I vividly remember a school-related trip to the island of Texel 23 years ago, when me and the other pupils were forced to travel from the hostel to the harbour by bicycle - a distance of 7-odd miles in a severe storm. I managed to reach the harbour safe and sound, so I hope this beer, an elaboration of Texels Winterbier, will make me remember that stormy, gloomy day once again. Cloudy (a good start considering my assocations with it), somewhat orangey bronze colour, in between light and dark, under a creamy, moussy, pale beige head. Aroma a bit dominated by the curaçao at first, estery and malty as well; impressions of dried orange peel, very strong marzipan and nougat, aniseed, hazelnut oil, candied dates, raisins, butterscotch, iron again (don’t like it), weeds, wet newspapers, baked banana, candi syrup, lots of wheat, freshly cut grass, old toasted bread, subtle touches of cloves, gingerbread, biscuit as well as - unfortunately - some faint cooked red cabbage and even a weak hint of H2S (rotten egg) sadly becoming stronger and stronger as the beer warms up. Soft and fruity onset, very Belgian and estery, bubblegum, banana, raisins and candied dates, medium carbonation, hint of brown sugar, but then some sourish ’wheatiness’ comes along for balance. Caramelly and even honeyishly sweet, fluffy malts take over, under a fairly strong, again ’Belgian’ yeastiness, a little bit starchy and powdery, leading to a bittersweet finish of toasted maltiness (appearing relatively late in the flavour profile), lingering cara malts, deep and subtle earthy hop bitterishness and a hint of warming alcohol, which in all stays very subtle. Very Belgian if you ask me, a kind of ’dark tarwetripel’ but nowhere close to an Anglo-Saxon wheat ale. Not bad, but the aroma did show a few flaws including that horrible suggestion of H2S, fighting with the equally strong spiciness. Decent, but far from great - as usual with this brewery, I hesitate to add. And certainly not a "wheat ale": this is Belgian style all the way through!

330 ml. bottle @ home. Procured from ABC Beers. Apparently not some kind of bock – (sort of expected that when I bought this, I know, I know,…) – RB tells me that this is a SBA. Quite dark amber, little in the way of head. Nose is thick cloying, very sugary, light umami goop brown sugar, gravy, yeasty,… Taste is umami & metallic caramel goop, soy sauce, mushrooms (not in an optimal way, I freaking love mushrooms but you know what I mean), brown sugar, overly cooked dark umami fruits, very sticky & cloying herbs, light herbal bitterness in the back besides the cloying & umami features,… Thick metallic brown sugar body,… It is an honest go at Belgian brewing traditions but it doesn’t represent the best of Belgian brewing (in my opinion), too cloying, almost oddly too umami (a trait rarely found in Belgian beer granted, esp. outside of Alvinne (where it oddly does usually work), too herbal,… For me so far Texels is trying but is a bit of a bad characteristic middling affair so far, sorry. This is only my 4th beer by them. I have too admit that since becoming Vegan, I appear to have gain an odd opposition to umami beers. Not sure as to what that means.

bottle at home, orange beer with a small head, aroma is malts, some other stuff, taste is malt, some fruit, sweet, bwahh not great.

Bottled. Hazy yellowish golden colour with a creamy white head. Aroma is fruity, sweet malts, some slight candy as well as some slight sugary notes. Flavour is sweet alcohol, some fruits, mild toffee and some candy like (jelly candy) sweetness as well. Too sweet for my taste.

Bottle . Pours clear , yet very dark brown . Small white head . Smell is sweet, with a bit of earthy spicyness . Taste is bit bitter , some earth , some caramel . Chocolate tones . Caramel ending . Rather thin ( guess thats normal for the style ? ) Yet nice in taste . Probably should be more robust for a 7 % beer though .

Bottle. Pours a clear amber color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty caramel and dark fruit aroma. Sweetish malty caramel bitter flavor. Has a sweetish malty spicy caramel finish.

Almost clear dark orange amber colour, good frothy beige head, receding slowly. Sweet malty nose, aroma orange peel, roasted, wood, brown sugar, dark fruit, cloves. Taste medium sweet and bitter, bit fruity. Full body, oily texture, bittersweet finish, spicy notes.

Pours dark , hazy copperbrown . Small white head . Smell is sharp, metallic with a touch of sweetness . Taste is sweet, sugary , earthy and caramelly . Metallic. some forest leaves ( fall season scent kinda thing . ) Aftertaste is very intense on the caramelly side , but remains rather metallic .... bit too high carbo not as good as others I’ve had from this brewery . Doable on its own, yet still beneath average .

On tap @ Arendsnest. A really cloudy deep orange one this with a big dense lasting white head. Smells mild. Some yeasty banana tones here. Green apple and lots of cardboard. Not a horrible aroma, but still not completely mine thing. Tastes alright. Sweetish, lots of sugar sweetness. Lacks a bit on the balance I guess. Feels good and oily in the mouth have and it's about average on the carbonation. A ton of sweet banana here! This has to be some sort of weiz. Mild peppery tail with lots of yeast and mild cardboard pepper. 25.09.2014