Flaska från Saveur Bieré. Smak och doft av citrus, humle, koriander, jäst med toner av örter. Lätt kropp, lagom sötma, något spretig smakbild, mycket kolsyra, fin beska.

Flaska från Saveur Biere., ett halvår gammal. Smak och doft av belgisk jäst, humle, persika, vete, örter, godis med toner av bittra toner. Lagom sötma, alkoholen slår igenom något väl mycket, fruktig, kryddig och örtig, beska med smak av citrusskal.

Bottled 330ml (Beergium)
Dark brown color, small steady beige head. Dark malts, dried dark fruits in a bit tartish nose. Medium-bodied. Caramel, licorice, plum in the flavor. In the flavor not so much tartness. Sweet and toasted. Not really my Belgian.

Flaska från belgiuminabox, ca 1 år gammal. Gyllengul mycket sediment högt fint vit skum som består till ölet är uppdrucket. Typiskt estrig belgodoft med säd, kryddor, persika, peppar och gräs. Eteriska alkoholburna smaker, kryddig, beska örter, persikogodis, säd, lätt sötma, lite calvados i eftersmaken som samsas med de bittra örterna och som klingar ut i en torr väldigt träig smak. Eteriskt elegant men samtidigt potent och rustik. Snygg men också ganska svår.

New Ebly beer brewed at Géants, from a 75 cl bottle bought at the Carrefour hypermarket in Oostakker - apparently at a considerably lower price than some of my predecessors below had to pay for it. Slow gushing, but manageable, though foam kept escaping from the bottle neck minutes after opening. Towering high, bath foam-like, very rocky and moussy, off-pinkish head, consisting of equal sized bubbles and slowly receding, leaving behind a thick rim of ’threedimensional’ lacing on the edge of the glass; deep vermillion red robe with coppery hue, initially as good as clear though ’hazed’ by countless darkish ’dots’ of dead yeast. Aroma of red raspberries and raspberry juice including even something (sweet cherry-) tomato-like as is so often the case in artisanal raspberry beers, bubblegum, honey, sourdough, sugared fruit yoghurt but not the dreaded red candy effect, actual Stevia sweetener (which has been used here) explicitly noticeable, celery stalks, warm brown bread, soap, fresh blackberries, melting powder sugar, grenadine, sweet rosé wine, freshly grated ginger, sugared rhubarb, dried lavender, pomegranate juice, dry earth, cloves, dusty old yeast, solvents (reminiscent of the basic beer, the Blonde) and something unpleasantly sulphuric (strongly reminiscent of DMTS - the lovely smell of burning rubber in the morning...). Crisp, vividly fruity onset, some banana and strawberry sweetness but surrounded by a ’real’ raspberry and generically berry-like sourishness which more or less keeps the sweetness at bay, accentuated by a sharp, minerally, numbing carbonation effect, coarsening an otherwise supple yet very soapy mouthfeel; sufficient body for a beer of this strength. Residual sugary sweetness is there, but luckily far less cloyingly so than I expected and the red candy factor I was fearing, fortunately stays away. A not unpleasantly bready malt core lurks beneath the ongoing ’berry fruitiness’, but the sulphuric aspect (I’m thinking DMTS again) returns retronasally and has a disturbing effect on the berry juice aromas. Back in the mouth, the malt sweet core gently flows down the throat, covered in raspberry flavours and residual sugary sweetness, sticking a little bit to the teeth but with that ’chalky’ side flavor that appears to be typical for the Stevia used in this beer; hops are noticeably there in a rather ’dim’, earthy, primarily structural way but do add a deep hint of leafy bitterness in the last phase. This bitterness becomes quite wry in the very end - a clear sign of the Stevia that has been used here, since most Stevia-sweetened beers (or in fact Stevia itself in tablet form) show this feature. Breadiness and earthiness increase in the end when the sediment is added, but add a light amount of softness as well. I was fearing a sickly sweet ’candy’ fruit beer during the first pour, but a Dutch saying goes that however hot the soup is served, it will be cooled down by the time you eat it: this is, in all, less bad than my - admittedly very low - expectations prepared me for. This is still too sickly sugar sweet (or should I say Stevia-sweet) for my tooth, with something artificial to it without a doubt (the pink hue of the head is usually a hint already) and way too soapy, but there is something artisanal to it at the same time, in using the blonde version of La Corne - the basic qualities of which, including the DMTS, are unmistakable - and turning it into a fruit beer by using actual raspberries too (I guess in the form of juice). If the fruit dosage and Stevia wry-sweetness would have been kept more limited, which I would strongly recommend, then this could pass as one of those new, more dryish ’apéritif’ fruit beers in the line of Triporteur Kinky Berry, Dame Jeanne Rozat, Bon Secours Myrtille Dry Hopping or Broeder Jacob Brut Rosé - none of which appeal to my personal taste, but all of which convey a new kind of ’trend’ in Belgian fruit beers, in making them a bit more ’beery’ again, rosé coloured, spritzy and quenching, with a somewhat higher degree of complexity than the torrent of disgustingly sweet and one-sided fruit beers we had to endure in this country in the early years of this century. In short: doubting between artisanal and artificial, but the Stevia makes it tilt towards the latter; still less bad than expected - or, better put, feared. Yet still not something I would ever consider buying again, and certainly not at the locally higher pricing I read in some of the earlier reviews here.

Bouteille 75cl, Carrefour Soignies. Tellement bien cachée et encore dans son carton que on passe facilement à côté. Ceci étant, à quasi 11€ la bouteille, c’est peut-être la raison. Je m’inquiète d’autant plus quand les 5.7% sont les mêmes que pour la Ducassis, donc je me demande si on n’est pas sur une revisite de Ducassis mais avec des framboises. De couleur ambre-acajou, col blanc rosé retombant vite. Retrouve au nez, une fine note de framboise, sans pour cela avoir les effluves terreuses et aigrelet que l’on note de framboises fraiches. Un rétro surfait doux de fruits reste trop présent avec juste une touche de malt rappelant que c’est bien un style belge. Palais reste moyen, très belge, et pas de quoi faire le pendu là-dessus. Fruité framboise là, pensant plus à du jus que des fruits frais, le tout semble bcp trop ’clean’ et manque l’aspect véritable de framboise surtout son caractère terreux - léger aigrelet. Base malt reste sur du cara pâle, un peu de pils, amertume est fin noble sans apporter qcq chose d’unique, on retrouve une amertume très noble, belge. Bref, on stagne dans un style belge maintes fois revisité.

Bottle shared with some friends, Black beer, small head. Aroma is malt, roasted, chocolate, citrus, yeast. Taste is the same, not bad.

Piwo o pieknej i trwalej, jak to ja nazywam w niektorych przypadkach slimakowatej. Jaskrawej zlocistej barwie, lekko metnej. Aromat mango i ananasa, w smaku te same owoce plus niedojrzala papaja, jest tez pewna kwaskowosc cytrynowa, slodowosc srednia od poczatkowej slodkiej do szybko mijajacej slodyczy i odslaniajacej sie kwaskowosci egzotycznych owocow, a na koncu milo gozkawe i wytrawne. Pijalne i lekkie piwo. Serwowanie w kieliszku Maredsousa, starszej wersji, szkoda ze nie mialem tego orginalnego, nietypowego szkla.

How: Bottle.
Where: Picked up in Nijmegen.
Appearance: Dark brown colour with a tan head.
Aroma: Roasted malt, bread, fruit.
Body: Medium body and carbonation.
Flavour: Malt, dried fruit, some spices, yeast.

Picked-up this one at the small Carrefour near my house alongside Rodenbach Alexander (surprised to find that one there). I paid far too much for this one & almost instantly had buyers regret. I mean the bottle says proudly contains no added sugar but it actually lists stevia as an ingredients, it is like a bad joke in many ways. 750 ml. bottle @ home. BBF 08/2017. Deep bright raspberry red, overly big pink head. Nose is weird artificial sweetener (the stevia?), sweet chemical raspberry candy, overly sweet raspberry yoghurt, overly sweet, overly sweet yoghurt,... Taste is all sweet, lactic yoghurt mixed with massive sweet & sour candy, more chemical sweetness, chemical strawberry & raspberry, artificial, candy, all sweet artificial, overly sweet yoghurt,... Chemical body, bit lively. Overall good if you like overly sweet fruit beers, even then just too expensive. This is bit of a waste. Shame on me for getting tricked.