Alternatief Hik-Bier Blond

Brewed by Picobrouwerij Alvinne
Style: Belgian Ale
Heule, Belgium

WOW. 33 cl bottled. Second tasting. Hazy golden with big white head. Nice. Malts, fruity, hops and yeast aroma. Flavor is hops, some sweetness, bitterness. GOOD !

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.

Bottle, 33 cl. Taste this beer first at Hop’s Karakterbieweekend (june ’06). Rated this on febr. 07. But re-rating after yesterday. Dark golden almost orange color, cloudy, big white head. Aroma is very malty, hoppy, coriander and a bit yeasts. Flavor hopbitter. Medium body. Taste id great, full of hops, bitterness and a fruity caracter. Really good beer.

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.

Hurrah for bitter blondes... Cloudy gold with lasting, laced head. Pretty. Hops and straw aroma. Flavor is hoppy, with some sweetness that’s overwhelmed by dry, bubbly and bitter. Up there with Bink for nice, hoppy blondes. Unexpected and damn nice.

Bottled. Hazy golden colour with a huge beige head that leaves some lace. Aroma is quite sweet of toffee, caramel malts, some mild fruityness and nectar. Flavour is malts, some stinging sweetness along with mild spicyness. Also some hints of yeast and mild grassyness.

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)

(Bottled) Hazy golden with a medium, partly lasting head. Sweetish-honey-malty aroma with hints of (pleasant) diacetyl and quite pleasant, aromatic hops. Slightly sour-malty, honeyish flavor with some wheaty hints and low bitterness. Medium-bodied with balanced carbonation. Quite nice, but slightly unclean, and lacking character somewhat.