Bottleworks Bangelijk Blonde

Brewed by De Proefbrouwerij
Style: Belgian Ale
Lochristi, Belgium

This Belgian Ale pours a straw gold color from a 750ml cork finished bottle. Large sized white foamy long lasting head, with strong lacing. Aroma is orange, coriander, sweet, perfumy and peppery. A medium bodied Belgian Ale. Malts are fruity and sweet, apricots and peaches with a bunch of peppery species. Nice lively carbonation. Very smooth taste. Nice residual sweetness. Nice bright yeast. Touch of citrus. Very smooth tasting. Nice beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly sweet.

Poured a clear pale straw color with a huge, lasting, rocky, white head. Aroma has a full and malty bread component with lemon, honeydew, and spice. Flavor is very malty, a spiced biscuit tops with lemon slices. A fair amount of hop flavor comes out as well as a gentle bitterness. A tart astringency is left in the mouth that does not finish well after the sweetish malt body that the beer started out as.

2004 vintage 750 ml bottle into a Snifter glass. Pours a very yellowish see-through color with little white bubbles. Huge white foamy head tops this one. Aroma consists of yeast, fruit, banana and citrus. The flavor brings out many things, touching on spices, Belgian sweet yeast, coriander, and a bit of hops thrown into the mix as well. The finish mostly ends up touching on the hops and spices. I really enjoy this one. Another great brew brewed for us specially at Bottleworks in Seattle!

6/10/06 From the bottle.

Gushes from the bottle in a huge fountain of white foam. The aroma is fruity, estery, with banana and bubblegum and a hint of citrus and of course the characteristic belgian yeasts. Bück Dich’’s "plantain chips" descriptor is apt.

The flavor is extremely peppery and heavy on the lemon juice. Plenty of coriander, tanegerine, some lemonade-style sweetness, quite mellow on the hop finish.

Pleasant enough beer, almost like an amped-up witbier --- but this style just doesn’t leave me dying for first another sip and soon after another beer the way that some of the other belgian styles do. 7/4/7/4/14

Revisit 9/05/09, Palates evolve. I was a bit harsh on the comments the first time around though the 3.6 rating wasn’t so far off. Whether or not this is the best blond in the world, what is clear is that tonight it hit the spot perfectly, descriptors much as above but today each sip left me eager for the next and once the bottle was gone I was certainly sad. A conservative score would be 7/4/7/4/15=3.7

Revisit 9/11/09 - I grabbed another bottle at Bottleworks this week and either there’s huge variation bottle to bottle, it was somehow stored better in my cellar than in theirs (unlikely!), or I’m doing it a disservice by drinking after an Orval --- but this is a disappointment. 3.5 would be generous. Sweet off-flavors (plantain, again) most of the body and soul gone - I dunno - I don’t trust my own palate anymore.

(750ml bottle) Pours a cloudy yellow body with a large white head and excellent lacing. Aroma of mustiness, leather, florals, and breadiness. Flavor of spicy yeast and light citrus. Soft mouthfeel.

2004 bottle - Pours out yellow with an enormous head. Had to let it sit for 5 minutes before I could even attempt to drink it. Smells spicy, yeasty, and fruity - pretty nice. Taste is smooth and very similar to the smells. This is the best one of the bottleworks beers I had from this company. Not bad, I would buy this again.

Hazy yellow with highly active carbonation and the most amazing rocky, dense white whipped eggwhite head that formed into a solid 2" mushroom cloud like shape. Smells of bread yeast and black pepper with some lemon. Tart flavors of lemon peel with some floral hops. Spicy and bitter. Well balanced.

Not surprisingly, Bottleworks commisioned this little gem. Remarkable fresh malt with a clean flavorful yeast that is in no way overbearing. Sets the bar for other blondes. Clean clean beer with great flavor.