Kronenbourg Blanc - Brasseries Kronenbourg

Murrhey

Montana

2.71/5  rDev -19.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.75

Poured from a standard pressure-cap 11.2oz bottle into a Kronenbourg pint glass. Reviewed live.

A- Three-finger white head that sticks around for a minute and a half. Cloudy orange head with decent carbonation.

S- Coriander, citrus and a slight bit of funk.

T- Surprisingly creamy, spices and citrus. Unremarkable.

M- Smooth and bubbly.

O- I am beginning to enjoy witbier less and less. This is just another ho-hum wit.

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2013 03:17:55 | More by Murrhey

RobertColianni

Pennsylvania

2.74/5  rDev -18.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75

12oz. bottle poured into my 40oz. Brandy Snifter.

A: A hazy, golden colored Wit/Blanc with a very fiercely carbonated head.

S: Scents of an American Wheat or "Original Ale." A zestier lemon scent jumps out. Reminiscent of a boozy Champagne, show Mead, or orange Saison.

T: Heavy lemon rind and coriander. Flavorless bubblegum. Too simple.

M: The heavily carbonated body really made this Wit far too thin, and light. I'm use to having Wits that hit the palate very softly, smoothly, and tend to disappear or even evaporate on the tongue. This was over-carbonated.

OVERALL: It's really not as bad as I described and the bottle design is so shitty that you might just get the idea that this is some cheap beer, but if I reflect on the Revolutionary battles around 1790 and put myself in France, I could enjoy the simplicity of a rind-heavy beer style used as a refresher after a long day. I suppose in that sense, this is well executed, but if you're looking for a quality Witbier, this isn't going to match up with some of the notable greats. Reminds me of Boxcar Brewing's Original Ale.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 16:39:10 | More by RobertColianni

tone77

Pennsylvania

3.93/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Poured from a pretty blue 11.2 oz. bottle. Yes, a blue bottle. Has a cloudy yellowish/white color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of citrus, some spices. Taste is good, citrus, some spice, a bit of wheat, refreshing and highly drinkable. Feels full bodied in the mouth and overall is a quality beer, the glass is becoming empty quickly.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2013 14:28:37 | More by tone77

leaddog

Alberta (Canada)

3.46/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Appearance- Pours a cloudy pale straw with a finger width of bubbly white head.

Smell- wheat, orange peel, coriander, corn adjuncts

Taste- Wheat with a solid kick of citrus and a bit of coriander. Luckily, the corn adjuncts are at bay in the taste.

Mouthfeel- Light bodied with light carbonation.

Overall- I really enjoyed the amount of citrus in this brew that makes it easy to drink and refreshing. The smell was off-putting at first but glad that the adjuncts did not transfer too much into the flavour. Could easily be a patio favourite.

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2013 02:56:54 | More by leaddog

eduardolinhalis

Switzerland

3.48/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

250ml blue bottle served in a chalice.

A: Pours a very pale yellow color. Cloudy. Forms a big aired and bubbled white off head. Medium to low retention leaving some lacings in the glass

S: Very citrus in the nose. Strong orange and lemony zest. Sweet grains and wheat. Bready yeasts and mild flowery hops in the end

T: Follows the nose. Sweet grains upfront with strong notes of orange zest and wheat. Refreshing. Very mild hops bitternerness in the very end

M: Light to medium body. Good carbonation. Sweet bread and citrus aftertaste

O: Very drinkable. Easy drinking and refreshing. Perhaps a bit artificial tate but a good summertime beer

Serving type: bottle

12-27-2012 10:49:35 | More by eduardolinhalis

TheHammer

Ontario (Canada)

3.4/5  rDev +0.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: Poured with a finger of head that produced ample lace and retained exceptionally well. The body is a cloudy yellow, bordering on white with ample signs of carbonation. A bit more lace and a little more cloud and it's perfect.

Smell: There is a lot of zest smell to this as lemon dominates the nose, as only a very small backdrop of wheat and orange can be found. Warming doesn't really help either way.

Taste: Well there certainly is a lot of zest, as lemon dominates the beer, although at least it seems to be held in check first by wheat malt and then by an orange note near the end. There is a severe lack of coriander, cloves or other elements in this one.

Mouthfeel: I want to say it tastes tame, but it seems to have just enough carbonation to make it almost annoying. The aftertaste is unsurprisingly lemon zest and but really the lax carbonation tells the story here.

Drinkability: Yeah it goes down well enough and I guess it the summer it would be good. Sits down easy, but it walks an unenviable line between not having enough punch to be flavourful and not being mellow enough to be a guzzler.

Final Thoughts: It's alright, and it's certainly a bit above the curve but an epic white, it is not. The focus here is lemon zest, and not much else. I'd certainly buy it often if it was cheap, but as an import that's sadly not in the cards.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2012 02:25:17 | More by TheHammer

NV9

Ontario (Canada)

3.63/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

On tap at the Junction in Peterborough.

pale yellow colour, hazy inch or so of head but little lacing.

smell is lemony wheat, maybe faint orange in there as well.

very sweet tasting with some wheat hops in the background. better than most fruity beers in that it still tastes like beer but the strength of the fruit taste is maybe beyond what's expected in a witbier.

It went down very easy for me and was perfect for the hot sun and the rooftop patio I enjoyed it on.

It's a fruitier hoegaarden, which in my books is a pretty solid beer.

Serving type: on-tap

08-21-2012 21:50:37 | More by NV9

andrenaline

Ontario (Canada)

3.2/5  rDev -5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A - Pours a hazy pale straw colour, finger of head with some retention and no real lacing.

S - Mild citrus, wheat and peppery spice.

T - The wheat flavors dominate, the citrus notes are detectable along with the coriander, but a tad mild. Bready flavors linger.

M - Medium, smooth and wet.

O - A tasty brew and certainly patio worthy. Not a pile of flavor but I didn't have much for expectations. I quite enjoyed this one, but there's nothin stand-out about it.

Serving type: bottle

07-27-2012 16:42:22 | More by andrenaline

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

2.53/5  rDev -24.9%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

Bottle: Poured a light yellow color ale with a medium size pure white foamy head with OK retention and minimal lacing. Aroma of light wheat malt is pretty thin. Taste is dominated by lightly sweet wheat malt notes with no spices or other characteristics. Body is bit thin with OK carbonation. Watery version of the style with limited amount of coriander or orange peel makes this an unattractive beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2012 15:41:40 | More by Phyl21ca

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

3.3/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

330ml bottle poured into pint glass 4/4/12

A cloudy pale yellow with a two finger bone white head that hangs around for a few minuets leaving a few partial rings of lace

S smells like sprite with a little cereal and spice, different but not so bad

T sweet with a seltzer thing going for it, almost pop like with some beer notes popping through

M light and well carbonated, fairly clean finish with just some faint spice and citrus lingering

O I didn't expect much but it wasn't so bad, I'm not going to be stocking up on it anytime soon but quite drinkable and would work under a hot sun

As a collector of blue beer bottles this one made my day, after 4 years of collecting them with this one added to my tally I now have a grand total of 3. Beat that

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2012 04:50:24 | More by wordemupg

hreb

Washington

3.78/5  rDev +12.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Picked up a 6 pack of these at a BC Liquor Store in Vancouver, eh? I've never been able to find this in the States -- only the regular (and pretty damn dull) Kronenbourg 1664. Blue glass 330mL bottle. Beer pours super pale yellow, slightly cloudy, with a thin white head. Lemony sweet aroma. Could be mistaken for lemonade.

So here's the thing about this beer: it's not "good" in any conventional sense any self-respecting beer snob would recognize. It is however tasty, tasty candy. And if beer snobs can debate the virtues of fruit flavored, adjunct-laden Belgian lambics, we can get over ourselves and check out a fruit flavored wheat beer from a serious Eurotrash macro brewery.

This beer is as much alcopop as witbier; as much smirnoff ice as hefeweiss. Sweet, with flavors of citrus (lemon) and tropical fruit, moderate carbonation, delivered via an honest wheat beer vehicle. And while there's some unfermented adjunct sweetness in there, it's not gross or cloying (at least for me). Just really refreshing and tasty.

I don't get much spice out of it, although the ingredients (holy moly, an ingredients label on a beer!) claim coriander in addition to orange peel. This beer would be more favorably represented not as a Witbier but as a Radler, or to be more specific, a Ruß, (but "Fruit / Vegetable Beer" in BA-speak regardless).

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2012 01:52:23 | More by hreb

mintjellie

Ontario (Canada)

2.7/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 2 | feel: 4 | overall: 2

Yellow and opaque with protein haze. Good, tight head formation, only somewhat well-retained, with very little lace. Strong aroma of oranges and apricots. Tastes peachy and citrusy with a slight tang from the wheat malt and a hint of cantaloupe. It's a little bit on the sweet side without being cloying, perhaps from the glucose adjunct listed on the label? The fruit has a slightly artificial character to it, like the fuzzy peach candies Maynards manufacture. That doesn't put me off of it, I like those candies, but I prefer the natural citrus flavours of a more traditional witbier. Light-bodied with lots of fine carbonation and a soft, fluffy mouthfeel. A decent witbier that could be better if a little more attenuated and less artificial tasting.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2012 09:41:07 | More by mintjellie

peensteen

Ontario (Canada)

3.2/5  rDev -5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Hazy pale light golden colour, 1.5 fingers of white head, sticky and fluffy with some lace. Smell is full of orange, sweet and fruity candy scents, some spice, floral with some yeasty wheat scents deep down. Taste is fruity with lots of orange, citrus flavours, some malt present, spice is subtle with a citrus and orange aftertaste. High carbonation, light-medium feel, medium body, pretty refreshing though. This is way to sweet and fruity to be considered an authentic wit, I can see the appeal of this stuff but this is certainly not something I will be coming back to.

Serving type: bottle

02-11-2012 18:26:47 | More by peensteen

Conrad

Ontario (Canada)

3.75/5  rDev +11.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

This one took me by surprise. I was not expecting a girly fruit beer. It has the traditional hallmarks of a wit: cloudy, citrus aroma, nice hops backbone, gentle effervesence. The fruit in the aroma is startling. Banana, melon, grapefruit, and some underlying gentle spices. I like the unusual blue bottle (not coated in plastic or paper as the BA sample shows). Body and mouthfeel is a bit thin and watery, but it goes down easy. Long finish, with the fruit taste hanging around for a while. It is still a refreshing brew, and I enjoyed it. I would probably enjoy it more at a hot summer BBQ instead of a cold January in Ontario.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2012 16:07:19 | More by Conrad

Intrinsic

Quebec (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev +21.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I am thoroughly surprised by this beer. It looks absolutely amazing, a very light, cloudy green tea colour with a very healthy head and great retention. The smell hints of banana (like those popsicles you used to get at the corner store) and citrus. Its incredibly light and tasty, with fruit flavours that go perfectly in a witbier. In fact, this takes second place in the witbier category for me, after Hoegaarden. This beer is very underrated.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2011 01:16:21 | More by Intrinsic

thehyperduck

Ontario (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev -3.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Standard-sized bottle from the LCBO. The words 'best before' are on the neck label, but there is no date underneath or anywhere near them. The logical assumption to make here is that this bottle will remain fresh indefinitely, or at least until the universe undergoes some sort of heat death. Also, 'flavour' as an ingredient? Vague.

An aggressive pour produces a very cloudy, pale straw-coloured brew, topped with a generous three-finger head that settles down to a thin cap over a period of minutes. Copious quantities of stringy lacing coat the sides of the glass, and little bits of stuff are visible freely floating through the liquid. The aroma is pleasing - a familiar floral smell that I noticed in this brewery's flagship lager, but also some prominent peach and orange peel, with the usual wheat/yeast/coriander notes providing a bit of backbone. The spice is pretty faint.

The taste follows the nose very closely - lots of fruit, not a lot of spice. Peaches, apricots and tropical citrus provide some fruity zest, with wheat malt underlying this. Faint coriander spiciness combines with a bit of bitterness in the finish, with peach and wheat lingering briefly on the palate in the aftertaste. Thin-bodied and pretty watery. Carbonation is fairly high, but compared to other wits maybe a bit lower. Crisp and refreshing; definitely more suited to a patio in the summer than October in Canada.

This kind of straddles the boundary between witbier and fruitbier. I can see this being popular with women, it has a lot in common with malternatives. In general I like this stuff, but if I had bought it expecting a spicy, orthodox wit I would be pretty disappointed. Worth a try, but when I'm looking for a wit next summer I'll probably pass on this one.

Serving type: bottle

10-16-2011 21:09:56 | More by thehyperduck

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

330ml, weird dark sea blue bottle, at the Ship & Anchor in Calgary.

This beer pours a very cloudy pale golden yellow colour, with two fingers of broad foamy white lace, which leaves a few specked swaths of lace around the glass as it steadily settles.

It smells of edgy semi-sweet wheat, sugary orange citrus, mild yeast, and airy menthol. The taste is sweet wheat grain, cantaloupe, musty, juicy orange, savoury coriander, a bit of white pepper, and mild earthy, floral hops.

The carbonation is on the low side, the body a belt-tightened medium weight and quite fruity in it's mostly natural smoothness. It finishes off-dry, the melon character really persisting.

It bills itself as a flavoured witbier, and that's what you get - fruity, moderately spicy, with a subtly forlorn grain essence in the mix. Refreshing enough, I suppose, on a hot summer day.

Serving type: bottle

08-08-2011 23:43:56 | More by biboergosum

TheBrewo

Michigan

2.75/5  rDev -18.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3

We pour a hazy, pale sunny colored brew. It holds a massive three finger head of chunky white bubbles, leaving a thick blanket of lacing as it goes. Head retention is nice. There is no outright sediment noted, but thick cloudiness exists, severely reducing translucency. Carbonation appears quite high. The aroma is lofty, with wheat, adjuncty grain, and steely, bitter yeast making up the floor of it. Sitting high on top of this is a sugary sweet grapefruit and synthetic orange character, which is very Snapple-like. As we sip, the taste, oddly, is an exact reflection of the nose. It is hard to pinpoint why this is so strange, but generally there is a disconnect, or some hidden flavor components not detectable elsewhere. Either way, the taste begins with bright orange extract and dirty wheat. The grain here feels wet and unwashed, giving an unfiltered feel to it. Moving through the middle shows an enhanced sweetness riding high on the remainder of the initial grain. The finish is with more bitterness, white sugar sweetness, and souring hints of faint clovey phenols. The aftertaste breathes of that orangey flavoring, standard wheaty malts, and a mildly spicy coolness. The body is medium and the carbonation hits the tongue hard, and is overall highly active. The mouth is left cooled, with the thinnest coating, ultimately to obtain a moderate level of dryness. There is decent slurp and froth. The abv is within limits, and the beer drinks easily enough.

Overall, what we found most enjoyable about this brew was the look. It produced a monstrous head which had great retention and lacing. Even the packaging was unique, with an unusually shaped label and a bright blue glass bottle. The flavoring, however, did not come through. It was clearly a wit, but it tasted as though someone had dropped an airborne vitamin C tab into it, giving a bizarre orange flavoring that was admittedly off-putting.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2011 02:17:46 | More by TheBrewo

Shadman

Alberta (Canada)

3/5  rDev -11%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Very cool azure blue bottle. Pours very pale bleached straw yellow. Cloudy. Fizzy. Very little head formation or lacing.

Aroma is slight, sweet lemon zest with only a hint of corriander

Tastes pretty much the same as it smells. Slight lemon tartness, slight corriander spice. Quite weak and watery overall.

Watery with a bit too much fizz.

Cool bottle, somewhat refreshing. Better Wit's out there for sure.

Serving type: bottle

07-25-2011 17:19:11 | More by Shadman

JohnnyBarman

Ontario (Canada)

3.35/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

On draught at Failte's pub in uptown Waterloo.

Poured into a Hoegaarden clunker. An extremely pale golden, looked pretty washed out, with a thin white head and some retention. Looked like someone tried to print a picture of Hoegaarden but ran out of toner.

Nose is wheat malt, orange and peach juice. All great things, but incredibly simplistic.

Tastes like a mass market wheat beer, but with the fruit emphasis on peach, rather than lemon or orange. There's not a whole lot to this, other than that faint "wheatiness" that these sorts of brews possess.

High carbonation, drinks like a soda.

Here's the deal with this beer. It's peachy, it's fizzy, it's a far cry from the great witbiers of the world in terms of complexity and depth. But damned if it isn't a tasty way to beat the summer heat. Everyone at our table enjoyed it for what it is, and found it far more enjoyable on the patio than the usual lager/pils fare.

Serving type: on-tap

07-18-2011 23:30:48 | More by JohnnyBarman

oldp0rt

Quebec (Canada)

2.05/5  rDev -39.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Bottle looks inviting and i usually rather like this style of beer but this one won't be bought again.

When you pour it, it smells good and looks nice. The first few sips are alright nothing special here. When you get halfway through, you start to hate it. It tastes way too artificial, and then you decide to read the ingredients and notice that this isn't much of a beer.

Final thoughts - You will see this beer and might be tempted but try and refrain from buying this, you will just be another disappointed customer.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2011 22:47:16 | More by oldp0rt

spinrsx

Ontario (Canada)

3.15/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

330ml Bottle

Appearance - Hazy light gold colour with a large size fizzy white coloured head. I can't make out much carbonation due to the haziness and there is a fair amount of lacing. The head lasted for 5 minutes.

Smell – Breads/grains, lemon, lime, peaches

Taste & Mouth - The beer comes across as slightly thin and there is an average amount of carbonation. I can taste lots of lemon and lime mixed with oranges and breads/grains. There is also quite a bit of peach flavour. The beer finishes with a peachy slightly bitter aftertaste.

Overall – I can see how this beer will to appeal to some for the patio/warmer weather. At first I didn’t mind the taste but after a while it just got worse and worse. The flavour is way too artificial tasting.

Serving type: bottle

05-31-2011 17:33:05 | More by spinrsx

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.58/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

On-tap at Real Sports Bar and Grill, in Toronto.

I was ready to remark on the impeccable degree of trademark witbier haze until I realized that the pint glass itself was frosted. What a cheap trick! To be fair, however, the beer is nonetheless a striking aesthetic specimen: its milky orange colour is in fact legitimately clouded and, despite the obstruction of a giant orange peel, persists in tacking long drapes of lace to the glass' sides.

This is top 40 material. Purists of the style - and those with more enlightened tastes - will certainly, rightfully attack its integrity but it'll be undoubtedly popular with the masses and, even for the aforementioned with higher standards, is likely still to be regarded as an approachable enough quaff. It's unoffensive, but to be clear, is teenybopper.

And relative to the style's all-time greats, such as the wonderful St. Bernardus Witbier for example, there's no contest. It's like comparing Bach to Backstreet Boys. But given the option between Kronenbourg Blanc and other mass-produced brands, I could easily be (and was) persuaded into a round or two of this.

In both aroma and taste there is an exaggerated, magnified note of candied citrus. It is zestful, very tropical, surprisingly sweet and quite toothsome, most closely resembling candied orange peel. There's no coriander (or any spiciness or savoriness) to note what so ever. The only tarnish in the taste is a frail, stale maltiness that smacks of corn.

It wouldn't be such a bad idea for bars pouring Kronenbourg Blanc to serve it with a shot of insulin. The beer has a 'pop-rocks' sweetness that nearly tingles on the tongue much in the same way as the candy. Speaking of pop-rocks, this carbonation exacts the soda and pop-rocks combo, but the hyper-amplified bubbles do work in a beer like this.

Kronenbourg Blanc is a relic of a time when this brewery offered more than just pale, conventional lagers and had at least a shred of the gastronomic integrity the French are renown for. While its current form is evidently re-tinkered for mass-market appeal - and focuses solely on tropical, candy-sweet elements at the exclusion of all yeasty, malty, distinct ones - it still makes a pleasant beer and fair alternative to the standard 1664.

Serving type: on-tap

02-19-2011 18:20:14 | More by biegaman

knowledge

New York

3.95/5  rDev +17.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Really impressed with the advertising bottle, the brew itself makes you want to drink it. The beer is a french treat, and you know the french, they always hold quality high. No head on this beer and pours pale goldish white. Very intriguing smell of fresh hops. This beer is a definite try. Well worth the effort to find..

cheers!

Serving type: bottle

12-14-2010 19:14:32 | More by knowledge

basica

Singapore

4.08/5  rDev +21.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A - Pours a hazy golden with a thin and quickly receding head that leaves a thin layer with good lacing. (3.5)

S - Light but fruity and perfumy nose of fresh peaches or apricots. (4)

T - Upfront fruity tastes with peaches or apricots and some citrus; pleasant perfumy or floral notes deck the background with a tad of spices. After taste is fairly lasting and pleasantly fruity and perfumy. (4)

M - Light on the mouthfeel with slightly higher than average carbonation and slight creamy smoothness. (4)

D - Very drinkable and sessionable due to the really pleasant tastes for a witbier style brew. I first had it on tap at Helipad (@ Clarke Quay, Singapore) and found it pretty good and ended up picking up two 4-packs. The bottled version seems to taste more fruity and perfumy than on tap. I highly recommend this as a very sessionable witbier. (4.5)

Picked up 8 x 25cl bottles at Cold Storage in Singapore

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2010 06:36:49 | More by basica