Jeg er (som både mine nærmeste venner og to sønner vet) diagnostisert med RBHD (Repetitive Beer Hunting Disorder), og da er det godt å ha venner som Flaskepostmester Cunningham! Brunlig kobber med kort, storboblet skum. Duft og smak av nykokt ris, saltredusert soyasaus, lyng og kløvereng. En uvanlig men samtidig interessant ølopplevelse.

Barrel aged, woodruff-flavoured, top-fermented Maibock (or helles Bock) is in itself something I have never encountered in two and a half decades of beer reviewing so this one caught my eye in the Delhaize supermarket (!) at Dok Noord in Ghent; apparently this brewery, still one of the most respected of the 'new' wave in Belgium (yet geographically surrounded by the Netherlands), came up with this essentially very 'Dutch' idea before they even knew which barrels they were going to use - ending up with Moscatel wine barrels. Very dense, fine-bubbled, creamy, snow white, intricately cobweb-lacing, stable head of medium thickness, hazy deep orangey peach blonde robe, amberish in fact, with dark beige tinge. Aroma of paprika crisps (oddly!), barbecue spice mix, woodruff only in dried form but certainly not fresh (and I know what fresh woodruff smells like as I basically grew up with it, along with a bunch of other herbs in my grandmother's garden), fried shallot, dried apricot, some wet wood but not that pronounced, raw parsley root or sweet potato, turmeric, sundried tomato, dried chives, carrots, raw egg yolk, but weirdly very little actual Moscatel wine. Fruity onset, peach, some pear and red apple, light in sweetness, softish in carb but still with a lasting minerality underneath, rounded and 'juicy' mouthfeel; very faint side hints of cherry tomato and fried bell pepper over a bready malt core with cracker-like highlights, moving into a gently but decidedly drying finish where the tannins of the wood are palpable (in spite of lacking in that typical oaky aroma) and hops provide late but very effective, herbal bitterness further reinforcing the dryness. Moscatel wine, unless in some kind of very dry form I am not familiar with, remains close to unnoticeable - sadly, because I was hoping for its sweet 'grapeyness' to enter; above all, though, the woodruff bursts onto the scene in a not very subtle way - again, not the lovely rosey perfumeyness I remember from fresh woodruff in my grandma's garden (and the green 'jenever' she used to make with it), but a deep, lingering spiciness reminiscent of paprika powder, turmeric and dried rosemary. Oxidation notes are very present retronasally as well (my sample was apparently already bottled last year and is best before next year, but this oxidation probably already occurred in the barrel). I get the idea of adding woodruff, the prime ingredient in e.g. German Maitrank, to a spring Bock as an attempt to accentuate the spring theme as such, but here it turned the whole beer into something far more late-summery - or even autumny, lacking that typical blossomy, fruity perfume and delivering a deep peppery spiciness instead. On top of that, the Moscatel barrels, of which I was expecting fruity sweetishness and vinosity, have not done a whole lot to improve that combo, keeping relatively quiet; hops then have been applied far too generously for the base style - almost in a Belgian IPA-ish way - and the yeasty fruitiness is more reminiscent of a Belgian blonde. In short: this odd beer does not remind me of typical Maibock in any respect at all - DvdK should be aware that 'truth to style' is not an unimportant criterium to judge a beer by. I even think that if the word 'Bock' would not have been present, I may have liked this odd concoction more... Reminds me more of some or other kind of freewheeling saison (not the sour kind) but that is okay: this is, in all, quite an amusing beer, albeit far from my DvdK favourite.

Bottle from Drankenhandel Leiden. Strong rosemary with additional herbal notes, thyme, wheat. Moderate bitter and light sweetish. A little dryness in the finish. Medium body. Okay but a bit too herbal for me.

Keg at het lagerhuys. Pours hazy amber, nose is caramel, lemon, white grape, oak, taste is similar, sweet, dry toffee. 7