Bottle. Pours dark, yet clear amber. Head is huge, and very stable, creamy. white, much lacing. Smell is bit 'dusty' ( unfresh malts ? ) mild metallic features. Weird spice / fruity undertone. perhaps trough the brett, but it smells like dried citrus, mixed with stale malts. Taste is sharp, brett, but not in a nice, natural, funky way. Very clinical, metallic, phenolic, esthers ( probably the brett is spiked and killed of ? ) doesn't have the fresh funky flavors I would have prefered here.

"Experimental" type of beer according to the label, my first from this brewery, one of many new Wallonian micro breweries that have popped up - often relatively unnoticed outside of the French-speaking part of Belgium - in recent years. Light gusher, with foam trying to creep out of the bottle neck instants after opening, but perfectly manageable. Thick and densely creamy, egg-white, very stable and completely closed head, inches thick at first but settling for half a centimeter after a while, clinging very tightly to the edges in a thick, velvety membrane; initially misty light brownish-hued nutty amber robe, cloudy and eventually milky with sediment. Quite pungent, bit Orval-esque aroma, with impressions of candied orange peel and even a bit of marmelade, brighter grapefruit zest, fermenting peaches, watermelon, soaking wet brown bread, melting Camembert cheese, armpit sweat, faint rancid butter even (isovaleric acid), gingerbread, spoiled vegetable soup, sourdough, freshly baked cookies, ripe apricot, persimmon, mashed carrots gone sour, soap, weird hint of sugared pineapple yoghurt. Estery onset, not too much banana in this case but more hinting at peach, pineapple and persimmon, sweetish but only faintly so, with a softly sourish 'undergrowth' of cucumber and plum, sharply carbonated to the point where it needlessly numbs the tongue and distracts from the actual flavour. Mouthfeel is supple and full, but hindered by this initial overcarbonation, though admittedly this seems to calm down a bit after a while. Toasted nutty and very bready middle, soggy half-brown bread effect doubtlessly due to the overdosis of yeast as well; esters linger, resulting in a somewhat 'dirty' finish especially when the yeast breadiness becomes even stronger. This effect, though, is fortunately brightly lit by a zesty, resiny, herbal and spicy hoppiness, depositing a long-lasting, drying, peppery bitterness on the tongue; Brett effects are quite obvious as well, in a drying, 'animalistic' kind of way, with the familiar retronasal effects of dry leather, damp hay and horse stables we all know and love, coming across as relatively 'natural'. Ends bitter, dry, yeasty (even feeling powdery in the end), a bit too 'dirty' but still juicy all at the same time, with the alcohol, though faintly noticeable as a warming afterglow, remaining fairly well hidden. Well-intended: this is very obviously another tribute to Orval, the idiosyncratic trappist ale in its skittle-shaped bottle that deliberately combined dry-hopping with Brettanomyces decades before the craft beer movement came along. Orval - I will try not to digress too much here - remains a monumental beer in that respect, and many of its imitators, not just in Belgium but abroad as well, pale in comparison. Sadly, this one does too: technically, this is clearly not at the same level as the iconic amber-hued trappist, with some rather off-putting, though admittedly fascinating aromas - spoiled vegetable soup gone sour being the one I will remember the most. Apart from that, however, this is crisp, juicy and daring, with a relatively bold flavour profile from a Wallonian micro brewery point of view. I have no problems enjoying this for what it is so I'll be gentle in my rating, but this clearly needs some cleaning up - in order to become a notable example of a beer trying to imitate something which already exists... Nothing really 'experimental' here, in other words, but interesting nonetheless and motivating to find out more about this range. May improve with aging, though; I am left wondering what this beer would be like after two years of the old cellar treatment. If it comes anywhere near a two year old Orval then, we will talk again - and re-rate. As for style classification: if Orval is an IPA, then this one is too, but I think we can all agree that this beer fits comfortably in the Belgian ale class, whatever that may mean.

F: huge, off-white, good retention. C: amber to coppery, hazy. A: brett, woody, basement, fruity, fruity sourness, bit grapefruit and tropical fruits. T: dry fruity, basement, bit cheese, bit earthy, bit peach, very nice balanced with strong and pleasant brett character, medium to full body, medium carbonation, enjoyed, 33cl bottle from Winters Bier Festival in Waregem.

F: medium, white, not long lasting. C: blonde to pale gold, hazy. A: malty, caramel, fruity esters, yeasty. T: malty, yeasty, mild fruity, peach, caramel, bit honey, quite yeasty and sweet but still good, medium body and carbonation, rated as BSL004.2 version with the same hops, IBU and EBC according to the label, 33cl bottle from Winters Bier Festival in Waregem.

F: big, white, good retention. C: amber, murky, hazy. A: malty, orange peels, spicy, bit lemon, yeasty, fruity, bit caramel. T: malty, mellow fruity, bit spicy, yeasty, caramel, good balanced bit more sweet but ok, medium to full body, medium to high carbonation, slow gusher after opening, rated as BSL002.4 version with 6,5% ABV with the same hops, IBU and EBC according to the label, 33cl bottle from Winters Bier Festival in Waregem.

Bottle. pours rather unclear blonde, huge white head, luckely with poor retention. White in collor, medium-soapy look. Smell is weak, bit yeasty ( mostly phenols ) , no hops. Very mild, thick, heavy grainy malty base, but unintensely so. Taste is Medium-sweet, heavy thick malty base, mild honey aspects, no hoparoma. Mild bitterness. Yeasty, mostly in a sticky, phenolic way. Not much esthers, surprisingly so. Medium body, very high carbonation. Ends sticky, mild honey, phenolic, some grains. No lasting bitterness.

At the edge of gushing to lacey lemony-yellow head over clear golden beer. Very clean, leafy & herbal nose, aromatic hops & malts. Lightly sweetish, lightly spiced flavours, spicy malts. Spritzy carbonation, light, but excellent palate. Taste is a bit demure, but for the rest, excellent drinking beer.