Cremiger, trocken herber Beginn. Mild süß mit Kaffeenoten, zunehmende Herbe, weich. Angenehme, leicht ansteigende Süße, herb-würzig, mittellanger Abgang. Ordentlich. 8/9/9/9/10/9

Leicht kräutriger, dunkel herber Beginn, weich hefig. Röstnoten, hefig, Karamell, kurzer Abgang. OK. 9/8/8/8/6/8

Weicher, mild hopfiger Beginn, minimal Karamell, süffig, schwacher Hintergrund. Bitterer Abgang, unspektakulär. 9/6/8/8/7/8

A clear amber beer with an off white head. Aroma of ripe banana, citrusy hops, clove, yeast. Taste of citrusy hops, clove, mild banana, wheat malt. Long bitter finish

Bottle shared, bit of a gusher. Darker orange beer, small head. Aroma is malt, caramel, hops, citrus. Taste is the same, sweet, bitter, malt, grain, hops. Ok

Bottle from Lekkerbier, Sint Nicolaasga. Spicy and sweet, yeasty and malty aroma. Light ripe fruit, caramel, bit sugary and estery. Medium body. Not bad, nothing special, pretty ordinary sweet spicy Belgian Ale.

Regular Dutch ‘herfstbok’ from a client brewer in Sneek in Frisia (northern Netherlands), from a 75 cl bottle, many thanks to Hinke for this gift! Moussey, membrane-lacing, pale beige off-white, opening head, misty caramel brown robe with rusty-red coppery glow. Aroma of dry caramel, brown bread crust, roasted cauliflower, wet toast, tea, nutmeg, autumn leaves, cooked kale (DMS), walnut, diluted coffee, cloves. Clean, subduedly fruity onset, some dried prune and apple peel, fizzy carbonation, smooth and somewhat resiny mouthfeel; dry-caramelly dark maltiness, sweetish but restrainedly so, with a very softly bittering toasty edge. Some clove and nutmeg phenols towards the end, along with a bit more (brown) breadiness and a leafy hop bitter touch, adding supplementary bitterness to the toasty element, which at this point even shows very subtle coffee-like traits. Something vaguely metallic lingers too, but in a ‘natural’ kind of way; tea-, toast- and caramel-like flavours constitute the finish. Decent Dutch bock, not entirely flawless but passable – and fitting the mould of the style perfectly.

Tripel very locally enjoyed at 3B from tap - a pub in, indeed, Sneek. Snow white, moussy and dense, stable head on a hazy ochre-tinged apricot blonde beer. Aroma of crackers, dry cookies, banana peel, DMS (overcooked broccoli - increasing when warming up, alas), coriander seed, young 'jenever', peach, field flowers. Fruity onset, banana, peach and apple notes, sharp and fizzy carb, very minerally; slick mouthfeel. Some residual sweetness lingers over a cereally, dry-cookie-like malt sweetishness - but not so much that it becomes bothersome; spicy coriander notes are present too but again not over the top. Ends with a grassy, floral hop bitterness and some warming 'jenever'-like alcohol, while minerally notes linger and this DMS effect returns retronasally. Simple, basic tripel the Belgian way, decent enough but too bad for that DMS and insufficiently hidden alcohol - things that can easily be improved. Nice to have this one in its natural habitat and where it belongs: in a Sneker café, coincidentally a song by the great Drs. P as well.

Flesje gedronken op terras in Leeuwarden. Amberkleurig troebel bier met weinig schuim. Aroma van sinaasappel en hop. Smaak is fruitig (mandarijnen en rode bessen) en hoppig. Nasmaak is bitter.