7.8

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Can from Geers. Blond colour, white foam. Grassy, citrussy, lots of tropical fruit, bitter finish. Well balanced Session IPA.

7

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6

The third beer in the - in Ghent at least - commercially successful L'Arogante series, a 'summer' version of the original at 'session' ABV level. 'Farm fresh' can from Bierhalle Deconinck, a mere fifteen days old now. Thick and frothy, large-bubbled, lightly lacing, snow white head, slowly thinning and opening over an initially cristal clear, straw blonde beer with greenish tinge and refined, but 'enthusiastic' visible sparkling, turning only lightly hazy with sediment. Aroma of ripe banana, old grapefruit peel, green onion or even fresh leek, white bread, grass, freshly cut green pear, straw, dried out lemon zest, overripe shallot, hints of plaster, minerals, jute bags. Crisp, cleanish onset, some banana ester with a mild bubblegummy effect (as in the original, full-alcoholic version really) but not too sweet or overly dominant, side notes of green pear, unripe melon, Granny Smith apple; sweetness remains restrained even when a cereally, slender but mouth-filling, smooth maltiness sets in, no doubt further smoothened by the applied oats, relatively gently carbonated for this style and carrying the green fruit and mild banana aspects onwards to a bitter finish, rooty and leafy, with bitter weedy, grapefruit peel- and drying white pepper-like aspects to it. The cereally aspect of the malts supports this drying, peppery end bitterness well, but it is the hops that get the last word, quenching the thirst adequately - not unnecessarily so in the first stage of what is apparently to become the most severe heatwave Belgium has ever seen. Not an unpleasant beer at all, about as much a session IPA as the regular version is an IPA: hop bitter for sure, but also very Belgian and hop bitter more in a rooty, weedy, earthy, old school way than in a fragrant, citrusy New World way, which is what I tend to expect from the session IPA style. Then again, the can does nowhere explicitly mention the IPA moniker at all, so I guess the intention was to present 'just' a hoppy Belgian blonde at 'modern' session ABV level and in that sense, this is successful enough. Does indeed taste about the same as the old familiar blonde L'Arogante - I even doubt if I would be able to tell them apart in a blind tasting, ignoring that this one evidently feels a bit thinner (yet still very 'full' for less than 4% ABV), is a bit less fruity and looks paler; mission accomplished, I'd say, though I would have preferred an entirely new and truly New World hops flavour altogether to be added to the Arogante range, just to see what these Ghentish guys are really capable of.

6.4

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5

Smooth malty beginning. Round and fruity with a grainy and floral dry aftertaste. Very nice and sessionable.

5.8

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

33cl bottle. A hazy dark golden beer with a white head. Aroma of mild fruity pale malt and belgian yeast. Taste of moderate sweet dry grainy malt, pale malt, hay, mild bitterness.

7.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

Imported from my RateBeer account as L'Arogante Session Edition (by L'Arogante bvba):
Aroma: 8/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 8/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 15/20, MyTotalScore: 3.8/5

19/VII/19 - 33cl can @ several occasions during the Gentse Feesten, BB: 9/VII/20 - (2019-1065)
Clear pale yellow beer, big creamy white head, stable, adhesive. Aroma: nice and fruity, bit malty, grassy, citrus. MF: ok carbon, medium to full body. Taste: nice bitterness, lots of citrus, tropical fruits, bit grassy, more bitterness. Aftertaste: very bitter, bit grassy, citrus, nice one, good session ale!

Paired with several Korean food dishes.

8

Ze zeggen zelf "hoppig blond bier" en dat is precies wat het is. En zo hoort deze stijl ook te zijn. Lekker!

7.6

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5

30 April 2019. At Dirk's First Home-made Beer Tasting. Cheers to all! Pours clear pale golden with a lasting, thick, frothy, white head. Aroma of apple peel, unripe mandarin, pink grapefruit, yeast, young pear, grass, bread. Taste is light fruity sweet, some apple & pear, quickly turning medium (almost heavy) hoppy bitter with apple peel, grapefruit, white grape, a bit grassy, grainy & yeasty, sourish lemony undercurrent leading to a dry, earthy hoppy finish with more yeast, fruit peels, grass & faintly warming champagne-like alcohol. Medium body, slick-oily texture, lively carbonation. I think it's safe to say this is a Belgian IPA; not the smoothest of 'hoppy blondes' but certainly belonging to the better ones.

5.8

Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6

Huge thanks to JefVerstraete for that one! Bottle looks simple but good. Beer in the glass zippy, small head. Starts mild malty, modest dry. More and more fruity-hoppy, flowery, light sourish. Finish well balanced, soft hoppy. Okay.

8.4

Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8.5

Voici un stout atypique car structurée autour d'une amertume sur les agrumes et herbacée bien affirmée (IBU de 50). Elle jouit en outre d'un très bon équilibre. Les amateurs de stout plus classiques seront très certainement déçus mais j'ai personnellement apprécié ce contraste avec les arômes de malts torréfiés. Une présence en bouche plus ample et des arômes plus intenses auraient cependant été appréciables. En verre nous sommes sur un brun foncé quasi noir et totalement limpide quasiment sans mousse. Le nez est sur le café, le chocolat et une expression fruitée d'agrumes bien présente. L'ensemble manque peut-être un peu de pep's. A L'attaque c'est une texture fine que l'on découvre. Celle-ci est très portée sur l'amertume à la fois herbacée et sur les agrumes. La base maltée sur le chocolat est nettement en retrait. Déconcertant pour un stout. La deuxième bouche continue sur cette lancée, une pointe poivrée en plus et avec une amertume qui s'élève légèrement. L'arrière bouche fait preuve d'arômes de café et de chocolat commençant à s'affirmer. Mais ce n'est qu'à compter de la troisième bouche que ceux-ci et notamment le café commencent à envahir le palais. Le final d'une longueur moyenne verra un beau duo amertume/malt. L'alcool à 5,5% est honnête, sans plus. En étant un peu plus débridée sur la base torréfiée sur le final, cette arogante y aurait certainement gagné, mais stout agréable pour une idée intéressante.

7.3

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

sample @ Bruges Beer Festival 2019 day 2. F: big, tanned, long lasting. C: dark brown, almost opaque. A: roasted tones, chocolate, coffee, dark fruits, cocoa, dark bread crust. T: roasted dark malts, chocolate, cocoa, coffee, bit ash, dry on the palate, medium to full body, medium carbonation, good, enjoyed.