Beer Diary Today, Hasselt (2026)

27/01/2026

Wanna know some nice facts about ?!
Listen up!
Also wort and lambic days up ahead, will you be there?!

23/01/2026

🔸️HopSaSam 🇧🇪
🔸️Blue Seadragon
🔸️Belgian Quadrupel
🔸️Calvados Barrel Aged
🔸️10%
🔸️from
—
pours a deep mahogany ruby glow witj a dense tan head. The aroma is rich and powerfull: dried figs and dates, caramalized brown sugar, hints of spices and dark chocolate and a fresh breeze of orchard appled and subtle boozy calvados warmth from the 6 months barrel rest.

The sip! It's like a festive autumn classic Belgian Quadrupel that got invited to a harvest festival and came back wearing oak and orchard apples. Rich malty backbone if raisin, figs and toffee holds the centre, while calvados barrels lend soft apple brandy whispers, vanilla warmth and a hint of spices that linger without overpowering. There's def depth here. Layers of fruit and a classic quad warmth balanced out by barrel complexity.

The aftertaste carries the beer with a slow wave of gentle alcohol warmth, oak tannin framing the sweetness and just enough apple brightness to keep the sweetness from being sticky.
It's the kind of beer you think about between sips.

🍺 About the Brewery
HopSaSam is quite a quirky little brewer from the eas of Flanders. Always trying new projects such as wild fermenting, experimenting with different types of barrels,... His line of dragons are his 10% Belgian Quads aged on different barrels. These heavy bangers are always on point, same same yet different enough to really taste the influence of the barrel.
I'll definitely keep my eyes open for the next Dragon😇

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13/01/2026

🔸️Brouwcompagnie Rolling Hills 🇧🇪
🔸️Eddie's Lab
🔸️Imperial Waffle Stout
🔸️10,4%
🔸️from
—
🦆🦆🦆Happy day of the Rubber Ducky!!! 🦆🦆🦆
Imagine a beer that smells like a Belgian Sunday Dessert brunch and then somehow gets even better when you taste it!

The aroma is as Belgian as it gets: Fresh Belgian Waffles, dark Belgian chocolate and a whiff of vanilla and even maple syrup somewhere.

Even in taste, this comes in like a liquid Belgian waffle. Rich, luxurious malt sweetness wraps around your palate like a cosy blanket, carrying notes of golden syrip, baked dough and brown butter. But this stout isn't just sweet. There's a refined backbone of roast coffee and dark chocolate that balances the sugars beautifully, keeping it a balanced full pallet of flavours.

🍺 About the Brewer
Rolling Hills is located is a microbrewery from the Flemish Ardennes. They started with bringing back the monumental styles of barrel aged sour ales. Special edition oud bruin even an aged pale sour.
While respecting those older styles, they also experiment with newer craft styles.

🍻About Eddie's Lab
Eddie's lab is the brewer his creative workshop. Where adventure gets free rein. Small batch experiments, unexpected mash-ups and bold takes on styles where nothing is off the table. Like this Imperial style. Combining the best of Belgium in one liquid dessert drink.

Thank you H2o for sponsoring the ducks 😆
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11/01/2026

Check out the post for the tasting notes!

08/01/2026

🔸️Brouwerij Vansteenberge 🇧🇪
🔸️Gulden Draak Fire
🔸️Amber Chili Tripel
🔸️10,5%
🔸️from
—
Gulden Draak Fire pours a deep dark amber color with glowing copper rim and a soft tan head that is hiding something bold.

The aroma is the well known , rich dark fruit and caramel warmth but with a twist of cinnamon, pepper and a hint of almost smoky spice that sets the senses alight before you even take a sip.

Then the taste, big dark malty sweetness roll in like a late night confession: raisins, figs and toasted toffee.
But the most unexpected ending. Warming cinamon heat with a peppery kick that lingers on long after swallowing. There's warmth from the alcohol, yes but there is fire following from the chili aroma that is added to the beer. And it keeps you coming back for more.

🍺 About the Brewery
Brouwerij Vansteenberge is a sixth generation pure Belgian Family brewery. With heaps of brands under there umbrella, Gulden Draak is their flagship. And am I happy that they started discovering the brand. 5ish years ago they started barrek aging this unique darker tripel. The appelbrandy barrel aged is still the best version I've drunk. But also the quadrupel, stout and this one are great addition to the brand. And! It is still Gulden Draak! Some breweries take their flagship to use the name and make a complete different beer. Not Gulden Draak, in each variation you can still taste that it is indeed just a variation on that amazing base beer!
And just for the brewery. If you send me a package of every Gulden Draak variation, I will do a live stream where I taste all of them in one sitting side by side! 😆

If you like a little bit of spice in your beer, I would definitely advice trying this beer!

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05/01/2026

🔸️The Beersteward 🇧🇪
🔸️Emmer Ginja Barrel Sour
🔸️BA session sour
🔸️4%
🔸️from
—
Another version of the BA(=Barrel Aged)!
So exited this one pops of to with that soft refreshing sour touch. Then aroma burst: ripe cheries, tart and juicy but not overpowering the beer but more supporting the refreshing floral touches of the hibiscus, folding into soft woody oak notes that give more body to the beer.
The finish adds crispness, dryness and a whisper of cherry liquor without any alcohol sharpness.

This is not just a session sour! This is depth and complexity hidden in a playfull and refreshing drop 💧

🍺 About the Brewer
actually brewed Emmer the first time for his own wedding. Great choice, low alcohol crisp sour you can drink all day long! But the love for beer and experimenting took him further to try and barrel age the beer. I was really curious when I hezrd: barrel aging a session ale?! But it worked! All 3 times already! It gives a whole new meaning to the style.
And did he stop there?! Not at all! He has 3 pastry stouts brewed together with the guys from Dutch Bargain that I have yet to find!
More about them in a further post, if I find them 🙈

🍻About the barrel.
The choice for a French oak barrel which then has been used for is peculiar! I had to look it up but Ginja is a Portuguese cherry liquor. Most famous from Lisbon, they steep sour cherries in barrels with spirit and sugar. I love that the barrel kept the taste that well and transfered it beautifully to the beer.

Cheers to the beersteward! Looking forward to see more experimental beers!
—

27/12/2025

🔸️Brasserie Timmermans 🇧🇪
🔸️Oude Framboise
🔸️Fruited Lambic
🔸️6,7%
—
This one pours like a jewel, ruby-red with a light sparkle that catches the light and invites a closer look. The aroma is pure raspberry but layered with that subtle funk only true lambic can offer: fresh fruit at the front, cheeky barnyard character just behind it. Then the first sip: vibrant, tangy raspberry sweetness gives way to dry acidity, wild yeast complexity, and just enough oak-like depth to keep it interesting. It’s bright, balanced, and endlessly sip-able with an unimaginable depth.

But this beer isn’t just about raspberries. It’s about history.

❗️Why Oude Framboise? Well where most fruitlambics are young lambics macerated on fruit, this lambic also uses older lambic in there to make it more of a blend with a wink to the Oude Geuze.

🍺 About the Brewery (and why it matters):

Brasserie Timmermans is ancient in beer years — over 300 years of lambic brewing in Itterbeek, just outside Brussels, making it one of the oldest active lambic breweries in the world. They still work in the region where lambic has to be brewed: the unique microflora of the Senne valley makes spontaneous fermentation — that wild, unpredictable, wood-aged magic — possible.

Since 1993 Timmermans has been part of the John Martin Group, specifically as a treasured member of Martin’s Finest Beer Selection. That partnership isn’t just corporate — it’s helped Timmermans retain its artisanal roots while sharing its lambic heritage with the world. John Martin, a Belgian family business with English brewing roots dating back to 1909, supports Timmermans’ authenticity and global distribution without turning it into just another commercial brand.
The two sons who have taken over recently have blown new life into their different breweries. Here in Timmermans they stay respectfull to the old traditions while still finding new ways to bring it.
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BeerDiaryToday

17/12/2025

🔸️Botteljee 🇧🇪
🔸️Foxtown Beer Crew 🇧🇪🦊
🔸️Cuvée Renard
🔸️Irish Whiskey infused biere Brut
🔸️10,7%
—
The beer opens and pours like a golden champagne, elegant with a beautiful white smooth head.

The aroma is subtle but layered — light funk, fresh hay, soft citrus peel, a touch of oak, and those unmistakeble boozy notes of the Irish whiskey coming through.

First sip is elegant and restrained. A delicate acidity lifts the palate, followed by gentle fruit notes, think more pear skin, lemon zest, maybe a hint of white grape, all wrapped in a dry but full on boozy frame of the whiskey in the finish .

This is a beer that rewards attention. Sit with it. Let it warm. Watch how it opens and shifts. It may overwhelm you in the beginning here but when warm up's tell's a story.. and what kind of story!

Btw if you want to get your hands on one?! Still in stock and

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🍺 About the Collaboration:
Botteljee came with the idea to celebrate her nephew that passed away. As a big Irish Whiskey lover that should be included as well as what better style then Biere Brut to celebrate.
His nickname was fox and the same year as his passing, she met with Foxtownbeercrew so what better brewery then them to make this collab! 🧡
Also profits of this beer are donated to a charity namely TeGek!

12/12/2025

Happy Abt 12 day!!! St Bernardus Abt 12
Belgian quadrupel.
My first specialty beer love and still high up in my Belgian quad list!
#12

09/12/2025

🔸️Brouwerij De Leite 🇧🇪
🔸️Fils à Papa N°17
🔸️Barrel-Aged IPA
🔸️6% ABV
🔸️from
—
This one pours a golden glow with a soft orange hue. But don’t let the color fool you. The aroma hits first with a burst of sour apples and fresh fruity notes, layered over a subtle malt backbone and a soft, woody sweetness that whispers “rum barrel.”

First sip? Bright acidity, tangy fruit, almost tart, but balanced with bitterness and that barrel-aged boozy depth. The sour-fruity start only joined by caramel-wood undertones and astringent bitterness that lingers, leaving a sharp but pleasant edge.

The beer will definetely warms you up with it's full boozy notes but it misses much of that ipa touch. Through barrel aging it leaves more of a pale sour than an IPA, but hey maybe that is what happend when you barrel age IPA's?!

—
🍺 About the Brewery:
Brouwerij De Leite is one of those Belgian craft outfits that likes to mix tradition with experimentation. With Fils à Papa N°17, they’ve taken a base of hoppyness and fruit and thrown in barrel-aging for a twist. The result? A hybrid that doesn’t sit neatly in one box — part sour ale, part barrel-aged curiosity, part something all its own.

I've always enjoyed De Leite their beers. They are always just a little different. Not the main stream you would expect. They don't follow the path - they carve their own!

Btw I'll notice in the comments if you have seen al photos 🙈

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04/12/2025

🔸️Force Majeure 🇧🇪
🔸️Chai Winter Ale
🔸️Winter Ale / Spiced NA
🔸️0.3%
—
When you open the beer, the aroma meets you straight away! It’s straight out of holiday-time daydreams: think cinnamon sticks, clove shadows, a hint of nutmeg and cardamom, maybe even a faint whisper of vanilla or baked spice cake.

But then when you pour it you get a beer with a golden blond colour, like fresh straw in the glass!
Could it be? This colour with those spice combination?

First sip starts off with fresh beer notes, malty backbone and a full texture, especially for a non alcoholic beer. Then the finish, a warm hug in liquid form. The chai spices hit softly but clearly: cinnamon, a faint clove cheek, a cardamom flicker, giving warmth rather than bite. The body sits somewhere between medium and full, enough to feel cozy, but still easy to sip.
—
🍺 About the Brewery:
Force Majeure started with a mission: “100% flavour, 0% alcohol” — reinventing Belgian beer styles without compromise. Stijn started the journey since he didn't want to give in. Due to training for a triathlon, he didn't want to drink alcohol but still wanted to drink those traditional beers us Belgians are known for. Instead of giving in to all the non alcoholic IPA's he started brewing his own Belgian traditional NA ales.

But with Chai Winter Ale, they lean into tradition and seasonality: the Belgian winter ale, reïnvented. A winter-beer that doesn’t shy away from spices or warmth in a golden blonde jacket. It shows that even a brewery known for balance can throw down some holiday magic.

All proceeds of this beer also go to "De Warmste Week" from Studio Brussel to support a good cause!
To be honest I am a little bit biased but as a winterbeerlover, I do love this beer.
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02/12/2025

🔸️Brouwerij De Hophemel
🔸️Belina
🔸️Grape Ale
🔸️7.1% ABV
—
Belina arrives in the glass like a little invitation to mischief — bright, lively, and just a touch mysterious. The aroma immediately hints at grapes, not in a heavy wine-barrel way, but in that fresh vineyard-air kind of way: fruity, delicate, elegant and dry.

First sip? A crisp, clean snap of bitterness leads the way before the grape character starts weaving through. Think gentle fruitiness, hints of grape skin and must, a soft tartness that lifts the beer rather than pulling it sour. It’s light on its feet, playful, and refreshingly dry — almost brut-like without fully turning into champagne.

As it opens, Belina becomes this mix between two worlds: the bright bitterness of a modern ale and the soft, rounded notes of young grapes. It stays refreshing, never heavy, and finishes with a dry, vineous flick that keeps you coming back.

It’s the kind of beer you drink slowly because you want to follow all the little shifts, the kind that has you thinking, “Is this beer trying to be wine, or is wine trying to be beer?” And the answer is: it doesn’t matter. It’s simply a beautiful blend of both 🧡

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🍇 About the Brewery:
Brouwerij De Hophemel loves walking the experimental edge. They brew with curiosity first and traditions second. Bringing a refreshing craftbeer wave to the older city of Hasselt. Each release feels like a small story, a new idea, a “what if we tried…?” brought to life. Belina fits perfectly in that spirit: a beer that blurs boundaries, explores local ingredients by working together with local wineries, and refuses to stay in one category.

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Beer Diary Today

27/01/2026

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