At last I meet this old (since 1986) Belgian classic, after having seen signs of it on pubs in Western Flanders for many years and having read about it in Michael Jackson's books about Belgian beer culture years ago - strange that this oldtimer has apparently eluded me so far. Snow white, irregularly edged, mousy, quite loose head, disintegrating and eventually all but gone; cristal clear (old) gold robe with some thin strings of sparkling here and there. Aroma of soggy barley, sourish grains, touch of old bread crust even but very subtly so, freshly cut grass and sowthistles, minor lightstruck effect (cat pee), damp cotton cloth, hints of straw bales, minerals and rainwater. Neutral onset with only light cereally sweetishness, sourish edge too but very grainy, relatively soft carbonation for the style, but still tasting minerally; slick grainy body, sweetish but not corn-like, feeling quite genuine. Ends with a dash of grassy, even slightly floral hoppiness, providing a bit of drying, soapy, quenching bitterness to the finish, at least (a little bit) more so than is averagely the case in standard pale lager. Glad I finally 'ticked' this one: this has quite an 'honest', all-malt character and subtle yet noticeable hoppiness to it. Granted, everything remains very understated and subtle, but this clearly is of a different level than e.g. Jupiler, Maes or Stella: it feels more old-fashioned, like the pale lagers that were so proliferous in the fifties, sixties and seventies in Belgium, and less industrial. Very subdued, all in all, but I am comparing and judging here on a 'micro' level, i.e. within the standard pale lager paradigm - and in that particular context, tasted from a close angle with no prejudice hindering me, I can see why Michael Jackson deemed it one of the better pale lagers of Belgium (not that this means anything, mind you). For a standard pale lager, this is not the worst choice you can make, by far, but it does remain a simple, plain pale lager, of course...

Ce cru 2019 n'est pas le meilleur de la série. Parfois brouillonne, parfois sur une amertume un brin agressive, elle n'arrive que sur le final à se stabiliser. Le visuel est sur un blond voilé surmonté d'une mousse blanche généreuse. Le nez met en avant un houblon herbacé accompagné d'atomes de pain, de pêche et d'agrumes. A la dégustation, la première chose qui chiffonne est l'effervescence trop poussée qui ne permet pas aux arômes de bien s'exprimer. L'amertume est vive dès l'attaque, quelque peu agressive, herbacée avec des arômes de pêche, de pain, d'agrumes et une légère coriandre. En deuxième bouche la base maltée prend légèrement de l'ampleur mais toujours de cette vive amertume en parallèle. L'arrière est très confus par contre, sans réelle ligne directrice. Le final long et appréciable est heureusement plus équilibré. L'alcool à 7,5% est honnête. La corpulence est quant à elle moyenne. Pas désagréable toutefois. Bière à boire entre potes.

Tap at Kalahana. Oh, it's been a while! Nice, yeasty, fruity hoppy, grain, bit of sweetness. Lots of belgian. Had many times and now it's rated inexpertly. --- Beer merged from original tick of Poperings Hommelbier on 09 Sep 2019 at 16:05 - Score: Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8. Original review text: Tap at Kalahana. Oh, it's been a while! Nice, yeasty, fruity hoppy, grain, bit of sweetness. Lots of belgian. Had many times and now it's rated inexpertly.

Pale blond, big white head soon fades. Aroma wheat and bananas, touch of cream. Taste similar. Maybe bit sweet. Lots of wheat. Ok but really nothing special and not as refreshing as it could be. --- Beer merged from original tick of Watou's Wit Bier on 09 Sep 2019 at 16:06 - Score: Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7. Original review text: Pale blond, big white head soon fades. Aroma wheat and bananas, touch of cream. Taste similar. Maybe bit sweet. Lots of wheat. Ok but really nothing special and not as refreshing as it could be.

Tap at the Watering Hole. Clear golden colour, big fluffy white head. Aroma is hops and yeast. Even some tripel-type sweetness. Smells very Belgian. Big but vague fruitiness too. Boozy sweetness. Taste is like regular hommelbier with a bit extra, unsurprisingly. Lots of Belgian yeastiness, bit creamy, grassy hops, touch of lemon citrus too. Tastes stronger than it is, I think. Quite nice, and probably an improvement on the original but maybe not so drinkable. --- Beer merged from original tick of Poperings Hommelbier Dry Hopping on 09 Sep 2019 at 16:06 - Score: Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7. Original review text: Tap at the Watering Hole. Clear golden colour, big fluffy white head. Aroma is hops and yeast. Even some tripel-type sweetness. Smells very Belgian. Big but vague fruitiness too. Boozy sweetness. Taste is like regular hommelbier with a bit extra, unsurprisingly. Lots of Belgian yeastiness, bit creamy, grassy hops, touch of lemon citrus too. Tastes stronger than it is, I think. Quite nice, and probably an improvement on the original but maybe not so drinkable.

Bottle at home, pilfered from the Eurostar Lounge in Brussels, 6th September 19. Pours a golden beer, white head. Aroma is almond stone, yeast, floral. Taste is floral, light almond, spice, yeast and some bitterness. Pretty good for a free beer.

33cl bottle at home (26 VIII 2019), as Kapittel Prior 9°. A classic abt ale, strong Belgian beer with dark, black body - I drank this one as a vintage - and a reddish, ruby red shade, not thick or oily and quite dull. On top there is a swiftly diminishing thick beige, brown collar. The nose has lots of sweetness in there, think of overripe blue grapes, plums, raisins, blue and black forest fruits, cassonade sugar, sherry, port and tons of dextrose. The overwhelming idea in this vintage bottle is chocolate mousse and milk chocolate (no oxidation, thank God!). Appealing for sure, but nothing special. The malt undertones are traditional Belgian, with many yeasty hints and earth or dust flavours. The taste has less trump cards, as to be expected. Still, this is a lovely complex brew, especially when it is aged well. The body is quite heavy, mixed with a medium carbonation and that typical lingering Leroy ground water features. Nonetheless, this brew is one of the flag ships of the brewery, and stands firm in the gamma for reason. The mouthfeel combines two stories: a sweet, round, silky maltness on the one hand, and a dry bitter ending with a surprising amount of hoppyness on the other. The taste has caramel, port, grapes soda, lots of alcohol, different straw hints, chocolate cake, bread yeast, perhaps some liquorice, sherry, whisky peat, coffee candy sweets, mocha, dried fruits such as peach and even banana. The ending shares some lovely herby hops, lots of them, leaving the finish with a huge amount of dry peat features and some roast - which I can appreaciate a lot. Too bad I didn't wait a couple of years longer to open the bottle.

Malty aroma with raisins and mango. Malty, raisinny taste with prunes and mango. Alcohol burn.

Aroma has cherry, cinnamon and pear. Complex flavor with glue, coffee, cinnamon, caramel, hops, oak cherry and a hint of sourness. Very unusual both herbal and fruity taste. But it''s a good beer!