Tap @ Cafe Hesp. Blonde. Malty earthy floral aroma a d flavor. Cookie dough. Sweetish. Decent.

16 February 2019. At Cambrinus, Bruges. Cheers to the family! Pours clear golden with a lasting, small, foamy, off-white head; some lacing; fizzing. Aroma of coriander, mouldy banana & orange, white bread, white sugar, yeast, pepper, white cabbage. Taste is medium fruity sweet, notes of overripe banana, apple, orange & lots of white sugar with that, some 'crude' yeast & grain initiate a medium spicy bitterness that brings coriander, pepper & something weirdly vegetable-like. Dryish, grassy hoppy finish, more spices, yeast & white sugar. Medium body, oily texture, fizzy carbonation. Totally unrefined, this adds nothing to the Belgian beerscape. So far no 'Ploegsteert' has impressed me...

Shared bottle at home. Pours clear deep golden with off-white head. Aroma of fruity esters,some sulfur. Tastes sweet with some bitterness. Medium bodied, highly carbonated. Tart finish.

330ml bottle. Barely clear, orangey golden colour with average to huge, fluffy, moderately lasting, minimally lacing, white head. Sweet-ish, biscuity malty and fruity aroma, hints of apricot and peach. Taste is sweet-ish, biscuity malty, fruity, slightly citrusy hoppy, notes of apricot and peach, some lemon, lime and lemon tea, some hop bitterness. Refreshing despite the sweetness - nice.

The house beer of the Pier of Blankenberge, where indeed a pub and restaurant is housed. Had it there from tap, with snow white, medium thick, cobweb-lacing head and cristal clear, warm ‘old gold’ robe with visible sparkling. Aroma of white candi sugar, breakfast cereals, honey, chewing gum, pear drops, iron, plastic, industrial cider, rubber. Sweet onset, quite a lot of residual white sugary sweetness, apple- and banana-like notes but otherwise notably clean and neutral in terms of esteriness; medium carb, slick mouthfeel, rounded cereally, bit corn-ish and honeyish malt sweetish body, grainy on its edges with a metallic touch to it as well as something unpleasantly plastic-like, continuing well into the finish where only a slight dash of grassy hop bitterishness is added. The metallic effect lingers as well. I get the idea of the stereotypical, easy and simple Belgian blonde house beer intended to resemble pale lager and this is as commercial, simplistic and accessible as it gets, lacking in depth, fruitiness and fullness and suffering from less enjoyable, metal- and plastic-like side effects. Comparable with Leffe Blonde and the like, feeling almost equally industrial; and adding insult to injury, there is not a shadow of a doubt in my mind that this is actually just and alias of Queue de Charrue Blonde (as the guy serving it, mentioned ‘Vanuxeem’ as the ‘brewery’), though without hard evidence I had no choice but to give it an own separate entry here. The admins are free to merge this with Queue de Charrue Blonde if they have more information on this, of course.
Earlier Rating: 9/30/2014 Total Score: 2.9
Blond 'session' beer in this commissioned series since 2009. Thick, creamy, light yellowish head, ’old gold’ colour, clear with little sparkling. Aroma honeyish, ginger, banana, cider, dandelions, grapefruit, cheese. Bittersweetish taste with subdued fruitiness, smooth, light orange and honey touches, hop bitter finish, a bit grapefruity, some residual sweetness too but not cloying. Boring throughout.

Botella 33 cl en el Lúpulo Oviedo diciembre 2007. Fcpref 26..04..2008 lote 26DF 16:04. (r104). Sin muchos recuerdos agradables. Corriente. Blonde normal.