vanDeStreek Playground IPA - YES

Had this one at a birthday party. Really complex hops going on. Very nice.

Below Brew Wild Juice Chase 0.5% - Yes

Very nice hoppy fruit flavours not over powering and pleasingly bitter. 

Jupiler 0.0% - yes

Another beer that tastes uncomplicatedly like beer. Satisfying bitter hop aftertaste.  250ml is small...

Athletic Pale Ale 0.5% - yes

 Beer that tastes like beer!  Very simple and convincing. Hooray!

La Trappe 0.0% - yes

Somehow I forgot to take a picture of this bottle. It was the second best AFB I tasted today and I didn't take a picture of the other bottle either. From memory it's not so different to La Chouffe or indeed Leffe 0.0% so it's a yes by default I guess.

Northern Monk - Holy Faith - Maybe

Another hazy IPA with a fairly limited flavour  Not unpleasant but not one to rush back to either.

Drop Bear Bonfire Stout 0.5% - YES

Absolutely an experience. I wish to repeat proper treacle toffee taste and good mouth feel.

beavertown laser crush 0.3% -No

Terribly wishy-washy,  probably my least favourite so far.

Jump/Ship Jackstaff IPA - Maybe

As time goes on, I'm starting to get a little more fussy about which near beers I'd want to repeat. This is a fairly plain IPA. Perhaps a little light on mouth feel. Innocuous.

Electric Bear Unruly 0.5% -YES

Not from Dry drinker (and neither is my bloody refund yet) but accompanying lunch at the Sheep and Penguin. Looks like it might be a collaboration.

A very tasty pale with good mouth feel and balanced sweetness, accompanying the good range of bitter citrus from the hops selected.  Very much a yes. 

la Chouffe 0.4% - Yes

Surprisingly Chouffey! A little thinner, but still very good.

Jump/Ship Steamboat Hazy Pale Ale 0.5% - Yes (just)

Mildly tropical once a little warmer than fridge temperature. Not much aroma, given the reasonable amount of up front flavour. Lemon rather than grapefruit lingers. It gets a yes but it's borderline.

Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5% - Maybe

Quite ordinary, lacking a little sugar in the palate to match the ale colour, not particularly strong hop flavours, but prefer to commercial lager for sure. 

Maisels Weisse 0.5% - Yes

I'm very surprised to report that this completely alcohol-free beer didn't taste like some kind of energy drink, which had been my fear from previous alcohol-free wheat beers. In fact, this was a very pleasing pint to pour and had had an authentic flavour.

Big Drop Brewing - Pine Trail Pale Ale 0.5% - Yes

Good balance of sweet and bitter. There's a tiny hint of berry fruit in the up front taste. Aftertaste like a toned down Sierra Nevada. I would like to taste back to back with Bero Double Tasty. Very similar I think. 

BERO Noon Wheat 0.5% - Maybe

So close to being a yes, perhaps only a because I seen to be less enthusiastic about Wheat Beers than I used to be.

Nicely balanced with a dash of floral lemon.

BERO Double Tasty West Coast Style IPA 0.5% - YES

Pleasingly citrus but still very much beer flavoured over the fruit. Nice mouth feel. Good for a sunny day.

BRULO 7 HOP 7 GRAIN 0.5% - Yes

I'm starting to taste a selection of low and no alcohol beers from the Alcohol Free Co.  Their range was good, but the communication around unavailable items and refunds has not been on point so far. 

For this set of reviews I'll be judging whether to order again, so it will be simply Yes/No/Maybe 

First up is this BRULO 7 hop 7 grain, which has a distinct pineapple aroma.

The sharpness and bitterness are in good balance on the palate and there's no over sugary feel in the mouth. 

Brewed in Belgium and one to order again.

Moinette Brune 8.5%

A brown ale from brasserie Dupont, manufacturers of the famous Saison.

This would have made a good head-to-head with the Maredsous. I'm not sure why I didn't taste them together. 

Treacle Toffee apple noie and palate. Pleasing acidity and spicy hop notes but perhaps not the saltiness from the abbey ale? Only back to back tasting would reveal if salty one day is spicy another...

I'm keen on this although the appearance in the glass is perhaps a little less alluring that l than Maredsous, as the head dies more quickly and the colours is more chestnut than ruby.

I'll happily drink a case full. 8/10

Maredsous 8 Brune. Abbey Ale - 8% abv

Caramel, Treacle Toffee malt fills your palate, but there's enough tongue tingle from the lasting effervescence and the accompanying acidity to keep the sweetness from becoming overpowering. 

As the sweetness dies there's bitterness and a salty edge, that I suspect comes from the hops.

The ruby brown is accompanied by a pleasing yellowy head that persists long enough to keep things attractive.

It's a satisfying beer from many angles. It will be interesting to see how it measures up to the Trappist ales that it aims to emulate.