Boelens Bohème

Medium sized, creamy, off-white head retaining well but mostly around the edges of the glass; cloudy, warm peach blonde colour. Lots of aniseed indeed, in its purest form, rendering an almost candyish effect; other impressions of apple, banana, biscuit, orange peel and grass are drowned in this ethereal aniseed scent. Fruity onset, peach, hint banana, gooseberry, soft carbo, powdery yeast touch over a supple, smooth, soft bready and lightly caramelly malt background, with aniseed becoming increasingly stronger; it fortunately does not reach a liqueurish level, but does have a kind of ’cooling’ aromatic effect retronasally, reminding me of old-fashioned aniseed-flavoured peppermints; it also clashes a bit with the earthy, peppery hop bitter accent popping up at the back and I cannot help but feeling it leaves a certain astringency deep in the throat as well.