LCI BAB

LCI BAB

LCI BAB...

Hazy amber colour, white foam. Nose of banana, yeast, some stone fruit. Sweet, light bitter. Great tripel.

Draught, 7.9% at Moeder Lambic Original. Fruity and smoked aroma. Clear dark brown colour. Small tan head. The flavour is sweet and papery. Fruity notes, and oxidised notes.

Atrium has long been showing off its connection with Brazil (the brewer’s wife is Brazilian) and with success, coincidentally in a time when Brazilian craft beer is gaining more and more ground in the U.S. and Western Europe. This is a tribute to that new Brazilian craft beer scene: a Catharina sour with pineapple. Egg-white, moussy but unstable and open, eventually dissolving head on a misty peach blonde beer with yellow-ochre glow. Aroma of indeed a lot of unripe pineapple but also very cider-like, sweet Strongbow cider, Granny Smith apple, ripe Doyenné pear, cherimoya, hints of honey, green plum, pear-scented hand soap or even shampoo, tropical flowers. Sweet and sour onset, freshly cut pineapple adding both sugars and tartness but also evoking a lot of ‘side’ fruitiness, mostly (green) apple but also pear and strawberry; very active carbonation, slick and rounded mouthfeel, feeling a bit thinner than the ABV would suggest, perhaps. Wheaty-cereally core, completely surrounded by pineapple tartness and sweetness, turning quite soapy in the end, with that cider association remaining very strong (both sweet industrial cider and tart artisanal cider!). Ends a bit vinous, remaining very fruity and soapy, with exotic highlights of not just the pineapple but tropical orchids and starfruit as well. Possibly the first successful Catharina sour in Belgium, not missing its effect of evoking sun, tropical sultriness and exotic fruitiness – it almost feels as if it could not possibly have been made in Belgium… Not really my personal cup of tea, and I remain wondering if that soapiness could not have been toned down, but I must admit that this is a very interesting, innovative brew even to Atrium standards.

Hybrid beer, a smoked dubbel (flavoured with cocoa), by Atrium; can at Kantien in Ghent. Pale greyish white, shred-lacing, thinnish and quickly breaking head over a misty deep chestnut brown beer with ruddy to almost amberish glow. Aroma of caramel candy, old brown honey, honey-glazed spareribs, smoked prunes, ripe pear, canned chestnuts, raw broad beans, subtle background notes of coffee powder, barbecue sauce, cocoa in the background. Sweet onset in a clean, sleek way, yellow raisins, candied dates, vague sourish undertone, medium carb; slick, bit resinous mouthfeel, hard-caramelly and bit pecan-nutty malt sweetness, indeed carrying a smoky element – as in smoked horse meat or smoked fruit. Some herbal hop bitterishness but very ‘friendly’, with a whiff of cocoa somewhere faraway – but I would never have picked it out if I had not known. Could also have been a lot smokier for me: I love a good Rauchbier, rare as this style may be, and I would rather have had a bit more of that than a sweet dubbel, though this beer is remarkably clean for a dubbel and feels almost more Bock-like. In general a very pleasant beer though, the smoky touch certainly adds complexity and lifts the whole thing up, however subtle it may be.

# 2791; 3/2022. Aroma of sugar, caramel, fruits, milk chocolate. Opaque brown body; tany heady with low retention. Caramely, fruity, zesty, orange, milk chocolate, light touch of lavender. Good beer, but I've expected more... 0,33 l, bottle, brewpub, Marche-en_Famenne (Luxembourg, Belgium).

# 2777; 3/2022. Flowery, fruity, orange aroma. Cloudy gold body; white head. Oranges, tropical fruits, flowery, dry. Excelent tripel. 0,33 l, bottle, brewpub, Marche-en-Famenne (Luxembourg, Belgium).

# 2775; 3/2022. Aroma of chocolate and bacon, slightly fruity and caramely. Cloudy pale brown body; off-white head with low persistence. Cocoa beans, bacon, sour cherries, amareto. Very interesting but slightly disharmonic beer. 0,3 l, can, brewpub, Marche-en-Famenne (Luxembourg, Belgium).