7.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

9/III/22 - on tap @ Bar Beenhouwer (Gent), BB: n/a (2022-246)

Cloudy deep orange to amber beer, creamy dense white head, stable, a bit adhesive, leaving some lacing in the glass. Aroma: very malty, some ripe banana, a bit herbal, floral notes, soapy touch. MF: very lively carbon, medium body. Taste: nice good bitterness up front, very fruity, grassy, some citrus notes, a little watery. Aftertaste: nice, hoppy, some banana, bitter, fruity, malty touch, yeasty.

7.5

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Just a few months after S73, Brouwbar launches this new saison, with different recipe. Dense, frothy, off-white, stable head, membrane-lacing over a hazy peach blonde beer with deeper amberish and ochre-ish tinges. Aroma of ripe pear, peach, kumquat, honey, cheese spread, minerals, cooked sweet potato, apricot yoghurt, cherry blossoms, mandarin peel. Fruity onset in a clean way, rounded and sweetish but nowhere cloying; medium carb with refreshing minerally effects yet nowhere too sharp. Some thin residual honeyish sweetness lingers over a slick, cereally and lightly bready, but also subtly wheaty middle; ends with initially soft hoppiness, gradually growing a bit in bitterness and pushing up retronasal hints of rosewater, lychee and orange blossom but all in a subdued kind of way. Drier in the very end with more breadiness and bitterness – and actually only at that point, in the last sips, I got a true ‘saison feeling’ in the traditional way; otherwise this S75 is more of a ‘postmodern’ generic pale ale, but in a highly elegant, typical streamlined Brouwbar way. Very tasty beer, feeling a tad more ‘international’ and less Belgian than S73.

7.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

8/VI/22 - on tap @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a (2022-xxx)
Ap: 8, Ar: 8, Fl: 8, Txt: 6, O: 8, Total: 7.6

Slightly cloudy blond to light orange beer, big creamy solid white head, stable, a bit adhesive. Aroma: nice, very spicy, good clean yeast profile, a bit grassy, peppery, hint of coriander, hint of ripe banana. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: malty start, very rural impressions, good bitterness, spicy, hint of banana. Aftertaste: very dry and bitter, a hint of citrus, some coriander, hay, malty, grains, rural character, yeasty, some banana, very bitter and dry finish. Better than when this was still very fresh!

25/II/22 - on tap @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a (2022-212)
Ap: 8, Ar: 6, Fl: 8, Txt: 6, O: 8, Total: 7.3

Pretty clear orange blond beer, solid creamy yellowish head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: lots of (over)ripe banana, bit malty, quite a lot of bubble gum, smells more like a Hefeweizen, or a Belgian tripel. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: very bitter start, fruity notes, a bit yeasty, some orange peel, pretty fruity, some citrus notes. Aftertaste: bit spicy, grassy touch, malty sweetness in the backbone, dry and bitter finish.

7.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Saison by sympathetic Brouwbar, the lovely brewpub in the historical city centre of Ghent; launched in December but apparently already sold out a the pub so I cannot thank Benjamin and Jolien (the owners) enough for obtaining a bottle for me to rate – this kind of customer service is rare and sincerely moves me. Medium thick, moussy, egg-white, stable head over a lightly misty, deep apricot blonde beer with ‘metallic’ deep golden glow. Aroma of bread crust, dried thyme, oxidized apple peel, dry hay, linseed, dry breakfast cereals, green banana, clove, minerals and a vague note of potato juice somewhere. Crisp onset, very active to even sharp carbonation but this is not out of place in a saison; green banana and apple peel fruitiness but in a very clean, restrained way, never too sweet or estery. Slick cereally maltiness, light bready edge, leading to a hop bitter finish with thyme-, mugwort- and dandelion-like aspects, but all remaining subtle and gentle; minerally side notes linger, adding to the overall refreshing and quenching character of the beer. Very elegant, streamlined and accessible, and in that way fitting seamlessly in Brouwbar’s house style – no exuberant farmhouse ambitions here, just a plain, old-fashioned, dry and quenching saison, and contrary to many other recent Belgian attempts at this style, nowhere overly sweet or spicy. I could easily chug a few of these on a benign spring afternoon.

6.9

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Hazy dark blond colour with thin head. Aroma is intensely fruity. Like canned peaches. Taste starts out similarly before the bitterness grows and grows. Quite intense.

7.5

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

28/I/22 - on tap @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a (2022-113)

Clear dark purple brown beer, small creamy beige head, little stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: lots of ripe banana, overripe banana, soft roast, yeasty, malty, some dark chocolate. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: bit sourish, caramel notes, lots of ripe to overripe fruits, very yeasty, alcohol. Aftertaste: lots of alcohol, ripe banana, pretty bitter, bit sugary, yeasty, bit chemical. Too young, this beer benefits from ageing a bit longer (this was the second batch I learned afterwards).

8.1

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

28/I/22 - on tap @ Brouwbar (Gent), BB: n/a (2022-112)

Clear orange blond beer, big creamy off-white head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: nice, tropical fruits, bit malty. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: nice, very fruity, good bitterness, tropical fruits, mango, lovely. Aftertaste: nice bitterness, juicy, fruity, tropical fruits, nice one, I like it!

7.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8.5 | Flavor - 7.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7

New variation in Brouwbar’s DIPA (and IIPA) venturings, from tap at the brewpub. Medium thick, moussy, irregularly lacing, egg-white, slowly opening head on a hazy deep orangey-peach blonde beer. Aroma of orange peel, pink grapefruit, marmalade, lime zest, guava, rosewater, biscuit, ripe peach, lychee, gin, rainwater in the background. Clean, rounded, sweetish onset, peach, orange and guava sensations, medium carbonated with supple but full, oily body; lovely clean and sleek biscuity maltiness with sweet caramelly edge, quickly taken over by a wave of well-measured, generous and expressive New World hoppiness, bringing a bitterness of orange pith and grapefruit juice with a hint of pink peppercorns, as well as retronasal aromas of lychee wine, guava, orange water and grapefruit blossoms. A warming, wodka-ish alcohol glow is noticeable in the end, but not to the point where it distracts from that lovely play of malts and hops. Again a very elegant DIPA, typical Brouwbar style, sleek and rounded without overstating anything; feels a bit West Coast-like but with light tropical notes – a ‘mountain DIPA’, one could tentatively argue. Easily drinkable in any case and one I will certainly revisit next time at Brouwbar.

6.8

The roast and hops are perfectly balanced. The base beer could use a slightly cleaner ferment. Along with some liquid yeast. Brouwbar gent

7

Classic, old school. Actually balanced. Reminds me of Ruination. Objectively decent beer in-style. Brouwbar gent