Nostalgie reflex... Camping heaven.

Local blonde by this 'bierfirma' in Bredene, named after a statue there which is also depicted on the label; has been in existence for years and brewed at various breweries, but now found a new home at the Brew Society, to the occasion of which the range has recently been expanded with - surprise, surprise - a brown and a tripel version. This blonde one, brewed with wheat malt and flavoured with spices, shows an eggshell-white, irregularly but nicely 'barred'-like lacing, medium thick, slowly dissipating but generally very stable head and misty, deep tangerine- to even somewhat amberish-tinged 'metallic' orange blonde beer. Quite bright and vivid aroma (for style) of ripe peach, banana mush, soapy coriander seed, home made orange cake, honey, soggy bread crusts, freshly cut camomile, very strong phenols (cloves, even solvents), touch iron and clear background white 'jenever' (badly hidden alcohol, in other words, which should not be noticeable at all in a beer below the 7% ABV threshold). Fruity, crisp onset, fizzy and quite harshly stinging carbonation but acceptable for a Belgian blonde, lots of vivid fruitiness (ripe pear and peach, banana, freshly cut sweet red apples, orange and even mandarin impressions galore), slick body with a light soapy edge due to the malted wheat, smooth-biscuity and lightly rusk-like with lingering residual sugars with honeyish effect. Evolves into a spicy finish, with the coriander seed very clearly at work, supported by a floral hoppiness that provides retronasal flowery and leafy aspects though remains relatively mild in bitterness; the solventy and dry spice-like phenols return as well, but most importantly, a remarkably astringent, wodka-like 'white' alcohol effect shows up, warming everything - and overpowering the delicate features of hops, yeastiness and spicing. I do not know how many beers of less than 7% AVB I had that showed their alcohol so 'nakedly' and obviously, but I'm sure I can count them on the fingers of one hand. I did not have the earlier versions of this 'Blonde Betsy' brewed at Dilewyns and Bram's Brewery, respectively, so I am unable to say if this Brew Society version is any improvement or not, but judged by itself: quite bright, vivid and lively in its fruitiness and spiciness with an invitingly 'enthusiastic' nose, so everything starts off promising, but the solventy effects and abominably badly hidden alcohol are serious points of concern at least in the sample that reached my tasting table. I still have that new tripel version to taste, but if this 6.9% ABV blonde is already this alcoholic in its finish, I have little hope for that one...

Gushing to huge, dense, yellowish head, with lots of lace, over clear metallic copperish-golden beer. Caramel, toasted malts, "beery" nose, bit dried herbs, but generally sweet. Light bitterish-herbal notes on top of caramelly malt, sweetish to sweet. Finish has again a bitterish surge. Very light burning feel, bit slick. Aftertaste is lacklustre, indifferent. Nothing special. Thanks to B & T! --- Beer merged from original tick of Blonde Betsy on 16 Jan 2022 at 09:18 - Score: Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5. Original review text: Gushing to huge, dense, yellowish head, with lots of lace, over clear metallic copperish-golden beer. Caramel, toasted malts, "beery" nose, bit dried herbs, but generally sweet. Light bitterish-herbal notes on top of caramelly malt, sweetish to sweet. Finish has again a bitterish surge. Very light burning feel, bit slick. Aftertaste is lacklustre, indifferent. Nothing special. Dank aan B & T!

33cl bottle from Spar Oostende. F: huge, egg-white, extremely long lasting. C: deep gold, hazy. A: rich malty, orange peels, spicy, honey, fruity esters, bit yeasty. T: malty, fruity, caramel, bready, bit alcohol touch, honey, bit yeasty, peach, medium body and carbonation, not bad yet bit too simple for me and almost like tripel feeling, enjoyed still.

Imported from my RateBeer account as Blonde Betsy (2018-...) (by Bram's Brewery):
Aroma: 5/10, Appearance: 4/5, Taste: 6/10, Palate: 3/5, Overall: 12/20, MyTotalScore: 3/5

12/IV/18 - 33cl bottle @ Katie & Kevin's place - BB: n/a (2018-370) Thanks to Katie and Kevin for sharing the bottle!

Clear orange beer, big creamy off-white head, pretty stable, bit adhesive. Aroma: lots of banana, bit spicy, floral, more spices, some cloves, bit malty. MF: soft carbon, medium body. Taste: spicy, soft bitterness, banana, some cloves, soapy touch. Aftertaste: spicy, hay, dry finish, some banana, rather boring Belgian style, but brewed correctly. Another "crowd pleaser".