Farmhouse IPA
Brouwerij Kees

 

Bottle at home. Bright hazy orange with a white head with modest retention. Farmhouse funk, lemon zest, flowery hops. Herbal and medicinal bitter.

Citrus notes on the bouquet, fully carbonated and distinct yeast on the front. Not overly hopped.

 

Amber orange colour with a huge fluffy head of foam that lasts quite well and leaves nice lacing. A full nose of yeast and fresh grass and a lot of fruit flavours like orange, grapefruit, lemon zest (marmalade) and green apple. This continues in the taste: this beer has got a lot of flavour going on. Spices like cloves and pepper also make an appearance here. Quite bitter with a dry piney finish. Medium-bodied and refreshing. Good stuff.

330 ml bottle into tulip glass, best before 7/1/2016. Pours hazy golden orange color with a 2-3 finger dense and rocky off white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts. Dense soapy lacing clings around the glass, with a good amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of big grapefruit, tangerine, lemon zest, orange peel, pine, pear, apple, peppercorn, clove, light banana, wheat, biscuit, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of citrus/pine hops, fruity/spicy yeast, and moderate pale malt notes; with great strength. Taste of big grapefruit, tangerine, lemon zest, orange peel, pine, pear, apple, peppercorn, clove, light banana, wheat, biscuit, herbal, floral, grass, and yeast earthiness. Good amount of pine/citrus rind/herbal hop bitterness and peppery yeast spiciness on the finish; with lingering notes of grapefruit, tangerine, lemon/orange rind, pepper, pine, wheat, biscuit, herbal, grass, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Damn nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/pine hops, fruity/spicy yeast, and moderate pale malt flavors; with a nice malt/bitter/spiciness balance, and minimal lingering hop astringency after the finish. Very dry from carbonation and bitter/spiciness as well. Medium-high carbonation and medium body; with a very smooth, moderately crisp/sticky/resinous, and fairly creamy/grainy balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol as expected of 6%. Overall this is a great Belgian IPA. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/pine hops, fruity/spicy yeast, and moderate pale malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, and fairly refreshing to drink. A very enjoyable offering.

 

Very delicious ipa, very nice color as well.
Bit floral also.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured into a Gulden Draak tulip. Pours a hazy orange amber with a nice two finger whitehead with great retention and lots of lacing. Aroma of grainy malt, saison yeast, lemon citrus, grassy with light funk. Flavor starts slightly sweet with orange citrus, wheat, banana, hints of stone fruit, then dries out to more saison style grassy, peppery finish. Long lingering herbal bitterness with hints of hops. Medium bodied with nice peppery carbonation. A nice flavor progression with the start like a Belgian IPA crossed with a saison, but the finish is more classic dry saison. I really liked the light but distinct fruit flavors in the start and middle; this is fairly complex. Nice dry, bitter finish. I liked this a lot and will get it again. I've been impressed with the ales from this brewery; this is not one of my top styles, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I'm impressed.

Got this one from the Duvel guy.

From a bottle into a snifter
EBC: 12,5
EBU: 63

APPEARANCE: Pours 1+ finger, medium-looser looking, foamy, off-white head with decent retention. Clear gamboge orange with slightly higher levels of carbonation. Head fades to a full wisp and clings to the sides of the glass. A splotchy wisp remains leaving foamy lacing down the glass as it empties. Foamy and carbonated.

SMELL: Lots of wheat, clove, banana, some citrus hops and caramel notes on the nose. Reminds me more of a hoppy wheat beer than anything else.

TASTE: Wheat, clove and some banana esters into the swallow, with the finish being more clove and wheat dominant. Notes of citrus and caramel with light funky flavors, as well as plenty of bitterness lingers on the palate. It all kind of clashes.

PALATE: Thinner body and higher levels of carbonation. Light and a bit airy on the palate, goes down fizzy and finishes quite dry. Some bitterness lingers. Lots of burps going on here.

OVERALL: Lots of wheat character and too much hop bitterness for the style. This one is definitely not my thing, as it is too hoppy for a wheat and not funky enough for a farmhouse ale. Some of my friends like this quite a bit so I am definitely in the minority here. Kees has made a bunch of fantastic beers so far, but I'll pass on this one.

 

Great beer that presents a real nice balance of hops, malt, yeast and spice. It feels like a crisp pale ale up front, with notes of pine and orange, before transitioning to a bready malt and finishing with a peppery, earthy taste that's a little tart. Extremely dry finish makes this a real treat. Tastes are more subtle than what American labels are putting out.