03/01/2018 - tasting glass @Brouwbar taproom. Hazy yellow, medium white head. Nose is malts, yeast, ripe fruits, bit citrus. Taste is bready, ripe fruits, yeast. OK as a beer but I miss a bit the dry spicy touch I like in a saison.

03/01/2018 - tasting glass @Brouwbar taproom. Clear orange, small white head; Nose is bit grains, fruits, yeast. Taste is has light sour accents, fruits, bit bitterness, bit yeast. Can be more outspoken for me but nice beer anyway.

Next to the new and improved black IPA, Brouwbar also created this - to my knowledge - second only brut IPA in Belgium, the first one being made by Totem a few months ago; this shows that this Ghent brewpub is well aware of international craft beer tendencies, and has the ideal platform to try out their own interpretations of them. Draught at Brouwbar, of course. Snow white, medium thick, bit irregular, frothy, membrane-lacing, very stable head over a misty straw blonde beer with warmer peachy tinge. Aroma of ripe papaja, granadilla, starfruit, ripe peach, fried sweet onions, withered leek, marijuana, sweet white wine, yellow raspberries. Clean onset with notes of apricot, pineapple and orange, sweetish with a dim sourish undertone, medium carbonated; cereally, rounded, bit honeyish malt sweetishness, not as dry as expected from a brut IPA, but the finish offers a lot of colourful, expressive New World hop aroma including impressions of mandarin peel, orange zest, sweet onion and some papaja, softly but effectively bittering and very refreshing. Lovely beer, at about the same level of quality as their renewed NEIPA for me, though I suspect an actual brut IPA should be drier than this - though that did not spoil the fun for me at all, as it still remains to be seen what will come out of this brut IPA concept anyway. Have an extra point for helping to introduce a brand new substyle to the Belgian audience too.

Brouwbar in old Ghent is still very busy developing new beers - or, every now and then, improving their recipes, as is the case here: this is basically an elaboration on their BI07, but with different hops, more extensive dry-hopping and rye added to the mash. Tasted from tap at Brouwbar itself, obviously. Creamy, medium thick, pale yellowish beige, cobweb-lacing, stable head, black robe with thin, hazy mahogany edge. Aroma of pine resin, hard caramel candy, dry forest floor, nutmeg, dried grapefruit peel, toasted walnuts, unsugared black chocolate, fried oyster mushrooms, black olive. Clean onset - as usual with Brouwbar's beers - with a subdued, old raisin- and chestnut-tinged sweetishness, light black olive- and dried porcini-like umami accent, medium carbonated; slick and oily mouthfeel, very nut shell-like and hard caramelly maltiness with light spicy rye note and strong toasty bitterness blending with a leafy, black peppercorn-, lightly pine- and dried grapefruit peel-like hoppiness, leathery and long-stretched, yet still a bit on the soft and restrained side for the intended style (as is the case with BI07) so that the toasty maltiness remains the main flavour in the end. Drier, spicier and more bitter than the original, which I already liked as an accessible, clean, smooth 'introductory' BIPA, this is indeed an improvement of the first version and one I will certainly revisit next time I'm at Brouwbar. Well done Benjamin!

Imported from my RateBeer account as Brouwbar B17 Sterk Blond (by Brouwbar):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 12/20, MyTotalScore: 3.1/5

Damn backlog, could've been first! Twice! Scores are the average of two different tastings, one from bottle (much better) and one from the tap (not so good).

23/XII/18 - 33cl bottle from Brouwbar (Gent), shared with Bouvier @ home, BB: 12/V/19 - (2018-2010)
Ar: 7, Ap: 3, T: 7, P:4, O: 13, Total: 3.4/5

Clear dark orange beer, small creamy off-white head, unstable, falls down quickly, bit adhesive. Aroma: very fruity, melons, banana, citrus, some grapefruit, sweetish. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: sweet, fruity, lots of alcohol, ripe banana, bit oxidized, honey, pretty sugary. Aftertaste: soft bitterness, lots of ripe banana, alcohol, sweet, malty, honey, bit oxidized, some marzipan, nice stuff!

17/I/19 - on tap @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a - (2019-xxx)
Ar: 6, Ap: 3, T: 5, P: 3, O: 11, Total: 2.8/5

Clear to little cloudy orange beer, big creamy yellowish head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: fruity, little soapy, floral, lemony touch, some solvent, medicinal and chemical. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: malty, fruity, pears and apples, little sweet, alcohol, bit chemical. Aftertaste: some tannins, soft acidity, pretty dry, some acetone, solvent, fruity, apricots, bitter touch.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Brouwbar DI20 Double IPA (by Brouwbar):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 4/5, Overall: 15/20, MyTotalScore: 3.8/5

23/XII/18 - on tap @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a - (2018-2006)

Clear deep blond to orange beer, small creamy solid yellowish head, stable, little adhesive. Aroma: sweet malts, bit of caramel, fruity, mango, orange peel. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very malty, bit sweet, vanilla touch, pretty sugary impression, not really bitter. Aftertaste: little fruity, lots of malts, some citrus, caramel, some cow fodder, grapefruit notes, orange peel, tropical fruits.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Brouwbar FA16 Farmhouse Ale (by Brouwbar):
Aroma: 7/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 7/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 14/20, MyTotalScore: 3.5/5

23/XII/18 - on tap @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a - (2018-2005)

Pretty clear deep blond beer, solid creamy yellowish head, stable, adhesive, leaving a nice lacing in the glass. Aroma: nice fruity notes, some citrus, grapefruit, little malty, banana, some apples and pears. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: lots of banana up front, yeasty, spicy touch, alcohol, bit peppery, some banana peel, bit hoppy. Aftertaste: more banana peel, very yeasty, CO2, bitter, grassy touch, fruity, some ripe pears, hoppy, dry finish, some alcohol.

The newest Brouwbar beer to date, from tap at Brouwbar’s own premises in Ghent of course. Intended as a strong saison, but since the term ‘saison’ has already been used for an earlier beer (at ‘normal’ saison ABV), they went for the rather ‘empty’ Anglo-Saxon ‘farmhouse ale’ instead. Mousy, creamy, papery lacing, egg-white, frothy head over a cloudy apricot blonde beer with warm peachy-orangey hue. Aroma of ripe pear, pineapple, sweet potatoes, light DMS note (overcooked white cabbage), turnip juice, banana peel, white bread, sweetclover, young ‘jenever’. Fruity onset, some banana-, pear- and peach-like esters but in all remaining fairly ‘clean’, sharpish and fizzy carbonation with outspoken minerally ‘stings’ but acceptable for a saison; slick bready and cereally malt backbone with a very light, almost faintly yoghurt sourishness at its sides, leading to a primarily malty-fruity finish with light clove-like phenolic accents and a floral as well as restrainedly citrusy hop bitterishness, adding just a remote whiff of New World aromatics, while a quite forwarded, ‘jenever’-like, somewhat astringent alcohol warmth builds in the finish. Acceptable as a ‘strong saison’ if you think of classics like Moinette Blonde or Avec Les Bons Voeux by Dupont, but frankly the ‘farmhouse ale’ moniker is a tad misleading and may lead people to think they are going to get a sour ale of sorts; basically a tripel with a touch of New World hoppiness, which in itself is not a bad thing. Too bad for that DMS though and the alcohol could have been a bit better hidden, but those are minor points of criticism and I may very well revisit this one next time I’m at this lovely pub.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Brouwbar KS15 Imperial Stout (by Brouwbar):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 15/20, MyTotalScore: 3.8/5

29/XI/18 - on tap @ Brouwbar, BB: n/a - (2018-1743)
Clear dark brown to purple beer, creamy solid beige to brown head, pretty stable, adhesive, leaving a nice laing in the glass. Aroma: lots of roast, coffee, smoky touch, campfire, more roast, charcoal, caramel notes, some vanilla. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: surprisingly sourish start, bit lemony, coffee, red fruits, some berries, strawberry, red currant. Aftertaste: nice roast, some caramel, lots of coffee, pretty acidic, more red berries, some dark chocolate.