Castelain ChTi Blanche

Brewed by Brasserie Castelain
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Benifontaine, France

Bottle. Tesco Finest.. Cloudy orange (looks like apple juice) with a big disappearing white head. Aromas are crisp, fresh wheat with citrus, hints of banana, Not much coriander. Flavours are refreshing, wheat orange and lemon. Soft. Not the most multi-dimensional of beers. Not getting much coriander. Some wheat citrus sourness. Crisp and too bloating.

75cl bottle from Auchan, Calais. Cloudy, pale gold/green colour with lasting white head. Wheat, lemon and soapy hop aroma. The soapiness is just a bit too dominant. It has all the makings of a good blanche, but just fails.

Very hazed straw yellow as it sits in my chalice, with an assured, yet slim layer of snow white bubbles lay above. Looks like a wit. Aroma, sour and citric, but on first sniff, unremarkable. And that’s how I insist my wits smell...remarking of something, at least. No, none too pretty, wish I could state otherwise. Taste: Weird. Not terribly pleasant. Doesn’t have that uplifting zip and zing, that light, airy spirit a good wit should have. Feels laden down with something it shouldn’t be,...a bit plastic. Is this infected? Might be an old bottle, might be a bad one, but this is not a good wit in the least. Not a happy beer at all, at all.

<!-- b -->750 ml bottle:<!-- /b --> Pours a cloudy orangish/lemon color with a foamy white head. Aroma consists of dry white wine, lemon, very mild orange scent, and coriander. Taste is quite light and carbonated, lemon, not much orange, slight wheat note, not much spice at all in the taste. Palate is rather dry and sweet. Well, this is a rather uneventful witbier. It just falls short on many levels. There’s just nothing really there taste and palate wise. Got it pretty cheap, but I won’t be going back to the store to get more. <!-- i --> France....even their beer tastes like wine. <!-- /i -->

(Label says Tesco Finest French Wheat Beer) Light yellow colored, hazy appearance. Medium white head. Coriander, orange and sweetness with some yeast in aroma. Thin to medium bodied. Spices and orange with medium carbonation in flavor, aftertaste lasts with orange. Nothing special.

Bottle, 750ml, 5% ABV, as Tesco Finest French Wheat Beer. A cloudy yellow pour with a huge frothy diminishing head. Aromas of citrus and wheat. Rather sweet. A short somewhat watery finish of wheat, cirtus and a little coriander. Quite fizzy. Not great.

I honestly don’t know if this breweries beers are getting worse or if my palate has just called in sick and spent the day on the couch. Not the worst by a long shot, but this one sits alongside them all in the thin, watery mess stakes to barely pass as beer. Poured into it’s own chalice, quite chilled. Appearance was impressive as it turned out to be more head than beer. Surged up the spout of the glass to settle a good two inches thick and retained well to web down the sides. The body of beer was opaque and a tawny yellow in colour with fine wispy carbonation. Initially pungent and spicy, coriander, lemon, vinegar and egg aroma that was lost quickly. Similarly spicy, but more vinous and tart in the mouth with prickly carbonation that was at odds to the pasty smooth back end. Finishes off with fresh herbs with little to no aftertaste. Lemons and dull wheat flavours become pronounced but lack bounce and it’s watery, even as it warms. Simple, not unpleasant but undemanding. Average. (25cL, 08/06/06, Int’l Beer Shop, W. Leederville)

Corked and caged bottle. Medium sized white fizzy head that was mostly lasting, fine-medium sized bubbles, poor lacing, hazy, carbonated, and a light yellow hue. Malty, sweet, fruity aroma and a sour, tart, and some banana in the flavor. Very little going on with this one. Tingly mouthfeel. Light-medium body.