One of (so far) two barrel aged variants of Géants' Goliath (previously Gouyasse), this one aged on dry white Burgundy wine barrels from the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune in the so-called Côte-d'Or department in eastern France. Comes from the same kind of stylish bottle as its Hautes-Côtes de Nuits counterpart, but with green label. Gusher, but manageable with very slow and careful opening. Moussy, egg-white, crackling and thinning, irregular, cobweb-lacing, relatively stable but eventually breaking head on a misty straw blonde beer with somewhat greenish tinge and strings of sparkling here and there. Distinct aroma of sweet dessert wine and sweet ripe grapes, dusty old wooden planks, oaky 'vanilla' touch but subtly so, cooked apple, iron (very strongly and unambiguously confirmed by the 'hand test'!), fried zucchini, warm pear juice, chamomile, Betterfood crumbs, lemonbalm, honey, unripe kiwi, grass, dust, moist white pepper, half-cooked parsnip. Fruity, juicy onset, lots of grape flavour from the white wine running through it all but not concealing the beer's natural fruitiness of pear, pineapple, apple and some light banana, lively carbonated, supple body; pale malt sweetishness slenderly distorted under grapey fruitiness with the wine effect becoming ever more tart, though nowhere sour, adorned with ongoing apple and pineapple esters, clove-like spicy phenols, something very 'dusty' (old polyester rugs even) returning retronasally as well as that iron becoming more detectable. The actual barrels manifest themselves in a tannic, drying, very woody way, including some vanilla-scenting oakiness retronasally but most of all, supporting that dryish, tart wine effect that balances out the beer's basic sweetness; I even get a bitter grape peel accent lingering after swallowing. Hops remain quite soft and earthy, the wine and the barrels really do a good job here (as with the other barrel aged Goliath variant), but no matter how much they have shaped this beer, they do not complete hide its metallic, straightforwardly sweet, grainy nature. Clearly Géants knows how to apply wine barrel ageing (or had beginners' luck) - now they have to learn and apply it to the right beer... They own Ellezelloise, perhaps Hercule would be a better contender than their own Goliath? In any case this version convinced me less than the other one, but that comes down to personal taste as well, of course.

I didn't like the original base beer of Quintine Noel and I have reservations about this variant too. The initial rum sweetness is overpowered by a citric sourness. Rum and raisin sweetness with citric acid sherbert.

Bouteille 33cl, BB 10/2021, # 2851/4272.
Couleur ambre, col léger sur le blanc-cassé.
Arôme est fin et rend de suite le bouquet classique de rhum - retrouve de fines effluves de caramel, onctuosité un peu parfumée mielleuse. Je retrouve un léger côté fleuri.
Palais est bien pétillant avec une belle mise en avant du rhum. Retrouve un léger sucre résiduel qui tient tout autant de la bière de base que de la barrique. Les 12% passent facilement et la bière se laisse déguster.
Un projet cellaring - qui suite au Covid permet aussi à Br Légendes de pouvoir utiliser certains de ses stocks. Le tout est bien réussi et j'attends avec impatience les prochaines sorties dont la version Buffalo Trace. Les bières sont maîtrisées - tout en reconnaissant que ce processus est complexe et que Légendes continuera à s'améliorer.

Bottle at home. Hazy yellow golden color, full sized white head. Aroma is malts, light grainy notes, light citrusy notes and a bit grassy in the distance. Quite pleasant blonde beer imo.

One of - to my knowledge - at least two barrel aged versions of Goliath Blonde, present on this site under its original name Gouyasse Tradition, aged for half a year on red wine barrels (Pinot Noir wine to be more precise). Comes from the same kind of elegant, olive oil-ish Italian style bottles as the barrel aged Quintine variations we were treated to last year. Slight gushing so be careful when opening. Thick but regular, moussy, egg-white, dense and pillowy head resting on a hazy pale apricot blonde beer with pale orangey tinge. Somewhat weird, perfumey and quite expressive aroma of candied pineapple, sweet dessert wine, lemon orchard, ripe blood orange, kefir lime leaf somewhere, peppermint, fried red apple, sweet white grapes, white port, vanilla from the oak wood, jasmine rice, sugared rhubarb stew, bath foam, lilac blossoms, passionfruit hint, Turkish delight, sugar loaf, warm biscuit cake, grass. Sweetish, expressively fruity onset, passionfruit piercing through cooked apple, ripe pear, banana, pineapple and some orange, softish carb, supple and softish body, feeling a bit lighter than its ABV would suggest; smooth white-bready, bit soapy, slightly biscuity middle, very 'fluffy', with this ripe fruitiness continuing and becoming more and more grapey, until an effect of sweet dessert wine or Greek muscat comes through - with a slight sourish, gooseberry-like edge to it, as is so often the case in wine barrel aged beers. Something outspokenly soapy holds strong in the finish - the classic coriander seed overdosis in the base beer I assume - but there are slightly wry woody tannins as well, and a vaguely warming, port-like glow. Grassy hop notes pop up here and there too, but it is the grapes, eventually indeed leading to an outspoken wine flavour, and the coriander soapiness that get the last word here. I have to admit that I liked the Quintine Vintage editions more than this one - but having said that, this is still an interesting experiment, with the wine barrel factor played out more strongly than I was expecting. The soapy, somewhat metallic, bland character of the Gouyasse Tradition / Goliath Blonde is in any case 'refined' and improved to something worth tasting, though it cannot hide its original character completely and the coriander and metallic aspect did bother me a bit. As a whole: the flavours need to intertwine a bit more, they are still clashing a bit too much, but this is certainly interesting, with probably some potential to improve over the coming months if cellared properly. I guess pulling out the Pinot Noir barrels and throwing in your bland blonde is one way to elaborate on the eternal blonde and tripel theme in Belgium - a vast and often rather monotonous family of stereotypical blonde ales which can only become more interesting to the more advanced beer taster if things like this come into play. Have a point for originality.

Bottle. Dark golden, hazy, white foam. Aroma: wheat, yeast, sweet candies, a little spicy herbs. Sweetish taste, light sourness, candies, a little fruit and yeast spice, mediocre.

The new non-alcoholic version of this hypercommercial 'designer beer', with the alcohol extracted under vacuum circumstances to keep in the aromas - in itself not a bad idea and quite innovative, but let's see what the result is. Stubby bottle from a Delhaize supermarket, gushing a bit upon opening - something I have never seen in non-alcoholic beers, but for all I know, this may be a good sign... Medium thick, snow white, rather irregular, hardly lacing and quickly breaking head, misty deep yellow-golden robe with quiet sparkling here and there. Aroma of old white bread, plaster, rusty metallic pipes, damp kitchen towels, old potato mash, halfripe banana, green beans, white soap, raw spinach leaves, hints of apple peel, false acacia blossoms, corn water, cooked parsnip. Sweetish onset in a thin and rather dull way, some banana and apple, dim but persistent sourish undertone, medium carb, minerally side notes, slender and bit 'empty' mouthfeel with soapy accent; thinnish grainy pale malt profile, like a bland standard lager, slick with a thin bready edge, but a clear metallic 'zing' to it as well. Floral finish - in a withering cut flower-like way, with cooked green vegetable impressions galore, but fortunately also providing some late hop bitterness amidst the metallic effect, bland sour-sweet graininess and vegetable accents, making for a dryish ending; soapy aspect lingering for a while too. Thin, metallic and bland, but arguably a bit more tasty than alcohol-free lagers (this is a blonde ale in origin) and feeling a tad less industrial than the conceptually comparable non-alcoholic version of Leffe Blonde, for example. Not the very worst in its genre, but not very enjoyable either, with the green vegetable and metallic effects probably bothering me the most.

Bottle. Amber, hazy, yellowish foam. Aroma: spicy, malt, apple, pear, candy, caramel. Spicy taste, malt, fruity, pear and apple, bitter finish, hoppy, expected something more.