Zundert Refterbier 4

Tap at Indewildeman, Amsterdam, 6th December 23. Pours a clear golden. Aroma is yeast, citrus. Taste is bright, hoppy, citrus, some yeast, aromatic. Nice one

Op tap bij In de Wildeman. Helder goudgele kleur, witte kraag. Kruidig, karwij, Belgisch gistje, esters, appels, fruitig, bitter. Lichte body, vol van smaak. Standaard Belgisch blondje met een twist. Prima.

Bottle, directly from the abbey. Color: Clear golden, dense white head. Aroma: Spicy. Taste: Malty witha nice hopbitter backbone. Spicy notes from the used rye malt and, as we recently learned with the introduction of Zundert 10 anniversary edition the brewers of Zundert use local gale in all of their beers. Yeasty hints. Medium body, average carbonation. Moderate sweet and moderate to over moderate (herbal) bitterness. Dry, bittery finish. Very nice low alcohol Trappist.

Dark blond colour with lasting fluffy head. Aroma and flavour have obvious sweet and spicy Belgian yeast. Doesn't taste overly sweet though. Finish has a nice dryness close to a Pilsener. Very flavoursome.

330ml bottle. Cloudy, orange, dark golden colour with average, frothy to creamy, moderately lasting, minimally lacing, white head. Spicy and slightly bready, malty, as well as herbal-spicy hoppy and slightly yeasty fruity, minimally yeasty spicy aroma, Witbier aspects (coriander, clove, banana), pear and herbs in addition, a touch of grey bread. Taste comes along the same lines with Witbier essence and herbal and pear accident (or accent), minimally bready-spicy undertones. Watery (but not thin) texture, minimally dry palate, medium, mildly prickly carbonation. Fairly complex for its low abv, light and drinkable, will not start to become boring if you have more than one at an evening - very nice.

The third beer from the trappists of De Kievit in Zundert in the southern Netherlands, honouring the ancient tradition of 'refterbier', a light beer for daily use within the monastery - traditionally hardly commercialized if at all, but this is 2023 of course, and with even Westmalle having turned their Extra into a commercially available brew, I guess the Zundert trappist monks got all inspired. Vichy bottle with khaki-green label, bought from De Kloostergang in Aarschot. Thick, foamy, egg-white, pillowy, dense and regular, very stable head, lightly hazed apricot blonde robe with golden glow and visible strings of fine sparkling. Aroma of white bread crust, unsugared bubblegum, green to eventually slightly ripe banana, unripe pear, white soap, grass, raw potato, moist white pepper, lemonbalm from an old herbarium, pumice, cooked turnip, dust, very vague green tomato whiff (briefly). Dryish onset, some fruity notes of hard green banana, unripe pear and unripe peach but relatively low in sweetness, slight sourish edge (oxidized green apple), fizzy carb in a very small-bubbled way, smooth and slick, bit soapy mouthfeel; cereally and grainy pale malt core, thinnish but 'filled' by effervescence and eventually also by the hops, which take a peppery, floral and rooty form, with notes of mugwort leaf and white pepper lingering for a long time, all but neutralizing the soapy 'middle' character. Hints of unripe fruit keep lingering too, softening the hop bitterness, but the finish remains dry and quite confidently bitter, more so than expected. Westmalle Extra must have served as the main source of inspiration here as there is more than one parallel that can be drawn: blonde, 4% ABV, hoppy finish, trappist yeast spiciness and (in this case somewhat restrained) fruitiness... I like the two dark, 'fully grown' Zundert trappists without celebrating them as masterpieces, but this one veers away from its brethren and shows a totally new side of what Zundert wants to do. I have strong suspicions that a tripel will be next but until that time, this dry and hoppy Belgian blonde (because that is essentially what this is) is certainly able to elegantly quench the thirst in the coming summer months, provided it becomes more widely available. Nothing extraordinary here at all, just basic Belgian style, but well-mastered.

0.33 l bottle from 'Trappist Tribute', best before April 2024. Hazy, golden with a medium large, frothy, almost stable, white head. Sweetish, rather yeasty-spicy, slightly floral and a bit fruity aroma of lots of banana, clove, some honey and a touch of pear. Slightly sweet, moderately bitter, gently grassy, quite yeasty-spicy and slightly fruity-floral taste of banana, clove, lemon peel, pear, honey, grains and light vanilla, followed by a short, gently bitter, slightly dry finish. Almost medium-bodied, fairly effervescent mouthfeel, average to lively carbonation. Nice ale, well-balanced and quite aromatic. Solid addition to the trappist world.