My parents were in Curaçao the beginning of this year, relaxing, soaking up the sun and savouring adult beverages. They brought me back a few beers that were available on the island. They brought me back a bottle of Gouveneur Speciale 140 by Lindeboom Bierbrouwerij, being told that it was the local craft beer of Curaçao. I looked up the brewery and it's actually a brewery out of Neer in Netherlands. I don't read Dutch but I got out Google Translate and it appears that the beer is a Belgian-style Pale Ale. From the rough translation I got, it is an easy to drink beer that's fruity and subtly hoppy, brewed with local spring water. I didn't translate before I read this but it tells me to pour half the beer out beforehand, swirl the bottle and then pour the there's as there's a good deal of sediment in this beer. 5.5% ABV.
Appearance: As I stated above, I didn't translate this label before opening the beer. The first thing I noticed is that there's a lot of floaties/sediment throughout the entire beer, quite chunky and reminiscent of the very first time I ever bought a Unibroue La Fin du Monde back in 2004. It's a dark blonde with a honey hue to it, clear at first but then starts to get a tad cloudy as the beer settles. The head is a whole finger's thickness of creamy beige foam.
Aroma: A tad grainy, sweet, a tad bit of iron (reminiscent to La Fin du Monde), a bit of a Belgian yeastiness, hint of bubble gum, honey and a light citrusy and floral hop presence at the end. So far, this is exciting me a lot.. this is exactly on style what I want from a Belgian-style Pale Ale.
Taste: Sweet Belgian-style Pale Ale with notes of honey, bubble gum, notes of caramel, a light toasted malt profile. The beer is pretty straight forward, moderately dry and leaves behind a very light floral and grainy aftertaste.
Overall Thoughts: I didn't know what I was going to expect when my parents brought me this beer as I was expecting a typical Caribbean-style lager and not a Belgian-style Pale Ale. This beer seriously reminded me of a few Unibroue beers I've had over the years, specifically Raftman (sans smoke) and Lune de Miel because of the honey-like sweetness to it. Absolutely tasty Belgian-style Pale Ale - I think I still have another bottle of this so I'll have to savour it before its best before date of March 6, 2020.
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