Duyck Jenlain No. Six (Blonde 6%)

Brewed by Duyck
Style: Pale Lager
Jenlain, France

Canned. A golden quite flat looking beer with a sweet floral aroma. The taste is sweet and malty and undistinguished. Acceptable but nothing stands out. Who’d have thought of putting Biere de Gardes in cans?

Head is initially small, fizzy, white, mostly diminishing. Body is clear medium yellow. Aroma is lightly malty (grain), lightly hoppy (flowers), with a note of DMS. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter, unclean. Light to medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation. If it looks, smells, and tastes like swill, it probably is. About as far away from a biere de garde as I’ve had.

Clear gold. Nose had a little skunkiness at first, but it faded away with a little time. Fizzy carbonation. Soft, buttery malts with an artificial-sweetener sweetness. Grassy-flowery bitterness surfaced in the finish; kind of drying. OK.

Big lasting white head, slightly cloudy orange body with tons of carbonation. Aroma is grassy with floral hops, very light. Taste starts sweet, malty and moves into a more bitter and slighty sour tone. Finish is more of the same. Aside from the aroma, this beer is somewhat unbalanced and off.

Mine was the old Jenlain Blonde, coming in at 6%. Pale gold color, OK head. Aroma was sweet honey, and lots of bready malts. Flavor was sweet, light grainy malt, and a faint floral finish. Also frankly a bit of skunk in here. Someone could have told me it was a European Strong Lager and I wouldn’t have questioned it. Not bad, but nothing worth getting exciting about.

Whole Foods, Winter Park, Fl - 11.2 fl oz bottle - labeled "Jenlain Blonde" - but now known as "No. 6". Pours a pale, sparkling golden with a frothy, white head with good lacing. Aroma is skunky, with some sweet cake mix like biscuity notes. The skunkiness mellows as it settles. Flavor has some sweet honey notes with some sweet biscuity back end accents. Mouthfeel is thick enough - sweetness fades just a bit near the end. Overall, much better though, than expected then when I first opened it.

11.2oz. bottle, best before date of 09/05. Sweet and grainy malt aroma, some spicy and lightly floral, grassy hop notes (Saaz?), some faint skunk. Light golden yellow color, clear, with a slight, fine head. Flavor is very lightly sweet and crackery, some very faint sugary notes and finishing dry with a moderate amount of hop flavor and bitterness. Thin and effervescent mouthfeel, though not overly so. Not offensive but not exactly interesting, particularly for the style.

I must admit that I had a misconceived notion that this beer was going to be bland and boring…. Then last night I sampled a couple fresh 12oz bottle of Jenlain….

Pours a golden blond body and a fluffy white head. The aroma is sweet and bready…hints of honey, plums, pears and a hint of red apple. Defiantly seemed like a hybrid lager/ale… something very different from what I am accustom to. There was a light yeasty lemon peel tartness in the finish, very grassy and a bit dusty… hints of musty farmyard….. I must admit to being rather impressed with this beer. A rather pleasant session beer overall.