Préaris Belma
Vliegende Paard Brouwers

Copenhagen 1/5 2021. 33 cl bottle from Beerdealer web-shop. Simple light blue label with the Prearis brand logo with two battling horses in white and the name of the beer in green.

Pours unclear pale yellow with small sediments whirling about. Mid-sized, stable white head. Settles as thin layer of foam just covering the surface of the beer. Crawling up the sides of the glass. Substantial lacing.

Aroma is moderately intense with a fresh citric zest and a sweeter lemonade-like, fruity odor. Peach and orange. White sugar. Citrus. Light touch of pepper.

Light carbonation. Slightly thick, watery, soft, lightly tingling texture.

Flavor is medium intense with a medium strong sweetness followed by a stronger citric sour bitterness. Aftertaste is thin and a little sourish. Lingers shortly.

Nice, fresh and summerly although a bit thin.

 

 

 

 

330ml squat bottle, the little bro to some of the much higher-test offerings from this brewery to arrive around here of late.

This beer pours a hazy, yet bright medium golden yellow colour, with three fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat fizzy off-white head, which leaves some tiered stripes of sudsy lace around the glass as it lazily recedes.

It smells of sweet and barely edgy wheat malt, muddled light orchard stone fruit, a touch of benign citrus rind, gentle Belgian yeast, and plain earthy, leafy, and herbal noble hop bitters. The taste is still relatively sweet wheaten cereal malt, a pear and melon-forward juicy fruitiness, soft earthy yeast, ethereal black and white pepper spice, and more understated leafy, herbal, and dead grassy hoppiness.

The bubbles are quite active in their swirling and probing frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and mostly smooth, just a twinge of unruly yeast marring an otherwise pleasant jaunt. It finishes well off-dry, the sugar-buoyed malt and fruity titular hops carrying the day.

Well, now having experienced the Belma hop varietal more than a few times, I rather like its rounding out of the fruity esters in things like IPAs, and now, witbiers. This is by no means the most complex version of the style out there, but it is certainly drinkable, and eminently enjoyable on a balmy late-Spring afternoon.