Blanche de Charleroi

Brewed by Brasserie Val De Sambre
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Gozée, Belgium

Bottled. Hazy pale yellow, creamy head. Citric wheat malt flavour. Light bodied with clean mouthfeel and a light touch of coriander. Refreshening but not offering anything out of the ordinary.

Bottle. Unclear light yellow color with a large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, white head. Aroma is moderate malty, wheat, moderate yeasty, citrus, lemon. Flavor is moderate sweet and light bitter with a average duration, and a dry finish. (Citrus / lemon shin bitter). Body is light to medium, texture is watery, carbonation is soft. (151007)

(250ml, 1999(?)) Cloudy lemon body with medium white head. Aroma is medium sweet, wheat, orange. Taste is medium sweet, orange, wheat. The probable age of this beer may explain the lack of crispness or tartness.

probably slightly infected - cloudy honey colour, big head, vegetable aroma, too much carbonation, bitter aftertaste

Ridiculously high, very fine & dense white head over hazy beer, the very image of lemon squash. Initially overpowering coriander nose, fake citrus aroma. Virtually neutral taste, bland to the utmost, with some faint reminiscences to lemon, near without any acidity, but for the CO². And some coriander... Rather fizzy; wheat slickness, light body. Witbier at its narrowest - uninteresting from all points of view.

Batch 03-12-99 Aroma of freshly squeezed orange juice. Bright yellow pour, looks like champagne, wtih fewer bubbles and a few chunks floating about. Slight white spritzy head. Tart, lemony flavor, lifeless mouthfeel. Age has probably gotten the better of this one.

Sweet perfumey lemon meringue liberally peppered with coriander aroma, including the pastry. Huge dose of coriander, orange peel, caramel, oats. Cherry and melon notes discernible. Really slick and chunky m/f, mouth tanging with orange sweetness and tangible perfume. Lacy and persistent. Tripel Karmeliet splashes. No real acidity or dryness. Biscuit, oats, banana and papery sherbet. Peppery milk. The sort of brazen but still enigmatic spicing that first got me hooked. Unsubtle but natural tasting. Underrated. A guilty pleasure, a huge cut above industrial supermarket Wits sweetened with chemicals…

Batch 3-12-99, sampled 9-29-03. Superb aroma, really rich. I was bitterly disappointed when I drank it -- fizzy, some yeasty musk and fruitiness, but pretty bland. Some oxidized/smokey flavors that I'll chalk up to the beer being old, but there wasn't any protein drop in the bottom. Appearance dings for the 8 oz bottle, and the label, which gives the impression that a sewer line ruptured someplace in Europe.