Glazen Toren, Saison d'Erpe Mere

Delicious saison from Glazen Toren in Erpe-Mere (surprisingly enough). Sub £7 about 5/6 months ago, money very well spent. Watched Spectre, it was dull.

Brouwerij Lindemans, Blossom Gueuze

I think I drank this relatively fresh, purchased from Beer Gonzo after it'd been on other Belgian sites for only a month or so. Very pungent elderflower nose along with some sharp vinegar. The taste was basically Bottle Green with a very mild sharpness to it. Minimal funk, no oak. Medium dry finish. This was ok at the start, but I quickly got a bit bored to be honest. Would've been great shared on a pub terrace by the river in the sun. £13. I've never had the pleasure of Mamouche so I don't really have anything to compare this to, but I don't think I'll go back to it.

Duvel Moortgat, Tripel Hop Mosaic 2014

From August 2014. Not sure what happened here, but not a pleasant drinking experience unfortunately. Was tremendously excited at the prospect of a beer I know well being bittered with the trendy hop-du-jour Mosaic, but the actual taste was cidery and not at all nice. Bitter with the subtlest of hop profiles. Pricey and dissappointing.

De Struise, Pannepot

Not really into dubbels and quads, but there you go. Perhaps I'll give it another go at some point.

De Struise, Black Albert

A desert island stout. I had the 2013 version (I'm guessing?) at new year 2013/2014 (preceded by some Laurent Perrier) and another a few months later. The first was out of the fridge and left to stand for 15mins or so, the second at 14°C (approx). 2 very different experiences in taste terms. The appearance is standard: butterscotch head, oily and black pour. For my first bottle, there was only a minimal nose but it increased throughout. Coffee. Dark sugar + dried fruit (raisins). Balanced with burnt malt and a coffee bitterness. Meat: marmite and dried mushroom. This was one of my first 'Belgian stouts', so the high(ish) carbonation was a bit weird (having been used to Kernel impy brown slickness). Occasionallly in the drinking, it reminded me of a supercharged Guinness Foreign Export. Overall impression was sweetness and stickiness, good but not blown away.

My second bottle however: oh my days. The hops appeared and changed the thing entirely. A powerful nose this time - rainwater mushrooms and grassy hops, some nail varnish. The taste was as above in places but more akin to a well made cappucino with hops. Some liquorice at the death but I could live with that. I've bought up a few bottles of the 2015 vintage - I can confirm that it's just as good and I'm quite smug in the knowledge that I still have 3 bottles waiting.

Brasserie Fantôme, Saison

A very popular Belgian saison, particularly in the US I understand. It's pretty 'complex' I suppose - there's a small sourness going on (cider vinegar on the nose), ripe orange, sweaty farmhouse (brett?) - the taste is kind of all over the shop. It's kind of cool though - I quite like the jumbly nature of it. It's not heavy going like the Moneuse, even though it's a similar abv and the colours aren't particularly dissimilar. After I'd acclimatised to it, my overriding impressions was that of a dry hopped saison: overripe fruit style hoppage - some pineapple, sweetness (malts?), acidity too. Finsh was bitter, some more hops there too iirc. Warming but not overly boozy. A warm up drink would do well I think. Fantastic saison overall. I have another one.

Brasserie de Balugies, Moneuse

Dark orange pour, yeasty aroma + ripe fruit. Mouthfeel is heavy. High carbonation (obv). Taste is yeast, saison (:/), some fruit, but no funk/sweat/barnyard (unlike the D'Epeautre). Some bitterness in the finish. Hard to drink all if this. A bière de garde rather than a saison? I do like Blaugies though - hope to one day get hold of that one they did with Hill Farmstead.

Brasserie de Blaugies, Saison d'Epeautre

Big fat pop as the cork came off! No gush though. Purchased from Bottledog for a semi-decent £6.50. Sweet + sweaty nose, light body. Taste had some funk, coriander?? Quite sweet and some yeast. Small bitterness in the finish. Dry. Good. Will buy again.

Brasserie Dupont, Moinette Biologique

Probably a belgian golden ale rather than a saison I think. My notes say "solid strong belgian beer". Pleased with the photograph though - took me ages to balance the damn thing.

Westmalle, Dubbel

Prunes and raisins in the snout. Follows into the taste, along with bruised apples (maybe pears?) and possibly some bananas. Root beer? Sarsaparilla? Dandelion and burdock? (Phenols?) Sweet malty parenthesis. Big carbonation obviously, bittersweet and dry finish. The Westmalle Dubbel is clearly a king amongst beers, balanced yet with so many different flavours to unearth. Readily available in Waitrose for £2.29. Get this and the Karmeliet.

Leffe Brune

This Leffe bought for me by a mate after leaving the Brixton Craft Beer Co somewhat ignominiously (insert pithy rant about jobsworth barstaff here): cheers Mike! Banana and gentle coffee nose. I drank this after tasting Saison Dupont for the first time. It was a little less punchily flavoursome than that, but of course, sometimes less is more (i.e. quads). I enjoyed the maltiness of this as a change to my usual penchant for pale beers.