Baladin Isaac

Brewed by Le Baladin
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Piozzo, Italy

75 cL bottle. Pours hazy orange with a thick white head. Dry hoppy and yeasty aroma. Saison yeasty flavoured with a light wheaty touch and mild floral flavoured. Subdued caramel malty. Ends medium dry and slight phenolic.

Bottle shipped direct. Cloudy dirty dark yellow with a light head. Dusty banana scent - faint like the dust in a kids discarded bag of marshmallow bananas. Dirty palate. Flavour is lemon, light banana and toast. No excitement on any level as expected for the style. Lemon followed by powdered banana. Lasting sour lemon. Does gain a bit through the bottle with some grassy notes.

Thanks Martin Italy is now complete, Page 246 of Michael Jackson’s Great Beer Guide. This is not the most dynamic of wits, faint lemon and grapefruit, and dusty bananas. The head on this beer did not hold up very long and the beer gets slightly more interesting each sip. Only 157 of MJ’s 500 Classic Beers to go.

chiara schiuma buona persistente non eccessivamente profumata leggero chimico corpo medio malto discreto acidita buona quosi elevata speziatura poco si fa attendere un po

Hazy yellowish with coarse vanishing head. Sweet aromas, yeasty, little spicy. Flavour is again sweet, plain, yeasty, lacks that light refreshing note that could justify picking a wit.

Bottle, bought @ YNWA, Kolding. Pours a muddy pale yellow - almost creamy in colour. Aroma is powerfully spiced, lots of ginger, camomille as well as grassy and grapefruit hops. Medium carbonation and a little thin. Flavour is sweet and rather spicy again. Biscuity malts mix nicely with ginger, coriander and a light fruity sweetness. Quite dry and bitter finish.

750 ml bottle (5% ABV). A hazy orange beer with a thin disappearing white head. Nice aroma of spices, mainly camomile and mallow. Peculiar flavours with again camomile, coriander and mallow, plus some fruity notes (pear). Some wheat and vanilla too. Medium body, average carbonation, very light acidity, not so long sweet finish. Surely an original witbier from an original brewery.

Considering the style, Scores ranging from 1 to 5, 5 being the most intense
Appearance:
Body:   Clear(1)->Murky(5) : 4     Pale Yellow(1)->Copper(5) : 1     Still(1)->Volcanic Sparkling(5) : 3
Head:   None(1)->Large(5) : 4     Lasting: 4     Lacing : 4
Aroma:
Intensity : 3  
Yeast : 4   Bread : 2   Dough : XX   Esters : 2   Phenols : XX   Dusty : XX   Spicy : 5   Apple : XX   Banana : 2   Tropical Fruits : 2   Brett : XX   Barnyard : XX   Leather : XX   Wood : XX   Vinous : 2   Cheese : XX   DMS : XX   Diacetyl : XX Sulfur : XX
Malt : 3   Pilsner : XX   Pale : XX   Vienna : XX   Biscuity : XX   Toasty : XX   Hay : 1   Caramel : XX   Honey : XX   Cereals : 2   Grainy : 2   Wheat : 3
Hops : 2   Noble(1)->American(5) : 2   Leafy : XX   Perfume : 2   Orange : XX   Floral : 1   Lemon/Lime : XX   Herbal : XX   Grassy : XX   Piney : XX
Notes : Pepper : XX   Cloves : XX   Coriander : 3   Ginger : XX   Orange : 2   Earth : XX   Vanilla : XX   Oxidation : XX   Bubblegum : 1
Flavor:
Initial Flavor : Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 3   Finish Dry(1)->Sweet(5) : 3   Sourness : 2   Acetic : XX   Lactic : XX   Bitterness : 2   Farmy : XX   Complex : 2   Length : XX
Palate:
Light(1)->Full(5) : 2   Flat(1)->Fizzy(5) : 3   Clean : XX   Sharp : XX   Watery : 2   Oily : XX   Chalk : XX   Astringent : XX   Alcohol : XX   Mineral : XX

Comments: A fresh, spicy, pleasant and original witbier, but it’s hard to justify such a premium price (12Euros in a Rome restaurant).