Alternatief Hik-Bier Blond

Brewed by Picobrouwerij Alvinne
Style: Belgian Ale
Heule, Belgium

(Bottle 33 cl) Courtesy of yespr. Hazy golden with a dense, white head leaving some lacework. Fresh, fruity nose. Medium-bodied, lightly tart and fruity with some phenols. Somewhat astringent finish. 160408

Hazy golden with huge white head. Sweet fruity aroma with yeasty and spicy notes. Sweet and slightly sour flavor with brett, spices and yeasty notes. Ends sour.

Bottle. Hazy amber coloured with a medium sized and creamy off white ehad. Spicy aroma of yeast and fruits. Spicy flavour of yeast and fruits with acidic notes and notes of brett and hops. Spicy and hoppy finish.

33 cL bottle. Pours hazy orange with a dense and lasting chalk white head. Coriander and yeasty spiced aroma. Flavour is light yeasty spiced. Very minor acidic infection/brett flavour. Medium mellow yeasty finish. Light orange fruity into the far finish.

In short: A superb almost funky extra-yeasty Saison-ish beer trying to pass as a regular Belgian blond ale
How: Back from Europe tasting session with Montreal crew
The look: Cloudy golden-blonde body with a medium white head
In long: Nose is not quite funky but certainly barnyard. I could smell that beer for an hour. Heavily yeasty and very doughy. In fact this is one of the doughiest beer I’ve ever had. Bready citrusy dough and dry orange peels. Hopping mixing noble hops grassy dryness, citrusy hops and foresty elements. Dry dusty finish. Nourishing fluffy body, feels like a meal! In some ways this reminds me a lot of an extra-yeasty Lost Abbey Red Barn Ale. Wow!!! what an unexpected surprise, that label is exactly the face I made on my first sip.

My Bottom Line:
Doughy yeast and piney, citrusy hops frolick in this pillowy and quenching Belgian Ale. Such a complex hoppiness in a humble vehicle of drinkability seems to always seduce me.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-Creamy foam decorates the cloudy orangey blond.
-The finishing wooden hop bitterness is as pleasant as it is drying.
-The body is very healthy and the carbonation fluffy.
-All flavors are intelligently integrated and balanced.

Bottle.

Bottle: Poured a golden color with a thick huge fast acting white head. Aroma is fruit and soap. Taste is sweet honey and grain, there are some spiceness to it also.

Bottle. Alc. 6.5%. Clear medium orange color with a huge, frothy, excellent lacing, fully lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, toasted, moderate to heavy yeasty. Flavor is moderate to heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. (290208)