, solid creamy yellowish head, stable, non adhesive. Aroma: lots of dank hops, bit cheesy, tropical fruits, some pineapple, passion fruits, cardamom and other spices. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: sweet start, fruity, some candied orange peel, sugary, cardamom, sweet malts, alcohol, funky, some onion, diesel. Aftertaste: quite a hop burn, some alcohol, soft bitterness, orange peel, dry finish, some alcohol, nice one!

Imported from my RateBeer account as Brouwbar SI25 Session IPA (by Brouwbar):
Aroma: 9/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 9/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 17/20, MyTotalScore: 4.2/5

4/IV/19 - on tap @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a - (2019-429)
Cloudy light beige to light orange beer, big solid creamy off-white head, pretty stable, adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: oh yes, that's the sweet spot alright! Lots of peaches, mango, some passion fruit, slightly sourish impression, tropical fruits. Lovely! MF: ok carbon, medium to light body. Taste: nice bitterness, citrus notes, passion fruit, mango, super fruity, very refreshing, grapefruit bitterness. Aftertaste: super fruity, pretty bitter, orange peel, citrus, little grassy, onion notes, dank hops, very nice one!