Category Archives: Belgian Pale Ale

3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgian Pale Ale, Brasserie du Comté, France

Bière du Comté La Blonde Bio du Mercantour

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Brewery: Brasserie du Comté
Country: France
ABV: 5%
Style: Belgian Pale Ale

Brewer Description: (from website) (in French) Bière blonde de fermentation haute. La Blonde du Mercantour dégage un arôme frais et une odeur de céréales. En bouche, elle débute par des notes dominantes de noisette et une douce amertume se construit progressivement, équilibrant l’ensemble. Sa fraicheur et sa légèreté conviendront parfaitement aux palais délicats. La Blonde du Mercantour est rafraîchissante et douce, avec une amertume délicate. Bière artisanale et régionale de Saint-Martin Vésubie, fabriquée avec de l’eau de source pure. Un dépôt de levure riche en vitamines et gage de qualité se forme naturellement dans la bouteille.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.13
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.1

Intro: A 750ml bottle with a best before date of 15th June 2018, poured into a small plastic cup (all that was available at the hotel).
Appearance: It poured a hazy straw gold colour with a one finger white head that dissipated fairly quickly and left nice lacing.
Aroma: Bready, banana, clove, honey, lemon with a hint of 7-up.
Taste: Quite similar to the aroma with bread, banana, clove, coriander and pear.
Mouthfeel: Light bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: It’s pretty good. Light and easy to drink. Good and refreshing on a hot day.

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4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Pale Ale, Belgium, Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij Westvleteren)

Trappist Westvleteren Blond

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Brewery: Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij Westvleteren)
Country: Belgium
ABV: 5.8%
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
Other Notes: Green cap. Trappist beer

Brewer Description: Not much info on their website and obviously even less on the bottle. But apparently this was the basic beer that the monks drink themselves. I think it replaced the Westvleteren 6, a Belgian Dark Ale with a red bottle cap and 6.2% abv.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.46
My ratebeer.com rating: 4.3

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a minimum sell-by date of 29th October 2016 and poured into a Chimay goblet glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy golden orange colour with a small amount of sediment and a nice puffy two finger white head with good retention and leaves great lacing. Actually, despite the sediment, this looks amazing.
Aroma: Bready, clove and banana with a hint of peppery spice and apple pie.
Taste: Strong breadiness but with clove and banana sweetness and a hint of bubblegum.
Mouthfeel: Creamy, medium bodied with moderate carbonation.
Overall: Wow. Actually this surprised me as its often overshadowed by the 12 and even 8, but I really enjoyed this. As a Belgian Pale Ale, it seems to be one of the best of its style and has great balance, very refreshing and easy to drink.

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4 - Good (buy), Beer Reviews, Belgian Pale Ale, The Bruery x Maine Beer Company, USA

The Bruery x Maine Fourthmeal

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Brewery: The Bruery x Maine Beer Company
Country: USA
ABV: 6.9%
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
Other Notes: Collaboration Series. Hoppy Belgian-style ale.

Brewer Description: (from bottle) The Bruery and Maine Beer Company got together and cooked up something special for you: fourthmeal. It isn’t brunch; it isn’t “linner.” It’s a hoppy Belgian-style ale that brings aspects of both breweries to the table: fruity, Belgian yeast esters, a crisp, bready backbone, citrus and piney hop characteristics, and a dry, hop-forward finish. There’s no one shouting “come n’ git it” when it’s time to dine – just mouth-watering, dry-hopped aromatics, signalling that it’s time for fourthmeal. This beer is best enjoyed fresh.

My rating: 4
My beeradvocate.com rating: 4.06
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.9

Intro: A 750ml bottle from batch #280, bottled on 9th December 2015 and poured into an oversized wine glass.
Appearance: It poured a hazy golden orange colour with a one finger slightly off white head with decent retention and very nice lacing.
Aroma: Mandarin orange, pine, candied malt, grass and light grapefruit pith.
Taste: Light citrusy candy orange, bready malt, pound cake, light bitter herby pine and grass with a light peppery finish.
Mouthfeel: Crisp, dry, medium bodied with medium prickly carbonation.
Overall: This was nice. Medium bodied but very light crisp easy drinking. Wish I could have tried this earlier for a fresher point of view.

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3 - Indifferent (might buy, probably drink), Beer Reviews, Belgian Pale Ale, Omnipollo, Sweden

Omnipollo Leon

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Brewery: Omnipollo
Country: Sweden
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Belgian Pale Ale
Other Notes: Brewed by Omnipollo at De Proef Brouwerij (Belgium)

Brewer Description: (from website) Tired of talking my friends into pit stops at beer bars before heading “out” – in fear of having to drink bland lager all night – I set out to craft an ale that would act as companion throughout the evening. Leon is assertively hopped and fermented dry using champagne yeast. The yeast and the hops in combination with a simple malt bill provides the beer with a quality of being rich in taste yet refreshing.

My rating: 3
My beeradvocate.com rating: 3.4
My ratebeer.com rating: 3.3

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of 25th June 2016 and poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: It poured a golden copper colour with very light haziness. Aggressive pour left a huge three finger yellowish head that had very good retention leaving some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Mainly citrus lemon accompanied by apple, pine and some pepperness.
Taste: Apple juice and lemon zest with hints of grapefruit, orange and pepper.
Mouthfeel: Dry, medium to light bodied with high carbonation.
Overall: This was a decent Belgian pale ale and although not the best from Omnipollo, I can’t wait to try more of their stuff.

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1 - Poor (never again), Beer Reviews, Belgian Pale Ale, Belgium, Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V.

Kasteel Hoppy

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Brewery: Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck N.V.
Country: Belgium
ABV: 6.5%
Style: Belgian Pale Ale

Brewer Description: (from bottle) Top fermented beer, contains barley malt.

My rating: 1
My beeradvocate.com rating: 1.92
My ratebeer.com rating: 1.9

Intro: A 330ml bottle with a best before date of November 2015 and poured into a Duvel tulip glass.
Appearance: The beer poured a clear golden colour with a one finger white head that dissipated quickly leaving a very thin soapy layer and some spotty lacing.
Aroma: Starts with caramel malt and fruity orange, lemon before turning grassy, pine and a metallic iron finish.
Taste: Metallic iron overpowers everything else. Other than that though, there is some light caramel malt sweetness at the beginning and then lots of floral and herbal bitterness that lasts long into the aftertaste.
Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium carbonation.
Overall: Ughhh, I like hops. But this… It started off all well and good with a nice pour. It actually looked tasty. But then it all went downhill with the aroma first and then even further with the taste. I just really did not enjoy the taste at all. This one was not for me. I don’t even want to categorise this under Belgian Pale Ale…

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