D'Été / Zomerbier

33cl Bottle from AH. Clear golden colour, white head. Aroma of Leffe-light, yellow fruits, some lemon peel, light spicy. Flavour is medium sweet, yellow fruits, banana, lemon peel, decent bitterness, light malty. Light bodied. Decent summer beer I guess.

330ml bottle from Auchan Grande Synthe. Pours clear gold, small frothy white head. Aroma has a smooth honeyed malt sweetness. Taste is smooth again with a gentle carbonation, light honeyed malt and floral notes, light yeast. Lightly sweet, uncomplicated and pretty easy-going. Not entirely sure what they were aiming for here. If it was a more boring beer than leffe blonde they achieved it.

The newest Leffe to date, a ‘summer ale’, bottle from a local Delhaize supermarket. Thick and moussy, snow white, plaster-like lacing head over a cristal clear, ‘metallic’ orangey-apricot blonde beer. Aroma of orange candy, chewing gum, industrial honey, plaster, cooked cloth-like pasteurisation, white sugar syrup, quite outspoken iron, raw green kale, cloves, popcorn. Sweet in a dull, clean kind of way initially, notes of banana and apricot but in a ‘sterile’, industrial, non-estery way, apricot jam rather, with sharp, fizzy carbonation; slick body, ‘white bready’ and cereally, sugarcorn-like with simple, syrupy-honeyish sweetness on top becoming a bit cloying in the end, where a metallic ‘zing’ becomes all the more clear and that unmistakable ‘cooked to death’-smell of pasteurisation returns retronasally along with a typical clove-like scent (often associated with the brand but of course by no means unique to it) and subtly grassy hop bitterishness. This hoppy touch is however incapable of acting against the sweetness, which becomes rather obnoxious in the end and by I am halfway through my glass, the beer bores me to death. Every bit as simplistic, almost childish, and artificial as expected, but perhaps a bit less repulsive than that Leffe Blonde which continues to gain unabated – and to me incomprehensible – popularity in this country; this one is basically a slimmer, lighter version of it and completely redundant even within the margins of the Leffe range.

Goudgeel bier met mooie stevige schuimkraag. Smaak is licht bitter hoppig en licht zoet met iets van banaan, citrus en vanille. Mooi bier voor de zomer.

33 cl bottle at Maison Leffe, Dinant. It pours pale golden with greenish highlights; thick white head. Aroma is not very intense: thyme, honey, smoke, some coffee in the background. Nice. Mouthfeel is soft, light, delicate. Bitterless, medium-lasting finish with hints of bread.

Flesje gedeeld met Tomhendriksen en Benzai. Goudgeel helder bier met weinig schuim. Aroma is fruitig moutig. Smaak is zoet en helaas geen nasmaak.

Bottle @ tasting shared by Inoven. Clear golden color, average sized white. Smella and taste lightly malts, sweet, slightly distant sweet hop notes. Average body, smooth carbonation.

Fles gedeelt door Inoven, geprobeerd met Benzai. Het is een helder goudgeel bier met een volle witte schuimkraag. Het heeft een fruitige bloemige geur, de smaak is moutig en wat fruitig.

F: big, white, good retention. C: deep gold, clear. A: malty, coriander, spicy, corny, bit caramel, bready. T: malty, watery spicy, corny, bit caramel, typical Leffe taste, medium body and carbonation, as good as only Leffe could be. This is really great stuff from AB InBev, this summer is nice weather but I felt that I missed something in my life so I have found this beer and my life has meaning and the colors of the future are bright now, many thanks AB InBev again for showing me the way and live long and prosper, 33cl bottle from Delhaize Chazal @ Schaerbeek in Brussels.