Castelain Blond Biere

Brewed by Brasserie Castelain
Style: Bière de Garde
Benifontaine, France

Name: Blonde Biere
Date: 04/14/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

light yellow, thin head, light fruity flavor with a touch of spices, nice sweetness, very flavorful
-------- /> Name: Blonde Biere
Date: 08/10/2006
Score: iii to ii
Words: Bottle
Words: Tasting

hazy light yellow, big dense white head and lots of lace, light sweet spicy malt aroma, lightly sweet complex malt flavor, hint of fruity character that grows, light bitterness

Aroma: 6/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 12/20
Rating: 3.2/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: *4

Clear golden body, big bubbles rising, and a big white head. Aroma is spicy, slightly sweet, and grassy hoppy. Taste is quite sweet, a bit spicy, and finishes with a mild grassy bitterness, along with a bit of astringency. Body is light, fairly carbonated. Not bad, but it’s missing the complexity I’d like in a biere de garde.

(750ml bottle) Pours a clear pale yellow with a large white head. Aroma of grass, cereal, and mild spices. Flavor of spicy yeast, buttery, and grass with a slight bitterness.

Pale yellow body(blond) fills the snifter, almost clear with a deceptive short-lasting head. Obviously bottle-conditioned, coarse sediments are everywhere in suspension from the beginning of the pour, it's almost ridiculous. Aroma is pleasant straw (I wouldn't combine those 2 words usually, but this seemed like a good fit with the ensemble), light field hops. The sniff would gain a lot from being more intense. Fruity Biere de Garde: peaches and apples endow the tongue together with caramelic malts and subtle flowery hops. The finish is sweet like a pears pie. Body is medium and creamy. Nicely done beer, certainly not world-class, but like any Biere de Garde, this has a definite cachet to me, besides being effortlessly drinkable.

Very light yellow ale with a large, creamy, white head. Excellent retention and very good lacing. The nose is of fuzzy fruit, alcohol and grapefruit. The flavor is a bit thin, but sweet and malty. Light-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and lively carbonation. Short, sweet, but then extremely dry finish.

Pours a hazy golden with a large puffy white head and plenty of lace. Subtle malty and Belgian yeasty aroma. Light sugary body, perhaps too sweet. Dry bitter flavor toward the end. Not a bad Biere de Garde, but could use some balance and complexity.

As full of yeast chunks as stars in the night sky of a moonless night...Fresh cereal perfume the large, open field, as lavish flowers grow through a dry bread crumb soil...Musty pears lead us out wishing we could have stayed longer to better appreciate its depths...

Poirs yellow with a huge, fizzy, white head. Smells od hay, straw, and lemon with ins of grape, apple, pear and maple syrup.