Fles gekocht bij mijnmuseum Beringen.
Goudgeel troebel bier met stevige witte schuimkraag.
Aroma van mout en gist.
Smaak is kruidig, moutig en iets hoppig.
Nasmaak is zacht bitter.

Bottle at De Zwaan Maastricht. Clear amber red colour lasting beige head. Some esters on the aroma
Some sweet honey flavour
Light hopping on the end but its there. Actually its qiite tasty
Quite interesting has some character. Has some hop sting. OK.

The fifteenth one in this Nostalgia series by Kompel so far, described as a "Belgian bitter" - but not a word is spent on that lovely English bitter tradition, so I can only hope for a classic "bitter blond" Belgian style if I do not want to be disappointed too much, I guess... Eager to get out of the bottle, but no gushing. Still a huge, almost glass-filling, egg-white, foamy, busily lacing, rocky, (tetra-)hops-enhanced, cauliflower-like head is easily formed over an initially clear, yellow golden blonde robe with greenish tinge and strings of visible sparkling, turning misty further on. Aroma of croissant dough, halfripe peach, red apple, persimmon, chervil, cold tomato soup, sour cream, iron, pesto Genovese, damp straw, pond water, cooked meat, wet wool. Fruity onset, sweetish but not sweet, with a slight sourish edge; hints of persimmon, tamarillo and raw Kohlrabi are highlighted by vivid, minerally carbonation, moving into a soft bready middle with cereally edges - but in a 'spoiled' kind of way like old bread; phenolic effects meanwhile grow stronger and stronger, culminating in the 'soupy' and meaty side of 4-vinyl-guaiacol, overpowering the promised - and certainly very present - hop bitterness, which still managesrear its head when the curtains have already long fallen. A dandelion-like leafy bitterness lingers nonetheless, coating the back of the mouth, establishing the "bitter" part that the label promised. It remains a proportionally mellow bitterness, though: instead of a dry, herbal finish, I get estery yeastiness and lingering residual sugars - so sweetness - in a beer presenting itself as bitter. I know that 'bitter' and 'dry' are two totally different things (in beer and beyond), but I was really hoping for a more pure-malty, outfermented, well-hopped dry ale here - indeed something closer to classic English bitter or EPA, coincidentally or not. What I got, is the umpteenth Belgian blonde with just a tad more hops in it than average. There is worse on the market than this in the 'blonde' segment, sure, but please do not use the word 'bitter' as a noun in a zythological context if you do not know what you are talking about... And what is it with that 4-vinyl-guaiacol overdose rearing its ugly soupy head?

Pours slightly unclear blonde. Medium white head. Scent is mild hops, medium intense BE yeast. Taste is medium . Expressive BE yeast ( to much for the beer). Hop aroma is present and pleasant, but very mild and not even remotely big enough for the yeastyness. Medium body and carbo. Meh. Slick, overly yeasty estery finish.

330ml bottle. Opalescent, auburn colour with average to huge, frothy, slowly osteoporosing, minimally lacing, off-white to beige head. Slightly toasty, minimally nutty, malty and slightly fruity, hoppy aroma, hints of sweet cherry, red berries, a touch of Brazil nut. Taste is sweet-ish, caramel malty and slightly toasty, nutty, dark malty, mildly bitter and minimally fruity hoppy, hints of caramel, Brazil nut, some cherry, all with rather earthy, leafy, woody, almost a tad fungoid character; minimally metallic overtones.
Minimally oily, watery texture, smooth and slightly dry palate, medium, dense, foamy, prickly carbonation.
Relatively light, not overly complex

330ml bottle. Slightly cloudy, orange golden colour with huge, fluffy, moderately to mostly lasting, minimally lacing, white head. Rather cautious, minimally biscuity, pale malty and slightly yeasty fruity, minimally floral hoppy aroma, hints of apricot and mirabelle. Taste is minimally biscuity, pale malty, moderately bitter, minimally floral hoppy and slightly yeasty fruity, hints of apricot and mirabelle, a touch of petals, some residual sweetness.
Creamy-watery texture, smooth and super soft, simultaneously slightly dry palate, medium to fine, very dense, foamy, mildly prickly carbonation.
Well crafted, clean, harmonious, drinkable - very nice!