Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

The brown follow-up to the commercial success of the blonde original, bottle from Bierhandel De Picker in Zele. Thin, loose, immediately opening, pale greyish beige head, murky chestnut brown robe with 'dirty' beige-ochre hue. Aroma of wet caramel, damp tree leaves, nutmeg, clove-like and even somewhat medicinal phenols, brown sugar, spoiled carrot soup, hazelnuts, teabags, coriander seed, candied fig, forest floor and a background touch of manure - anything but inviting, in all. Sweet brown sugar in the onset covers up a sourish, dirty basic character, fig, banana and apple peel aspects, softish fizz, smooth and resinous, eventually rather 'glueish' mouthfeel; sweet caramelly, nut shell- and brown bread-like malt body with a bitterish toasty edge in the end, drenched in a leafy hop bitter aspect, spicy-soapy coriander seed, strong phenolic impressions, muddy 'dirtiness' and insufficiently hidden, 'jenever'-ish, bit wry alcohol - but again the brown sugar sweetness survives, wrestling its way down with the wry phenolic and alcoholic aspects. Flawed for sure, something went wrong with fermentation here, turning this beer into a phenolic, astringent, overly sweetened, unbalanced and very 'dirty' mess. Too bad, I expected a bit more even after reading the ominous reviews of my colleagues below.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5

One of the recent additions to this range, a seemingly hop-forward blonde (hopped with - very - classic Saaz); bottle from Bierhandel De Picker in Zele. Gusher, but with very slow and careful opening, I managed to reduce the loss to a bare minimum. Very thick, frothy, obviously hops-enhanced, thickly plaster-like lacing, eggshell-white, foamy and stable head on an immediately cloudy peach blonde beer with 'dirty' orangey tinge. Aroma of cooked apple, banana, overripe peach, orange peel, wet sweetbread dough, iron shavings, powder sugar, straw bales, sweet tulips or other cut flowers, warm rainwater, toach of soap, hint of carrot soup going bad. Sweetish, mildly estery onset, peach, apple and banana, medium carb (on the soft side for a Belgian blonde ale, even, the gas must have largely escaped with the gushing), rounded, very soft, even somewhat creamy mouthfeel, with a light metallic edge (though a bit less so than feared based on the relatively prominent iron presence in the nose); bready, sweetish maltiness, touch caramelly, soapy, with phenolic spicy notes at the back, ongoing estery fruitiness, some lingering residual sweetness and a softly spicy, floral, earthy hoppiness, feeling 'wet' and accentuating the soapiness, yet providing only very mild bitterness - apart from this soft background pepper 'zing' all the way at the back. Soapiness, yeast fruitiness and malt sweetness linger more than hop bitterness. Considering the very name of this beer ('houblon'!), I was expecting at least a kind of Belgian IPA, in the sense of Belgian ale with more hops than traditional because it is fancy to throw in a lot of hops these days. But what I got, was this sweetish, rather simplistic and not entirely flawless cliché Belgian blonde... Could have worked for me with a much more generous Saaz dosage, though admittedly the Saaz does its work and adds a buttercup-, camomile-, grass- and soap-like quality to the nose and to the finish. In all: drinkable, but quite forgettable as well.

Imported from untappd on 02-05-2020

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

Donkergeel bier met weinig maak is licht zoet en licht bitter met iets van hooi en hout. Lekker biertje.

Imported from untappd on 02-05-2020

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

2 February 2019. At Brugs Bierfestival. Cheers to tderoeck, 77ships, Jerre, Kevin & Anke! Clear golden with a lasting, small, foamy, off-white head; some lacing. Aroma of grass, jenever, old white bread, apple peel, mouldy apricot, stale lime. Taste is light to medium grainy bitter, a bit grassy & yeasty on an 'old' bready-malty base; fruity notes of apple & apricot & faint sourish lime. Dry, grassy hoppy finish, yeasty & grainy, rather short, a bit stale. Medium body, slick-oily texture, soft carbonation. I guess they'll never learn.

Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 3 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 4

2 February 2019. At Brugs Bierfestival. Cheers to tderoeck, 77ships, Jerre, Kevin & Anke! Hazy brown with a slowly thinning, foamy, off-white head; some lacing. Weird aroma of tequila, plastic, varnish, shoe polish, industrial licorice, candi sugar. Taste is heavy sugary sweet, completely overdone, industrial caramel candy rendering it plastic-like; tequila-like alcohol peeping through already and supporting a light spicy bitter middle with a weird herbal touch, licorice & candy, weird note of sourish lemon peel. Dryish, sweet, candy-like finish, dash of slightly wry tequila alcohol. Medium body, slick-sticky texture, flat carbonation. This is bad!

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5

Imported from my RateBeer account as De Poes Bruin (by Brouwerij De Poes):
Aroma: 5/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 5/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 10/20, MyTotalScore: 2.7/5

2/II/19 - sample @ Brugs Bierfestival, BB: n/a - (2019-181) Thanks to the Belgian ratebeer crew for sharing todays' beers!
Slightly cloudy red brown beer, small creamy beige head, very stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: very yeasty, lots of overripe banana, more yeast. MF: soft carbon, medium to full body. Taste: sweet caramel, some dried fruits, malty, ripe banana, sugary, not very impressive. Too sweet for my liking. Aftertaste: soft bitterness, sugary, alcohol, banana, yeast, sweet, meh.

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

Imported from my RateBeer account as De Poes Houblon - Saaz (by Brouwerij De Poes):
Aroma: 6/10, Appearance: 3/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 12/20, MyTotalScore: 3/5

2/II/19 - sample @ Brugs Bierfestival, BB: n/a - (2019-180) Thanks to the Belgian ratebeer crew for sharing todays' beers!
Clear blond to orange beer, creamy white head, stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: malty, grains, hay, cow fodder, bit spicy. MF: ok carbon, medium body. Taste: malty, grains, hay, veal, weird bitterness. Aftertaste: more malts, hay, grains, cow fodder, bad, soft bitterness, bit metallic.

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

Dark brown colour, beige foam. Nose of roasted malts, coffee, smoke, plums candy sugar. Taste is rather sweet, caramel, roasted notes, some smoke. Nice beer!