Helleketelbier

Here's a brewery who's "Witchy" labels have long intrigued me, for some reason they seemed to jump out to me on the shelves (hey I'm a sucker for a cartoon image)

Brouwerij De Bie was founded in 1992 in Watou, near Poperinge on the French border, then in 2001 moving to nearby Loker before in 2011 finally settling in its current location at Wakken, Dentergem in a renovated farmhouse - here you can witness the entire brewing process from hop field to bottling.

So here is one of the breweries most popular beers, namely Helleketelbier.

A hazy, deep amber beer that is capped with a large, white, bubbly head that all too soon collapses in on itself.

Aroma is at first sweet caramel toffees but then you get sharp green apples, prickly spicing and a pine like hoppy finish.

Taste is also an intriguing mix of sweet and tart - sweet in the form of caramel malts, brown sugar and honey.
Then just as noticeable you get the tart unripe peaches, citric notes and a sharp, hoppy / herbal finish, there's also a hefty dose of spicing for good measure (nutmeg and coriander).

A brewery that has a history of bottling problems, resulting in infected beers (yes I've had experience) but lets hope the recent move to a new brewery marks a new era and a very bright future for De Bie.