6.6/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
One of the first Bières de Quartiers beers, a blonde with apple and honey, brewed at Valduc. Very mousy, medium thick, off-white, membrane-lacing, quite large-bubbled and slowly dissipating and opening head, initially near-clear, 'metallic' orange blonde beer with amberish tinge and strings of sparkling here and there, turning misty and deeper amberish with sediment (like an old school 'spéciale belge'), eventually even unattractively murky. Rather distinct aroma of red apple, soggy bread crust, banana peel, raw cinnamon, brown soap, acrylic clothing or even rubber (DMTS?), clear cardamom (remarkably lavender perfume-like in this case), cold tea, green earthy moss, diluted orange water (probably linked to the honey). Sweetish onset, fruity but on the 'clean' side with notes of (obviously in this case) red apple but also some peach and banana peel, sourish touch, vividly fizzing carbonation (almost numbing a bit), slick and rather soapy, slender mouthfeel. Soapy, smooth caramelly maltiness with slight peanutty edge, some breadiness and yeastiness near the end with quite some cardamom spiciness, cinnamon-, lavender- and even somewhat liquorish-like, with the honey depositing a floral aspect that blends well with the floral qualities of the hops; these hops execute a medium long, eventually somewhat rooty bitterness, but the cardamom spicy aspect keep lingering along with it, turning very soapy again in the tail. The apple adds a light crispness and apple aroma, the honey - and we all know how varied a honey character can be - in this case adds a flowery aspect blending with the pronounced cardamom, but is in any case rather strong. Weird little beer indeed but not unpleasant, have an extra point for originality in a landscape dominated by tripels and blondes.
Tried
from Can
on 26 Sep 2019
at 19:19