I am a Bruges fool. Almost three years ago, in the heart of Bruges, Belgium, I stumbled across De Halve Maan, Bruges’ only brewery. So after stuffing my face with the best French fries I had ever tasted, my wife and I wandered down the street to wash it all down with a Belgian Pale Ale.

Today’s sample makes me nostalgic and while my kitchen table in Chicago isn’t quite the same as the brewery’s bar in the center of Bruges, I am still excited to bring back the memories of this brew.

First, I don’t remember the fresh beer I had three years back containing quite so much sediment. I don’t shy away from this quality in a beer, but if I were honest, it is a more enjoyable sipping experience to not have to strain the yeast through my teeth with every swallow. After a few minutes, however, the floaters have generally sunk to the bottom and the result is a hazy, orange-brown body. Carbonation seems good, a constant stream of bubbles popping through the surface of the creamy, off-white head, which has already begun its journey downward, leaving a pleasing trail of lace in it’s wake.

The smell is sour, lemony, fresh and yeasty. No hops and an ever so slight dirtiness. I was preparing to be disappointed, it seems like my memory of good food and drink is never quite accurate, but I wasn’t. The taste was decent, the the stinging scent of lemon smoothed out dramatically on the palate and the overall mouthfeel was great. Aside from that there was pepper and malts, but none of it was overdone, fairy simple, drinkable with just enough interest to keep me coming back sip after sip.

While I am definitely a Brugse Zot (Fool) myself, I am not quite so head over heels for the namesake beer. A decent brew, but with so many amazing beers born all over this historic brewing nation, this one just doesn’t quite stack up.