Gaverhopke/Tired Hands Bittersweet Symphony

Brewed by ’t Gaverhopke
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Stasegem-Harelbeke, Belgium

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Cloudy amber with small white head. Nose is sweet and bitter, lemony with touch of pineapple, grapefruit and bitter herbs. Taste is bitter and a bit sweet, body full, texture a bit oily. Carbon quite enough. Palate is dominated by grapefruit, orange and lemon peel. Really nicel bitter sweef fantasy! Bitter finish. B@H

Squat bottle. Pours turbid dark straw orangy with 3-finger off-white head. Nose is funky rock sugary malt, resiny peppery hops, some fruit. Tastes of Belgian malt, hops, fruit, and black pepper. Very complex. Stays on the sweet side, with the hops and funky and fruity hints staying throughout. This one is very good.

UPDATED: SEP 21, 2011 yeast spice, medium sweetness from medium-colored Belgian fruit hints, golden raisins, apricots, etc. Grass and fair hop crispness. thick, sturdy head that stays for the whole glass. amazing yeast, very much the featured highlight of this beer. very nice dry almost champagne-like finish. ABV is hidden; could drink many of these in a row. very good beer.

33cl bottle. Hazy with bits in it, yellow orange liquid with little white head. Nose : tart with alcohol, pine, citrus zest. Strong yeast. Sip : low to medium density with some carbonation. Strange texture , nor creamy neither oily.... Sweet with well balanced refreshing development. Strong yeast and working even while you swallow it. The bitterness isn’t as strong as a regular IPA but it’s there and is mostly aromatic with citrus and pine. It’s rather strange beer I must say but really good. I wouldn’t call it IPA but I will come back to it. Hides well the alcohol.

Bottle from Beer Planet, Brussels
Cloudy deep blond color; generous head. Very nice hoppy aroma, fruity, fresh, without a particular fruit prevailing, maybe oranges; but also mild spices, and the combination is elegant. Lean body, with good dry malt flavor, quite sharp spicy character, followed by a correct bitterness, with quality hopping, resiny before fruity. Excellent.

Bottle: Medium sized vast sticky white head that changes slowly into a sticky lacing on top of a muddy murky darker orange colored beer. Aromas of hops, citrus, creamy grapes and grapefruit, French suppermarkets/plastic bags, yeast, hint of clay, floral, plant extracts and a hint of manure. After a while the more floral fruity hop tones dominate. Flavours of hops and hop fruits like citrus, grapefruit, sharper peach. bitters, some spices, milk, some thin but present herbs, cream, floral tones and some yeast. Aftertaste is lovely floral with hops, some hop fruit and bitters. Low cabo, soft but also light spicy mouthfeel, medium to lightly lightly fuller body and a light watery light oily ish texture. Not your usual smell, but it does not bother me at all and the beer itself is very fine, less to no traces of alcohol which is what I like when drinking a DIPA. This is a good beer!

Hazy amber color with a medium sized, off white head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of pine, tropical fruits, floral hops, citrus, tangerine, some grass, and caramel. Taste of citrus, pine, tropical fruits, herbal, light toast, with a grapefruit finish.

Bottle at Den Zytholoog, Adegem. Golden with a rich, creamy head. Intense grassy hop nose. Grassy hop bitterness blended with some fruity yeast flavours. Mild sugary sweetness. Refreshing and hoppy, yet different.

33 cL bottle. Pours hazy orange with a huge white head. Aroma is crisp hoppy, light orange fruity and peachy. Bitter, solid hoppy: peachy and crisp grapefruity. Bitter, dry fruity and peachy. Grapefruity and light mango finish.

It pours golden amber with a generous white head. The aroma is grassy, crisp hops, almost minty refreshing without the mint. The flavor is similar, with crispy yeast notes more like a saison than an IPA. Clearly a Belgian IPA in that tradition, over the hop-forward U.S. version of this style.