NEDIPA hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Citra and Mosaic, by what can be considered - to my humble opinion - among the best hazy IPA brewers in the Netherlands today; can shared by Hinke, cheers! Medium sized but quickly thinning and eventually dissolving, snow white head over a hazy apricot blonde robe. Aroma of yellow kiwi (clear Nelson Sauvin), granadilla, ripe pineapple, papaya, brioche dough, honey pomelo, passionfruit, fresh coconut, honeydew. Hop-fruity onset, textbook juiciness of passionfruit, mango and granadilla, softly carbonated with full, fluffy body; smooth doughy maltiness, providing enough body but still entirely submerged in tropical-fruity hoppiness, most prominently guava, honey pomelo and granadilla - but most of all the Nelson Sauvin yellow kiwi, 'refreshed' by the citric edge of Citra and both amplified by the Mosaic. Importantly, the hops also provide a mild 'end' bitter touch which does not disrupt their tropical, sultry, fruit-juicy effects - a balance difficult to achieve - and the alcohol, though silently warming, remains perfectly hidden. Contrary to other reviewers below, I got no hop burn. Ticks all the boxes when it comes to contemporary New England IPA at double strength and to me reconfirms how skilled this Groningen brewery really is at brewing this type of beer. Fully enjoyed - perhaps also because of the beautiful setting of Ghent's new Jam hotel, installed in the northern wing of the old Leopoldskazerne, a reconversed military base on the edge of the inner city.

Ambreus only got out of the starting blocks a couple of years ago but is now increasingly producing less obvious lambics, like this elderblossom one - in a very small tradition kicked off by Cantillon's 2009 Zwanze, still in existence today under the name Mamouche. Very loose and large-bubbled, irregular, off-white 'collection of bubbles' rather than a true head, dissolving quickly and completely over a cloudy peach blonde robe with rusty hue. Aroma of green plum, unripe nectarine, sorrel, elderblossom indeed but not overpowering, unripe mandarin, stale lime juice, peach kernels, wild blackberry (bushes), kefir, crabapple, wet or even mouldy wood, raw onion indeed, damp straw, sweat, wet clay. Tart, fruity onset, lots of unripe grape, hard nectarine and green plum, wild apple and gooseberry too, seamlessly connecting with a deep, very yoghurty lactic acidity, softly carbonated with vinous body. The drying effect of this pronounced lactic acidity runs through the whole, carrying the stonefruit and sour apple effects with it - but also an underlying minerality as in a very dry white wine (Chablis); rounded malts form a firm but supple background structure while the elderblossom effect grows, though it somehow remains subtle and subordinate to all the green stonefruit effects that dominate till the end, enriched with a tannic woodiness, bacterial funky notes (pond water) and aromas of sorrel, overripe lemon and wet leather. Dry, tart, very fruity finish with underlying old hop bitterness and this typical 'green weed' effect I got in other Ambreus blends too - no doubt coming from the De Troch lambic. The elderblossom acts sharply 'green' here rather than blossomy (in comparison with e.g. Lindemans Blossom Gueuze), but remains altogether subtle, perhaps even too subtle, accentuating the unripe stonefruit, pond water and wet green weed aspects of this lambic rather than expressing itself properly. I was also expecting a more fiery carbonation - which I think in this case would have been beneficial to the overall flavours. Needs some finetuning I guess - elderblossom can be delicate and refined, but perhaps the bitter plant-like flavours that typify De Troch are a bit too crude to do it justice.

The great Kees Bubberman, arguably one of Holland's most bold and brilliant 'postmodern' brewers, treats us to an ambitious and boastful 'Bubberman' beer every two years, with this dark barleywine - partially 'eisbocked'! - representing the 2024 edition. Thanks to Martijn for sharing this beast at Proevertjesdag! Open, thin, pale greyish ring of foam dissolving over a misty deep bronze robe with ruddy-reddish glow, notably dark for a barleywine but in any case still fully translucent. Aroma of 'boerenjongens', raisinbread, caramel, my grandmother's elderberry jenever, toffee, vanilla from both the bourbon and the oak, dried apricot, medlar, cooked pear, port sauce, hint dusty attic. Dried-fruity onset, dried blueberries and plums, raisins, sweet but not too sticky with softish carb and very full, vinous, smooth body; deep layers of toffee, hazelnut, nougat and dry caramel ensue, even displaying a slight toastiness (in line with the dark colour of the beer) which I do not expect in any kind of barleywine. Bourbon-like alcohol becomes evident in the finish, with a plum liqueur-like side note and vanilla-like effects also coming from the oak wood itself; hops remain behind the curtains so bitterness remains limited, but the toasty effect does survive in the finish and brings some balance against the sweetness - and just because this sweetness refrains from sticky sugariness, does that all too well. The alcohol is obviously very noticeable and provides a great deal of finishing, soothing warmth - but even less so than what would be the case in e.g. a fortified wine of equal strength. If you must still play this outdated Eisbock game, then this is apparently the right way to do it: apply the technique to only part of the beer and blend in the Eisbock part later. The result is impressive, with the alcohol (also from the bourbon of course) being well-integrated without overtaking everything else - something I was not expecting at this ABV, to be frank. Intense for sure, but deliciously satisfying as a 'digestif' of sorts - and still very beery and drinkable. A 'tour de force', as we say, glad I got a taste of this majestic brew.

Imperial stout flavoured with sweet yellow clover seeds - which seems to have a certain historical background, though not much information is to be found about it; the coumarin in this plant species is also found in tonka beans, cinnamon and fenugreek, so I guess this is a 'local' kind of way to provide an answer to all those flavoured U.S. 'impies'. It is brewed by a microbrewery in a village located about 25 miles west of Paris. Waferthin, greyish beige, open and even incomplete to eventually vanishing ring of tiny bubbles on a very dark caramel brown robe - not entirely black though, held under bright light it remains even translucent, with mahogany core, but otherwise still looking pretty black. Aroma of dry caramel, brown stock, 'Haagse hopjes', liquorice more than tonka or cinnamon though both these elements are suggested as well in the background - all thanks to that sweetclover seed, treacle, dark chocolate bars, solventy effects (nail polish!), cheap brandy, salmiak, clove, something vaguely minty but this is probably just that annoying solventy effect again. Sweet onset, dense but far less so than I am used to from this type of beer, raisin, dried fig, pear and medlar notes, flanked by a stock-like umami note but this aspect luckily remains very light; soft carb, vinous and smooth body palpably thinned by the alcohol - the proportionally 'paler' hue compared with most other contemporary strong stouts already gave that away. Caramelly in its core, even a bit toffeeish, with only minor 'chocolateyness' as well as minor 'coffeeness' - two typical strong stout flavour elements I kind of miss here a bit. Treacle, walnut oil and lingering beef stock and dried fruits fill the middle, retaining considerable sweetness while roasted bitterness remains altogether limited; a strong liquorice-like flavour does set in early, shifting to a more tonka-like effect - doubtlessly the coumarin from the sweet yellow clover seeds, which must have been applied quite generously. Quite 'hot' finish with solventy effects - though luckily a bit less so than I was fearing based on orthonasal perception - as well as brandy-like, warming alcohol, which burns through the texture just a bit too easily; hops are there but hardly add much bitterness, so that this stout ends with lingering sweetclover seed aroma (as said: tonka- or cinnamon-like), lingering caramelly sweetness, too little body and too much heating alcohol. I like the idea of applying sweetclover seed to achieve the tonka bean or cinnamon effect in a strong stout from a native European source and this one does that generously enough, but it lacks the thick, dense structure and roasted effects any stout at this ABV demands - making it collapse a bit, or at least keel, under the weight of the alcohol. Needs work in its basic structure - but if they can get that right, I am looking forward to revisit this altogether originally-flavoured stout.