Newish abbey beer (in blonde and brown as usual - I bet there is a tripel on the way too), named after the St. Michael's Abbey in Antwerp and commercialized through the Aldi supermarket chain, or at least that is where I found it. Egg-white, moussy, medium thick, somewhat frothy, irregularly lacing, stable head on a crystal clear (filtered) 'old golden' beer with deep pale orange hue, in fact darker than average for a blonde abbey ale, showing a steady column of head-feeding sparkling in the middle. Aroma of soggy cookies, honey, pear, touch iron but not over the top, some candyfloss, coriander seed, brioche, overcooked kale (DMS - but luckily remaining very vague), old potatoes, raw turnip, grass. Sweet onset but not too cloying and not overly bubblegummy, still outspoken banana, peach and pineapple esters though a bit 'shaved off' by the pasteurisation and filtering, sharply carbonated with very minerally effect lasting till the finish; slick, thinnish, supple body, the cooked smell of pasteurisation soon becoming clear enough retronasally, over a lean cereally body with less biscuity or cookie-like maltiness than I was hoping for based on colour - clearly this brew was made the old Belgian way, with white candi syrup replacing part of the malt, resulting in a thinned, superficial and simplistic core. Slight metallic notes along the way, clear spicy coriander seed in the finish and eventually a lightly grassy, superficial yet relatively effective hop bitter note, somewhat drying an otherwise sweetish finish. Still less sweet and 'bubblegummy' than I was fearing, I must admit; the big question here is of course whether this is an original recipe or simply an alias of Tongerlo Blond, Haacht's staple abbey beer since 1990: I coincidentally happen to have drunk Tongerlo Blond on New Year's Eve in some pub in Ghent and from what I remember, it was sweeter than this one, but otherwise very similar. The fact that this particular Tongerlo Blond sample came from a keg rather than a bottle could account for this difference in sweetness; I guess I should have a Tongerlo Blond right next to this one to see if there are any differences at all, but I suspect it will be exactly the same so in my mind, this St. Michel is a simple alias created for Aldi and nothing more. I will try to find out more about this and if I am right, I think a merging of this entry with Tongerlo Blond will be in order (same story for the brown St-Michel, no doubt)...

6/I/24 - 25cl bottle, shared @ home, BB: 11/VII/23 07:47 (2024-15)

Clear blond beer, small irregular white head, unstable, a bit adhesive, falls down quickly. Aroma: very malty, grains, hay, a bit oxidized (my bad), some cardboard. MF: lively carbon, medium body. Taste: very malty, grains, pretty sweet, a little bitter, more malty, a little fruity, some banana. Aftertaste: gentle bitterness, a bit metallic, grains, sweet, oxidized, cardboard.

Clear golden/amber bour with a small white head; aromas of yeast and malt, later some banana and other fruit. Taste is similar - quite crisp with a nice aftertaste. Not bad, but in a field of strong contenders it does not really stand out.

Clear golden beer with a white head. Aroma of herbal strong pale malt, yeast. Taste of herbal malt, strong malt, spices, yeast.

Bottle from Drinks Vanuxeem, Ploegsteert, Belgium. Pours a hazy golden colour with a thin white head. Faint aromas of yellow fruits, doughy white bread and candied sugar. Taste has yellow and citrus fruity notes, some peppery spice and a light earthy hop on the dry finish. Thin to medium body with a light spritzy carbonation. Not a bad Blonde but nothing new here. Average.

Bottle from Drinks Vanuxeem, Ploegsteert, Belgium. Pours a hazy mahogany colour with a thinnish soapy looking off white head. Aromas of dry dark fruits, berries, caramel and toasty brown bread. Taste has more of the dark fruits, more caramel and toasty brown bread, some jam and also some nutty notes coming through on the finish. Medium to full body and light spritzy mouthfeel. Nice drink.

330 ml bottle, from Vinmonopolet, Nettbutikken. ABV is 7.0%. Clear deep golden to brown colour, high level of carbonation, large white head. Aroma of malts, brown kandij sugar syrup, Belgian ale yeast, mild spices, herbal hops. The medium sweet flavour has the same elements, also hints of dark dried fruits.

Super cherry sweet. Bordering on juice and not beer. But well done juice. Mr hop advent.

(sample, bottle) Clear red. Minimal pink head. Sweet, cherry. Very sweet taste.

On tap at TNT Pub, Trieste. Shared with Ogi. Clear deep amber, small off-white head. Aroma is intense caramel, dried fruit, red fruit, syrup, some toasty notes. Sweet and sticky, strong. Smooth. Dried fruit, brown sugar and toast flavour. Minimal hop bitterness. Warming finish, a bit too sweet and somewhat lacks deeper complexity.