Straffe Hendrik Blonde - Brouwerij Straffe Hendrik / Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

3.4/5  rDev -5.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

This poured out as a lightly hazy yellow color with a pretty good sized head on top. The lacing is light and the retention is a decent. The smell of the beer gives off some light sour notes but mostly had some grains and Belgian yeast on the nose. The taste of the beer is similar to most Belgian Tripel's and Pale Ales. The mouthfeel is light bodied and easy to drink. Overall this brew isn't too bad.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2011 18:38:04 | More by Knapp85

rodenbach99

Quebec (Canada)

4.08/5  rDev +13.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

330 bottle, the first time I drank this bottle was in Brugges 15 years ago.

A: yellowish, golden with a white head, some head retention but thin.
S: some bitterness on the nose, some hops
T: fizzy on the tongue, nice bitterness, a lot of caracter
M: medium-bodied ale
D: nice refreshing belgian ale, I like this one

Serving type: bottle

02-24-2009 01:47:18 | More by rodenbach99

hopdog

Pennsylvania

3.38/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Bottle shared courtesy of fatty (thanks!).

Poured a medium yellow color with a small sized white head. Very small floaters that were suspended throughout the beer. I initially got aromas of yeast, citrus and spices until Eric ruined it by the power of suggetion by saying it smelled like a beach ball. Tastes of citrus, spices, yeast and a little fruity. Lively body with a crisp and clean finish.

Notes from: 9/30/05

Serving type: bottle

01-07-2009 19:36:23 | More by hopdog

sstackho

Ontario (Canada)

3.28/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Four 12oz bottles purchased at Jovi in Gatineau. Best before date of October 2008, consumed in July 2008. Pours a nice pale cloudy gold with a large billowing head. Light yeasty aroma. Taste is on the light side with a mild spice feel from the yeast.

Serving type: bottle

08-18-2008 03:34:31 | More by sstackho

ThatWineGuy

Ontario (Canada)

3.55/5  rDev -1.4%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Exp Dec 08. I found this beer extremely difficult to pour, despite pouring slowly, the liquid immediately fizzed down the glass and created a huge head that threatened to overflow the glass although only an inch of beer was in the glass. The consistency of the head was meringue-like, very large bubbles that stuck around forever. The smell started out spicy, then spearmint and later scotch whiskey as it warmed. Very full mouthfeel, dry fruit, then sour, then a candy apple sweetness, hops, then lemon. I thought there was a wide range of flavours that unfolded, all quite tasty. The finish is bitter with sharpness, lingering malt. As might be expected from the pour, a bit gassy. A lot of yeast came with a second, shorter pour, much more on the bottom of the bottle. This was certainly an interesting taste treat, thanks to biegaman, this from his recent trip to Belgium.

Serving type: bottle

11-02-2007 04:12:03 | More by ThatWineGuy

thierrynantes

France

3.78/5  rDev +5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Sorry but this following comment is in french :

Appearance : voilée qui malgré sa faible effervescence, présente une belle mousse qui colle bien au verre.
Smell : Nez caractéristique de coriandre et de levure.
Taste and mouthfeel : Ronde et veloutée, le sucré se marie merveilleusement bien à l'amertume et à l'alccol. L'étalement se fait sur un doux fondu avec une acidité qui donne de la profondeur, de l'équilibre et de la compléxité.
Drinkability : bonne bière dans le style Belgian pale ale

Serving type: bottle

10-29-2007 11:22:48 | More by thierrynantes

BeardedSquash

Tennessee

3.53/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

A: A clean golden liquid pours with absolutely no head but plenty of bubbles at the base of the glass.

S: Caramel nose with hints of light raisin. Some grass and floral notes come around as the beer warms.

T: Dry, almost champagne-like. Some wood flavors roll around with an organic floral hoppiness. The taste ends with a slightly sour swallow.

M: Dead, but I kind of like it that way. With the earthen flavors it almost feels aged. With the lack of head and the low mouthfeel, I think I might have got a bad cork. It's not an appropriate mouthfeel, but I do like it, even if it is a mistake.

D: I gave this a higher score than the others because I think this beer is bigger than the sum of its parts. Who knows, maybe I just like beer too much.

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2007 03:19:32 | More by BeardedSquash

janubio

Spain

3.15/5  rDev -12.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

330 ml bottle. It pours a peachy golden colour, witha creamy head. Smell is floral, biscuit, some coriander notes and some sutile citric.
Taste is a bit sour, but with gentle sweet notes. Some biscuit too. Light body. Not much of a special beer, but it's easily drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

10-04-2007 13:02:38 | More by janubio

mdagnew

United Kingdom (Northern Ireland)

3.7/5  rDev +2.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

750ml bottle bought from www.onlyfinebeer.co.uk

Poured a pale golden yellow colour... White head poured thick and foamy then faded quickly to a thin layer... quite a lot of carbonation shoots to the surface...light sticky lacing...

Aroma - Spicy fruits (grapefruits, pears, some light pineapple), very light biscuity malts, some floral notes, faint lambic like earthiness, vanilla, some cloves, grassy / pine hops...

Taste – Light fruitiness (apples, lemons, some pears and grapefruits), some creaminess, metallic traces, light biscuitiness, salty notes, peppery, typical Belgian yeasty notes, light floral hop bitterness, no real sweetness...

Feel - Pretty sharp and dry. Light body... Very refreshing and drinkable...

Overall - A very clean and crisp pale ale.... Well worth a try...

Serving type: bottle

10-02-2006 13:43:53 | More by mdagnew

horndecker

New Jersey

3.28/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 2.5

750ml bottle.

A great significant clumpy froth erupts over an orange-yellow, clear brew. It leaves, not lace, but sticky suds. It has a lambic scent, and a fresh citric/grapefruit thing. A sweetish malty start to the taste, bitter behind it. A medicinal hop lingers in the aftertaste, not too pleasant actually. The best thing about this brew is the toasty malt once you get used to the hit of sweetness. But it doesn't finish well, making for a disappointing experience.

Serving type: bottle

08-30-2006 13:16:51 | More by horndecker

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

3.68/5  rDev +2.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pale light yellow with tons of head. Yeasty and eggy scent. yeasty taste, malty and a drop of sugar, somewhat metallic like a lager, drop pineapple and sourish finish , but very drinkable. Banana yogurt creamy full mouthfeel. Refreshing on a hot summer night.

Serving type: bottle

08-09-2006 02:51:24 | More by northyorksammy

wl0307

United Kingdom (England)

3.35/5  rDev -6.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Revisiting this beer after trying it on draught at the Halve Maan brewery tap (with very disappointing service) in Brugge two years ago. BB JAN 08, served lightly-chilled in a 330ml slim goblet.

A: dark yellowish straw colour, coming with a loosely-formed thick fluffy white head dissipating pretty fast; fiercely carbonated body with huge bubbles floating.
S: resinous hoppy upfront, while lemony fruitiness and candyish malts mingle at the back; some yeasty fruit esters are felt in the background as well, with some sour-sweet passion-fruit+pineapple notes.
T: sharp-textured bready maltiness hits the palate upfront, immediately a spicy/clove and shellfish-like salty-sweet yeasty flavour (almost like that of a weizen) develops on the palate, gradually leading to a bitter-sweet malty and lemony fruity aftertaste lingering at the deep end of the tongue.
M&D: the texture is too fizzy and sharp for my taste, although it still remains quite refreshing throughout. But to my best recollection, the bottled-version seems to taste more fluffy and lack of balance than the draught version I tried at the brewery tap. To let this beer breathe for a while before sipping leads to a different observation in terms of texture, though--much softer and soothing. Not a bad beer to quaff and definitely better than their new beer Brugse Zot.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2006 19:54:06 | More by wl0307

weeare138

Pennsylvania

3.18/5  rDev -11.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Thanks goes out to fatty for this one.
Appears a light gold with a lush white head that lasts. Streaky lacing and lots of carbonation are seen.
Smell is grainy with evident alcohol and a squash aroma, along with grains of paradise, breadiness, and something reminescent of a brand new beach ball smell.
Taste is grainy and slightly sweet with many of the aromas coming through in the taste.
Mouthfeel is lingering on the front of the tongue with effervescence pounding away and a semi-dry finish.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2005 16:38:28 | More by weeare138

paterlodie

Belgium

3.6/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Whow what a carafull poorout needed for this one and snowwhite creamy head just stays forever. Beautifull golden/bronze color make appearance more then just OK. Though its hard to get a good nosefull of flavours with this head what you find is sweet, malts, hoppy, 4-guijacol and litle sourness. Taste is maltysweet, litle sourness before it gets into a hoppy bitterness and a bittersour aftertaste. Mouthfeel is litle strange cause of the sournes but full of taste. Drinkability is ok; wouldn't mind another one.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2005 23:00:30 | More by paterlodie

Paddez

Belgium

3.25/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Clear, honey-coloured brew with a small head.
The aroma contains honey, bananas and something sour (apple, lemon?)
The same sourness comes back in the taste, along with some spices and a slightly bitter finish.
Pretty flat and thin mouthfeel. Wich is nice for a change.
The drinkabillity is good although I wouldn't like more than one of these on one evening. It's just too boring for that.

Nothing intresting about this one, no real complexity and no bite.
Not really worth trying in my opinion. There are much more intresting beers around. Even in this style.

Serving type: bottle

12-18-2004 12:40:45 | More by Paddez

3Vandoo

Quebec (Canada)

3.28/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A nice thich creamy white head, probably one of the best foam Ive seen in a while. Unfortunately there were many deposits in my glass. A shy blonde body, very thin. Great carbonisation it was fun to see the bubbles dancing anyway.Taste a bit sour, fruity, a tiny bit of clover and banana taste. My first sip I had a taste of wet cartonboard then this dissapeared, maybe my bottle was bad, but the taste did not come back later on.

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2004 23:44:49 | More by 3Vandoo

merlin48

Kentucky

3.1/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Based on the price I paid for this bottle, I expected it to be worthy of serving into my St Bernardus goblet. It wasn't.
Pours a clear, tangerine gold body, with no head. Hmm..
Aroma is restrained for a Belgian ale. Some banana, mango, and wool sweater yeastiness are picked up, after a bit of concentration on the nose.
Mouthfeel is, surprisingly, subtle for a Belgian. Low carbonation suggests flatness in this medium bodied ale.
Taste is unimpressive. Some hints of tropical fruits, earthy yeastiness, and crystal malts are present, but not profound. Flat carbonation suggests a bad bottle.
I'm not saying what I paid for this "less than stellar" bottle. Sometimes, I prefer to be my own, personal fool. Check with your merchant, or distributor, before purchasing one of these.

Serving type: bottle

10-03-2004 01:10:35 | More by merlin48

GreenCard

Oregon

2.88/5  rDev -20%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: golden hue, good clarity, huge pillow of off-white foam that becomes rocky and slowly compacts to a thinner mass of floating islands

Aroma: malty and a bit clovey, dusty attic, slight hint of herbally hops, bananas, honey

Flavor: floury malt sweetness with an accompanying herbal hop flavor throughout, a touch of spice, finishes dryish with a slightly vegetal aftertaste

Mouthfeel: medium-light body, exploding amounts of carbonation, slight alcohol warmth

Overall Impression: I looked away from this one for a minute after I popped the cap. When I turned back, a plug of foam was slowly rising out of the bottle. Lots of bubbles in this one. So much so that you kind of lose the flavor of the beer as soon as it hits your tongue. Not bad though, even if it's fleeting.

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2004 17:14:49 | More by GreenCard

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Bottle – Poured a light blond beer with a nice bubbly head. Aroma is sweet with a nice mix of malt and hops. Great carbonation with a medium body and I also noticed quite a lot of sediment at the bottom. Taste has a good mix of spices with a subtle bitter aftertaste. Overall, this is an average Belgian Ale but I’m not sure I would drink this again since there’s some better Belgian brew out there.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2004 16:23:49 | More by Phyl21ca

sparkydoyle

Pennsylvania

3.9/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Beer poured a clover honey color. Head was minimal and dissipated quickly. Orange and bread notes prominent in the nose. No sweetness in the flavor, just a slight tartness and sourness working together, finish is orange peel and coriander.

The beers real talent is it’s subtlety. Not much of a showstopper or even a session beer, but a great companion to lamb and potatoes, or any meal that presents a lot of fat and spice.

Serving type: bottle

01-27-2004 22:51:08 | More by sparkydoyle

Gusler

Arizona

3.95/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

The beer debouches a limpid golden yellow with the head modest in size, bright white in color, semi-creamy in texture and the lace a thin but covering sheet for the glass. The nose a bit vinous, with a sweet backing, unmistakable sour apple aroma, earthy and citrus crisp, start is quite sweet, pleasingly malted with the top light to middling in feel. Finish is formidable in its acidity, the hops pleasing and their spiciness grows as the beer warms to the glass and the room. Aftertaste very dry, vinous and very long lasting, a quite quaffable beer, and one that is a good representative to the style.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2003 19:44:48 | More by Gusler

cokes

Wisconsin

4.13/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Semi-transparent peach. Moving towards opaque amber as the dregs are introduced. Glacier-esque head is explosively white, well-formed and slow-moving. Looks damn good.
A mixture of apricot fuzz and bread dough in the nose. Peppery too.
Enters the mouth with a dry, crackery pale malt base. This is more than simply a foundation, rather a feature flavor in itself. Solidly bready and crusty a la sourdough. Fruit is present, though never explicit. Peach, mangoes and apricot add intrigue. Doughiness remains, but turns in a cookie direction. Spicing enters with tempered cloves and white pepper. Some mustiness is carried along and shows up with chalkboards and basement floors. Hopping is noteworthy. Persuasively bitter with roots and brittle herbs. Ends grassy and bone dry.
Medium-light bodied. Downable in gulps despite its rapid carbonation. Tasty and mucho sessionable.
More of "ummm..guzzle..guzzle" than "wow! sip...sip". And I have no problem with that.
A dead-ringer for a "milder" version of Unibroue's La Fin du Monde. The yeast traits are nearly identical.
Nice one here.

Serving type: bottle

11-14-2003 08:37:22 | More by cokes

granger10

Wisconsin

3.25/5  rDev -9.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a golden, lagerish color and a very weak head that left a bit of lacing down the sides. This one seemed to be flat, but that might just be how it is made. However I did not care for the lack of carbonation. Taste was very simple for a Belgian. It was alright but not great. A combination of bready sweetness combined with a slight yeastiness here. It seemed like the brewers had missed an ingredient or step in the process because something seemed to be missing that could've made this a really good beer. But oh well. There's many more better Belgians to be had.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2003 21:05:15 | More by granger10

Viking

Indiana

3.53/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Solid 'pop' when I removed the cork, accompanied by swirling 'gunsmoke' from the mouth of the bottle. Pours a pale, hazy, peachy gold. Tons of CO2 apparent surging towards the top of the beer. Head is rather smaller than anticipated. Still a nice-sized, off-white head. Good head retention, lots of lace. Head seems to be continually 'replenished' by the heavy carbonation. Smells of sour grapes or apples, with an underlying crispy wheat base. Mild amounts of spicy, grassy hops apparent in the aroma as well. Clean, grassy flavor, lightly spicy (especially in the aftertaste). Slightly sour, but nothing like the aroma suggested. Slight metalling tang seemed to come and go as I drank this one. Very dry beer. Light bodied brew, slightly rough from the carbonation. Overall, a good brew. Fairly light and clean. A bit too strong (abv) for a real summertime thirst quencher, but still a nice beer for a sunny spring afternoon.

Serving type: bottle

05-13-2003 12:58:23 | More by Viking

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

3.6/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Small head that dies quick, amber color. Fresh aroma, very fruity: apples, pears, peach. Very light and mellow, this, but still with that certain Belgian spark that I love so. Feels a lot like a pale ale, particularly Bass. Nice, but nothing to shoot the moon over.

Serving type: bottle

01-13-2003 23:27:14 | More by feloniousmonk