This was the very first Troubadour beer, since 1999, tasted in Ghent that year, rating based on old notes. Apparently this was influenced by the saison style back then, but I did not find many saison properties in this and I’m not sure this is still claimed today. Another Belgian blonde, but it did already show some more character than usual and thus kind of anticipated what was to come out of this beer company in later years... Creamy, thick, frothy, yellowish white head, hazy orange blonde colour. Pleasantly sweet spiced aroma of gingerbread, cinnamon, ’speculoos’, dried banana, white bread, apricot, powder sugar, straw, camomile. coriander seed. Fruity, bit estery onset, peach, pineapple, orange peel, sweetish, white candi sugar, honeyish even, countered with a light sourishness and bready yeastiness, some caramelly malts in the back, soft and quite full mouthfeel, drying herbal hops in the finish as well as ethereal spicing (coriander, even a tad 'speculoos'-like). Well-crafted but still a bit cliché. Also tasted as Gollem Blond, from tap at Gollem in Antwerp in August 2016, in which the sweet-and-aromatic ginger-like spicing seemed more outspoken than in the original version tasted back in 1999; though I have no further information about this, it seems perfectly sensible that the spicing has been tinkered with and increased over the years. Should re-rate in its current form to be sure about this.

330 ml bottle at the Beerstore, Thessaloniki. Light hazy pale golden color with white head. Citrusy fruity, orange, malty aroma. Sweet and light bitter, fruity taste. Almost medium oily body with average carbonation.

A light yellow beer with a big and white head. The nose is fruitful, lots of mandarin that gives the unique aroma, also some sweetness, bananas, and hint of spices. Taste has mandarin, other sour citrusfruits, spices, some bananas in the background. Medium bodied, strong carbonation calms down after a whirling. Interesting mandarin is the best part of this beer, tasteful.

Keg at Cafe Gollem. Pours golden, light honey on nose, taste is smooth, light honey and toffee.

BOTTLE 33CL. BB 11/02/2015. A bit of gushing.

Look: cloudy golden-amber, off-white creamy head.
Aroma: sweet malts and grains with a strange whey/cottage cheese off-flavour.
Taste: malty, grainy, quite sweet with a minimal touch of slightly spicy hops.

Draught @ Gollem Bierlokaal. Aroma is musty with overripe apricot and hints of peppery spices. Flavour s somewhat spicy with herbal touch. Also ripe apricot, toffee, bush leaves and bread. Drinkable, the herbal spices disturb a bit here. Feels quite Belgian for a golden ale.

Belgian blond beer with a little more hops than usual. Results in a freshly bitter blond beer. Nice.