6.8/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 7
Flavor 6.5
Texture 7
Overall 6.5
Together with a blonde and a tripel, one of the first beers launched by Dirk Vermeersch, a former race car driver later turned winemaker in France, now shifting his attention to commissioning beer (but still administratively operating from France apparently). Apparently not the same as his "New IPA", which is slightly less strong, has a golden-coloured label and is brewed at Eutropius (BCB). This 'regular' IPA, with red label, is physically realised by Hofbrouwerijke. From a 75 cl bottle shared with Craftmember, mentioning the number 7 on its front label rather than the 6 shown here but I assume it is the same beer (?). Snow white, moussy, shred-lacing head on a misty ochre-tinged 'old golden' beer. Aroma of green apple, moist white bread, grass, 'witloof', raw potato, unripe pear, clove, straw, dried field flowers, very old lemon zest, banana peel, young dandelion leaf. Sweetish, restrainedly fruity onset, some light banana, green apple and unripe pear, a bit sugary on top (oddly) with medium carbonation and full, soft, almost 'fluffy' mouthfeel; bready pale malt sweetish core, cereally, under the growing presence of grassy and floral hops but also somewhat spicy yeastiness and earthiness. The hops provide a medium long bitterness with vague reminiscences of dried old citrus peel and lemonbalm, but this bitterness, despite its length, remains much too soft for an IPA. Ordinary Belgian blonde with only limited 'true' IPA features, in all. I think this Mr. Vermeersch better sticks to wine.
Tried
on 27 Sep 2023
at 14:21