Newish flavoured IPA by BBP, celebrating International Women's Day - using a hop blend selected in collaboration with the Pink Boots Society, a non-profit organisation aimed at networking between craft beer (and other alcoholic beverages) on the one hand and women as well as non-binary people on the other hand. The flavouring used here is ume, the purple yam from the Philippines used in desserts because of its specific sweet flavour associations; 'ume-flavoured IPA' has been a thing for several years now, but I admittedly have not come across it yet - it seems oddly specific, too much so perhaps to justify an entirely new IPA subgenre, but IPA still is a very commercially driven group of beers so I guess time will tell. Anyway, can from the Jumbo supermarket in Ghent, best before August 2027. Medium sized, somewhat irregular, 'dirty' off-pinkish, moussey, opening head on a hazy vermillion red beer with deeper ruby glow. Weird and unusual yet nowhere unpleasant aroma of boxwood, cold French fries or fried potatoes (oddly and unexpectedly), blood orange, rosehip tea, ground old hazelnuts (but no hazelnut paste or anything like that), lavender, soap, old-fashioned moth balls rather than the promised lemongrass, ground ivy, wild lingonberries, beetroot. Fruity onset in the absence of actual fruit, ripe lingonberry- and a bit elderberry-like with a faint dash of red apple, dryish from the start in spite of 'aromatic sweetness', medium carb with soft, rounded body. Supple cereally core, a bit glueish even, under this ume effect reminiscent of cooked beetroot, cold fries and lavender - an odd combo of aromas indeed, but I miss the vanilla and coconut effects often associated with it. In any case it adds a certain earthiness to the finish, accentuating the fairly low (in this case at least) bitterness provided by the hops so that this whole beer ends rather '(beet)rooty' (and a tad soapy), unsurprisingly of course since yams of all kinds are root vegetables. The hops somehow seem subordinate to this ume effect, which I find odd for anything calling itself 'IPA' - in fact I believe that even for such a niche category, this needs more hop power to justify the use of the IPA abbreviation. An oddity for sure, especially for those like me who never encountered actual purple yam before - this beer is effectively dominated by this unlikely ingredient so I think understanding that specific ingredient (which I do not, for all clarity) is key to understanding this beer. I am certain of one thing, though: even though it does not taste unpleasant in spite of this odd clash between earthiness and perfumeyness, which I think should be ascribed entirely to the ume, it seems to lack the dominance of hops - whether it be by aroma or by bitterness - which I still firmly believe is the core feature of any kind of IPA. I will deduct a point for that - but I admit that this beer, whether it does service to women or non-binary people or not, does spark my interest in the purple mystery from the Philippines that is called ume. I know what it is now, so I would really like to see both the actual root in its natural form, and the purple paste apparently often made of it.

Bottle at home shared with Laura. Clear yellow color, small white head. Aroma and flavor are malts, moderately bitter, a bit dusty and straw / hayish but mostly dusty. Drinkable.

Small, fast dwindling whitish head; metallic chromate yellow beer. Mineral, bit of cedar or cypress, and then indeed mirabelles, yellow plums. Plums, mirabelles, with a remaining sweetness. Again somewhat mineral, but hardly acidic - certainly for a Gose. There is a light sourishness backthroat after swallowing. Quite slick, not more than medium bodied, soft carbonation. Sweet for a Gose, if certainly nice. Txs to Stef!

Orange-flavoured IPA inspired by the Italian "Spritz" cocktail, created by Brussels Beer Project; bought in a supermarket somewhere a while ago, now sampling at three months after it was canned. Medium thick, snow white, irregular, lightly lacing, slowly diminishing head over an initially clear, warm apricot-tinged golden robe with lively visible sparkling, misty and deeper orangey gold in the end. Aroma indeed reminiscent of Aperol Spritz, next to hints of 'fake' orange peel, orange-flavoured children's vitamins I remember from childhood, melon, minerals, Moscato d'Asti, vague accents of green tea, damp earth, Fanta Pink Grapefruit, dried out and crumbled brioche, old biscuit, straw. Flavoured onset: the orange juice concentrate piercing through an indeed very clean, smooth profile of slick cereally pale maltiness with little fruity ester activity, side notes of melon and lychee but in a volatile way, minerally carb - or dare I say 'spritzy' - all leading up to an unexpectedly bitter finish, tonic water-like, or indeed reminiscent of Italian bitter liqueur (amaro), though perhaps still a notch softer than that. There is hop bitterness to it, sure, but most of this 'ending', drying bitterness is established by that added orange flavouring - like biting in an orange peel, but more artificial, if you get my drift; flashes of orangey sweetness keep piercing through, though, so this bitterness, however powerful, is not all-consuming. Bittersweet cocktails still enjoy great popularity - especially in summer, which is probably why this is not 'my beer': I generally dislike bitter liqueur, and I am having this on a chilly March night rather than a warm summer outdoors café. As an Italian style cocktail in beer form, in itself an original concept, this is actually quite well done, I think my girlfriend - who is quite fond of Negroni, Aperol Spritz and the like - would probably like this a lot. For me personally a bit too gimmicky, not to the extent where it loses its 'beeriness', but not very convincing in either malts or hops either. Interesting idea executed interestingly, I must admit, just not my personal cup of tea, I am afraid.

Bottle picked up from BBP Dansaert, Brussels. Had this Friday 27th February 2026 around Isobel's, Spond, Herefordshire whilst thinking about making a Chicken Tikka Masala. Pours yellow with a mid sized white head. Nice gentle and soft carbonation, not sure why this is a Winter Blond, I would have expected a little winter spice, there doesn't appear to be any, but tbf there is a little regular spice Belgian edge. Light sweetness, a little bit fruity, not necessarily picking up any apple though. Decent beer. Score 7.1