330ml bottle in 2012 (think it was a raffle prize at a beer festival from some time prior to that). Lightly hazy deep golden with a white head. Aroma of leafy hops, pine, esters and candied peal. Thick body and resinous hop bitterness mixes with fruity yeast notes.

11/11/2018 @ sample of 33cl bottle @ Vergeten Bieren tasting, Brouwerij Smisje shared with Koen and the brewer himself. 2009-version. Orange colour, small lacing. Nosse is sweet malty, ripe fruits. Taste malts, lots of sweetness, almost sugary, overripe fruits. Strangely aged...

UPDATED: APR 11, 2020 Dégustée au printemps 2010 au CHEVAL BLANC (De mes notes papiers). .

A hazed golden blonde ipa with a thin white head. In aroma, sweet fruity caramel malt with light oxidation character, light mineral notes, resinous citrusy floral hops, treacle, very nice. In mouth, a nice sweet caramel malt with light resinous floral hops, grapefruit pulp, light oxidation, treacle, pleasant and still solid after 7 years. Bièropholie imports.

*Old rating, best before 1.2013 (so bottled in 2008). Sweetish-alcoholic beginning with nice fruity-floral aroma. Intense floral hops on a way too sweet body. The aftertaste is nice bitter, sweetish-alcoholic with a great floralness. Nice try.

Grumsete brun farge med tynt skum. Lukter karamell, svakt av hunle og masse sødme. Dette blir en litt snodig dobbel ipa. Søtt og atter søtt i smaken også. Alkoholen kjenner man godt i ettersmaken.

Uklar mørk brun med lavt beige skum. Lukter gjær, malt, alkohol, karamell og nøtter. Høres i utgangspunktet bra ut men det var en noe kvalmende søt gjærlukt som ikke var særlig behagelig. Smaken var derimot en liten opptur. Søt kandissukker og alkohol, men ikke kvalmende. Noe bitterhet i avslutningen.

One of the first Belgian IPAs and effectively labelled as such; this trend has continued since then, to that extent that extra hoppy Belgian ales can now loosely be grouped as a ’Belgian IPA’ substyle. Thick and moussy, sticky, cream white head, deep orange blonde colour, cloudy. Powerful aroma of grassy, oily and peppery hops, tonic water, peach, chamomille, pepper, bread, apricot, pear, cardboard. Yeasty and fruity taste, vaguely sweet with pretty strong carbo, smooth with an early and long-lasting, complex, dry and assertive spicy hop bitterness on a mellow caramelly malt backbone. Though this style was all but unknown in Belgium when this was marketed, it already showed great similarities with the classic American West Coast IPAs. I hope Johan Brandt will brew this again some day in his new brewery.

Rated from beer log during 2009 Belgium trip...Golden in color, not very aromatic by American standards... Slightly sweet, not as bitter as most double IPAs I've had, but fairly otter finish on the palate.. Definitely conceals the 10% abv... Not bad, I've had better on the US but an interesting beer nonetheless ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

Double IPA with a very heavy Belgian body of sweet malt and smooth yeast. Full of ingredienst, this beer tastes like a meal.