Belgian IPAs …

… the best way for me to describe just about every one is, “I don’t hate them, but even after all of their years of being around, I don’t really understand why they exist.” Over-hopped (or perhaps better put, highly hopped) beers are best left to the Americans, and even though this, and other such beers aren’t bad per se, I see no point in devoting any production time that could be put to better use making regular Duvel.

High, but very wispy and lightly sticky head sits above a rather pale, slightly hazed, well-carbonated body. In my old-school Duvel glass it’s lively if not especially attractive in terms of its hue. The carbonation is rather high actually, producing hoppy burps!

The citra of course is unmistakable, and it brings the advertised aromatics and simple, clean bitterness. The base beer offers the sweetness to counter the hops quite easily, and in the end the package is rather well balanced. In its own way it’s quite refreshing too. Some clean lines (which highly hopped beers can often lack), and even though the alcohol is definitively there, it seems lower than 9.5% and also just about appropriate.

The best way to describe this is to say that IF you are in the mood for a beer that drinks like a Belgian IPA, then this will definitely scratch that itch. It’s a beer that, “does what it says on the can”, so in that regard it ticks some boxes for me. Going back to my first words, “I don’t hate it”, but what’s the point of it? I don’t know, and this could have been a bottle of Duvel.