6.8

Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 6.5 | Texture - 7 | Overall - 6.5

VBDCK, self-described craft brewery which came onto the market in 2015 with their slogan "untouched by monks", has increasingly chosen the path of commercialism lately, producing a Pilsener-like blonde before this one, a 'true' Belgian blonde, which ironically does have a certain link to the tradition of monastic brewing in this country - it almost seems Kerel is forsaking its own principles now, but I guess this is a way to survive in a time when the craft beer hype has sadly passed its peak, an evolution which has already lead to the closure of several innovative 'postmodern' breweries (Atrium is one example). I think this brewery, which I have been following from even before it was officially launched, would be well advised to return to its original state of mind and come up with a more 'internationally' oriented beer soon, but that is just me being nostalgic. Anyway: an ordinary Belgian blonde literally named Blonde is what we have here today, sold in those typical 'pharmaceutical' bottles, but - at least for now - only through the Colruyt supermarket chain, which does present an exclusive brew of their own every now and then (see e.g. a few excluvise Liefmans editions - but do not get me started on that annoying Cara Pils). From the Colruyt in Zele. Medium thick, off-white, very regular, tiny-bubbled and tightly knit yet slowly breaking head on a completely crystal clear, very pure 'old gold' coloured robe with disparate strings of visible sparkling. Aroma of cold French fries, crackers, dried peach, pear, withering kitchen herbs, leftover brioche dough, baked banana, dried apple peel, something oddly smoky or sulphuric (freshly lit match - maybe DMTS?), vague (natural but old) rubber, half-cooked kale, chamomile and that cooked smell of pasteurisation faraway in the background. Sweetish onset, a layer of honeyish sugars over impressions of dried banana slices, pear and apricot, with a moderate minerality from active (even slightly stingy) carbonation; smooth, slick body. Cereally-sweetish pale maltiness in the middle, under ongoing residual sweetness and a trace of that dried banana continuing, towards a rather brief finish with a dash of floral hop bitterness sticking a bit to the root of the tongue, paired with clove-like phenolic spiciness and some of that kale and sulphur returning retronasally (could be DMS and DMTS, respectively, but pasteurisation could also be at work here). I can even feel the alcohol, in a wry, 'jenever'-like way, and that of course should not at all be the case at this ABV... By far the most mass-oriented, simplistic and 'empty' Kerel beer I had to date - and I dare say I had literally all of them, even every test brew leading up to the official opening of the brewery. Why is this filtered and pasteurised, and deliberately made sweeter than I am used to from this brand? Because Colruyt said so? Well, f*ck Colruyt then (excusez le mot). It is very obvious that Kerel is trying to address the lowest common denominator here with yet another meaningless blonde - do we not already have enough of those in this country? Instead of trying to imitate blonde Leffe or Grimbergen, which do belong to a tradition of being "touched by monks" whether you like it or not, VBDCK better stays true to itself. Granted, after swallowing, that typically Kerel yeast strain breadiness does pleasantly linger in the aftertaste and that is the one thing that withholds me from giving me this a really low score, but that white sugar sweetness, unusually badly hidden alcohol and those 'cooked' aromas should never have appeared in this altogether proud brand. Sorry Charlotte, but I am still looking forward to the next one, hoping it will not be a tripel - so that once again, your output can become a tad more 'agressive' towards the sleepy average-Belgian palate!