The ordinary blonde by Stadsbrouwerij Artevelde, a subsidiary of Huyghe housed in a mansion dating back to 1782, located right across the town hall of Ghent. I visited this place when it was not even an operational brewery yet, but today it should be in full operation and I assume this sample was actually brewed 'in situ' - time to visit it again and find out, perhaps. Bottle from the AD Delhaize supermarket near Zwijnaarde (next to the Media Market). Bit irregular but densely knit, snow white, cobweb-lacing, fine-bubbled and stable head on a misty straw blonde beer with yellowish tinge and a steady column of sparkling rising up in the middle. Aroma of soap and coriander seed to a very high extent, thyme, halfripe banana, raw turnip, grass, minerals, unripe peach, limestone, clove, raw white cabbage, celery, freshly cut green pear. Spritzy onset with dominantly numbing (over)carbonation even for this style, very minerally (like artificially carbonated bottled water), almost obliterating the fruitiness of green pear, green apple and halfripe banana, restrained in sweetness in spite of a background peachy touch; slick mouthfeel, cereally maltiness with a sharper grainy edge and little else, increasingly spiced with soapy coriander seed and hints of clove and thyme, until a dull but admittedly effective grassy hop bitter note shows up, pairing with the residual 'green' fruity aspects and whatever thin strings of cerealliness are left at this stage. Ends a tad more sweet (and green pear-like) than it begins, oddly; worse, though, is that at this modest ABV, they did not even manage to completely hide the alcohol, as a 'jenever'-like astringency is to be felt, albeit in the background - a very big minus for me in this category. I am all for 'Gentse leute' (fun in Ghent) and living in this wonderful city with its dense history, I can personally testify that a lot of 'leute' is to be had here, but this beer does quite the opposite: it feels like a watered down version of Delirium Tremens (at its dullest - as quality tends to vary somewhat even today), only serving those who seek to have a quick 'pilsje' at the premises of the brewery and marvel at the town hall in all its medieval and renaissance glory (depending on which part you are looking at). This is technically not a 'pilsje' of course, but this kind of bland Belgian blonde ales have acted as replacements for it since at least the sixties so the 'pilsjesdrinker' clearly is the consumer type envisioned here - even though I hasten to add that this brewery actually has a 'pilsje' as well and this beer is probably made a bit stronger and spiced to avoid competition with that. Not very motivating to visit that place again but who knows, they may have some limited specialty beer by now which is worthwile after all...

24/VII/24 - on tap, shared @ Luisterplein, Gentse Feesten, BB: n/a (2024-600)

Clear gold blond beer, small creamy white head, a little stable, non adhesive. Aroma: malty, grains, hay, cow fodder, metallic touch, yeasty, unripe banana, smells like Delirium… MF: very lively carbon, medium body. Taste: surprisingly bitter from the start, very yeasty, spicy, lots of coriander, a bit metallic. Aftertaste: super yeasty, metallic, grains, some alcohol, more banana, coriander notes, bleh, don’t like it.

Belgian yeast, very fizzy, alcohol, booze

Ok refreshing ale Hazed golden pour and a fine head. Fine lacing. Ok intensity in the aroma. Balanced sweetness and a pleasant carbonation level. Easy to drink. Malty, herbal, fruity and mild citric flavor [On tap @ source] Brewery #2589

Helder lichtgeel bier met mooie schuimkraag. Smaak is bitterhoppig en licht fruitg met iets van citrus. verder heeft dit bier voor mij een wat vlakke smaak en valt het enigszins tegen.