Gouverneur Speciale 140

ABV 5,5%

Bottle of 300 ml, at home, poured into a tulip glass. ABV 5.5%. Ingredients are water, barley, hops and yeast. Bottle fermented. 

Pours a pale golden yellow colour, with a huge head of three fingers in height, unfortunately froathy in texture, so it goes down really really fast, leaving but a thin line around the glass and no lacing whatsoever. Only a bit hazy and little activity in the glass.

Nice fruity and hoppy aroma. Mostly berries aromas, such as white mulberries.

Taste is bitter and quite on the hoppy side.

Medium to thick on the body, average carbonation and dry on the palate.

Very highly drinkable, the low alcohol helps on that and the price was not that high. Will keep it in mind.

3.48/5

look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Palm

ABV 5,4%

  One of the most widely available belgian beers here in Netherlands, along with Jupiler, I guess. I had it many times before and the supermarket around the corner had it on offer recently, so I grabbed the chance to get a whole crate of it. It was also a good choice for my new tulip glass to be used for the first time. 

  The small bottle of 300 ml gave me a beer light amber in colour, with slighty beige head of two fingers in height, with good retention, which left some traces of lacing as it was going down.

  A sweet aroma coming mostly from roasted malts. That's where the faint caramel aroma is coming from too.

  Taste is fruity you could say at first, but then the flavour of the roasted malts overcomes everything else. Slighty metallic aftertaste. 

  On the body is quite thin, with an average carbonation. 

  Now, I like Palm and for a moment I thought it could replace my usual lagers and pilsners that I drink after a long day at work, but after having it continuously for almost a week, I find it a bit boring, to tell the truth. Still, a good beer to break the routine every once a while.

3.23/5

look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Orval

ABV 6,2%

I got this beer at my local liquor store without knowing anything about it. It was just another option among all the other beers on the shelf. After coming home though and reading all those positive reviews, I was looking forward to drinking it. Instead, for a bunch of reasons, it stayed in my fridge till now.

A uniquely shaped bottle of 330 ml, with just one small, modest label mentioning the beer's name and other info, around the neck of the bottle. Poured into a chalice, after letting it warm up a little bit, since it has a recommended drinking temperature of 12°-14° C. Dark amber coloured, with a two finger head, white in colour, with some yelow spots every here and there.. Foam is thick in texture. Quite a few bubbles rising to the surface. Head has an average retention.Once most of it is gone, a thick enough part stays behindand covers the surface. 

Aroma was quite complex when I sniffed it the moment I opened the bottle, with the most obvious smell being a fig aroma.. After smelling it from the glass, I sense plums, pears, some light caramel aromaand maybe some old redgrapes. Great aroma.

Taste is great too, somehow in the middle between fruity sweet and hoppy bitter, with the scale turning on the bitterness' side when it comes to the aftertaste. It's very difficult to name some flavours exactly. There are fruity flavours, some clove too. Now I perceive some white wine flavour and some spices too. This beer is so complex, to the point you get another flavour with every sip. Alcohol very well concealed.

Full body with average carbonation, a bit tart on the palate. 

Overall, a fantastic beer. Its complexity makes for a great sipping beer. Those monks are doing a great job at their brewery.

4.25/5
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4