La Blonde D'’Esquelbecq / Thiriez Blonde - Brasserie Thiriez

metter98

New York

4.06/5  rDev +0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A: The beer is relatively clear golden yellow in color and has a moderate amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a two finger high dense white head that has very good retention properties and took a long time to die down, consistently leaving a quarter finger high head covering the surface.
S: Light aromas of earthy yeast are present in the nose.
T: The taste is similar to the smell, but isn't as earthy, also having notes of apples and yeast as well as hints of peppery spices.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer is extremely easy to drink and seems to be a little lighter-bodied compared to other beers in the style (it's kind of like a saison but with an earthier taste). I would definitely want to have this again, especially when cooking a dinner.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2013 00:10:10 | More by metter98

mdfb79

New York

3.75/5  rDev -7.2%

05-21-2013 13:41:47 | More by mdfb79

Kmat10

Alberta (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -13.4%

05-21-2013 00:49:16 | More by Kmat10

cadaugherty

Illinois

3.75/5  rDev -7.2%

05-08-2013 01:50:57 | More by cadaugherty

Googs

New York

4/5  rDev -1%

04-22-2013 17:16:49 | More by Googs

Sparky44

Illinois

4/5  rDev -1%

03-25-2013 01:30:04 | More by Sparky44

Seaba

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +5.2%

02-28-2013 14:24:00 | More by Seaba

Mattias

Sweden

4.25/5  rDev +5.2%

01-27-2013 22:22:24 | More by Mattias

impending

California

3.78/5  rDev -6.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

B+

750ml into a tulip. Pours a lightly hazed pale yellow, dense clumping egg shell white froth, nice lacing remains behind.

Sweet yeasty rich aroma, apple, pear and an underlying mustiness.

Flavor is slightly fruity and grainy, minor citrus rind. Touch of white pepper joins the bitter comprised of rind and wet grass but altogether minor. No sharp edges. Less than medium bodied mouthfeel.
cheers
jd

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2012 05:54:10 | More by impending

yossarian14

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +11.4%

09-12-2012 16:38:39 | More by yossarian14

PEIhop

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +11.4%

09-02-2012 03:15:34 | More by PEIhop

t0rin0

California

3.75/5  rDev -7.2%

09-01-2012 03:00:22 | More by t0rin0

Beerandraiderfan

Nevada

3.53/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a clear blonde color with 1.5" of white head on the top of it. Aroma was if this makes sense, dry perfume. Pale malts and a mild yeast presence qualifying as Belgian.

Taste, enjoyable, thin body, heavy flavor delivery, again dry, slightly mild citrus notes, pithy bitterness. Carbonation was high. I don't know if this had pepper, of it the lemon like citrus qualities and high carbonation tend to make you think there might be based on those two factors together often giving a beer a little more prickliness that isn't too far from being peppery. Grassy as well. Really tame hopping, but par for the course for style. Never picked up on any of the earthy funky descriptors others have used. Thought this was really dry and clean.

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2012 17:41:00 | More by Beerandraiderfan

JayQue

Virginia

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

Poured from a 750 ml corked and caged bottle into a pint glass. Foams up pretty good when poured. An unusual saison....much different flavors than I am used to but it works!!! pours a hazy butterscotch color with a medium size delicately bubbly white head. Head retention is about average for a saison. Little lacing.

Smell is fairly pronounced. There is a vinuous aroma, more like a table wine than the wine aroma and taste found in some Imperial stouts (port wine). There is also a fairly pronounced apple cider aroma s well. I like the saison lemon zest and funk more than this, but the aroma is still pretty good.

Taste is similar. Some white table wine, more apple juice or cider. As the beer warms, some tartness and a tiny bit of funk are more prominent, no barnyard/horseblanket aspects here. I was shocked at the low abv. This is a big beer flavor wise. May not be typical saison, but the flavors jump out at you.

Mouthfeel is crisp and rich. The tartness and very slight hoppiness are welcome. Does not feel like a low abv beer.

Different but still good. I didn't give it the high marks that most reviewers did. A bit expensive (at least at Superior Market in Sunnyside NY). It is good but not great.

Serving type: bottle

08-29-2012 14:01:48 | More by JayQue

wordemupg

Alberta (Canada)

4.1/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

750ml bottle poured into tulip 1/8/12

A hazy peachy orange with lots of tiny particles being pushed around by lots of tiny bubbles that feed a large well sustained foam that leaves a couple random patches of lace

S lemon zest and sweet orange with lots of hops, herbal, leafy, and lots of citrus, faintly funky and some nice spicy notes

T matches the smell very well, maybe a little more spicy notes then the nose

M has some body too it and the bubbles give it some life, a little rindy yeast lingers on the finish

O pretty well rounded beer that I'll drink again, I know its a little silly giving a beer the highest mark in the overall but I felt it deserved a boost because it was so close too 4.5 in all areas

another great addition to the massive beer selection here in Alberta, now if we could only get some Westy 12's in these parts I'd be really impressed... oh OK then never-mind

Serving type: bottle

08-02-2012 05:15:02 | More by wordemupg

rolltide8425

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -1%

07-26-2012 15:45:18 | More by rolltide8425

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

4/5  rDev -1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750ml bottle.

This beer pours a cloudy, medium golden amber colour, with three fingers of fine, foamy off-white head, which leaves some random swaths of lace around the glass as it lazily recedes.

It smells of mildly toasted pale malt, a bit of Belgian sugar, a tame white pepper essence, and rather prominent bitter leafy, weedy, and somewhat floral hops. The taste is semi-sweet grainy malt, some moderated yeasty, funky notes, soft peppery spices, a decent varied orchard fruitiness - apple, withered orange, and mild grapefruit/lemon acridity - hemmed in by a decent earthy, leafy hoppiness.

The bubbles are low-key, and all the better for it, the body an impressively rounded middle weight for the style, and more or less smooth. It finishes decidedly on the sweet side - fairly sugary pale malt, a waning earthy yeastiness, and still edgy fruity, leafy hops.

One sassy Saison, I must say - this seems very much like a pepped up version of the base style, not so much in the booze, but in the otherwise normally sedate aspects. Spice, yeast, and verdant hops make this a future-forward version of the traditional style. Me likey.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2012 04:42:06 | More by biboergosum

rarbring

Sweden

3.5/5  rDev -13.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A hazy pale straw colored brew, with a short white head that leaves no lacing and has small curtains.

The smell is funky yeasty, spices and lime almond.

Tasting sweet lemon marmalade, cardamom and clove.

High carbonation, small foamy bubbles, a medium body, a dry finish.

Feels very genuine, like beer made for centuries.

Serving type: bottle

06-23-2012 22:36:38 | More by rarbring

danedelman

Pennsylvania

3.98/5  rDev -1.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A-amber copper with a nice 1 finger head.

S-very nice roasted malt almost butterscotch smell with candi sugar.bit fruity but do not have any sourness or funk in the nose like I was thinking.

T-very malt forward. Roasty/toasty malts with a nice fresh earthy hop lurking on the back of the tongue to really balnce this one beautifully. I don't get the funk or sourness at all.

M-full bodied and very lively in the mouth.

O-will buy again. Not what I was expecting but very good.

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2012 17:59:31 | More by danedelman

jisak74

4/5  rDev -1%

04-05-2012 08:50:02 | More by jisak74

SiRCRX

Michigan

3.75/5  rDev -7.2%

03-23-2012 22:16:19 | More by SiRCRX

Sunnanek

Sweden

4.4/5  rDev +8.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A: Pours murky orange with a really large and compact white head that takes a long time to dissipate, leaving rich lacings.

S: Wow, brettanomyces gives it a yeasty and “barny” vibe. Dry green apples and oranges. Spices; mainly peppers.

T: Follows the nose; brett and spices. Green apples, oranges, lemons, grapefruits and perhaps some melon. Very dry. Not as sharp as the smell, more balance. Some sourness as well.

M: Bitter and sour aftertaste, rather long for the style. Body is medium while carbonation is mild and smooth.

O: This is a very nice Saison – a little of everything. The bretts make it very interesting; provide an extra dimension.

Serving type: bottle

03-08-2012 12:03:24 | More by Sunnanek

HoistinBrews

Minnesota

4.5/5  rDev +11.4%

02-07-2012 23:24:09 | More by HoistinBrews

Immortale25

Florida

4.71/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75

Great thanks to cstromberg57 for throwing this surprise in. Never heard of the brewery or had a beer from France before to my recollection. Poured into a pint glass. Label says 09/2011

A- Pours a super cloudy dark gold color and, from a very careful pour, yields a finger and a half of white head that retains for quite a long time before finally retreating to 1/4 inch. Thick, fluffy lacing as I swirl.

S- Immediately catch on to the brettanomyces yeast funk that smells very fresh and pungent. It has a familiar medicinal aroma to it that I can't put my finger on.

T- Tart in the onset but with a full sweetness on top. The Brett is just screaming out of this one too but in a good way that's not so puckering that you can't taste the fruitiness. In this case, there's lemon, orange, kumquat and grapefruit all shining the way they were meant to.

M- This is my favorite part of the blonde. Fizzy, spritzy bubbles with a bit of dryness at first but is immediately swept aside by the quenching finish. The wild yeast also provides a medicinal coating on the tongue that's not unwelcome. Has a champagne-like quality overall.

O- So this is what a true saison tastes like. Beautiful.

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2012 00:53:32 | More by Immortale25

LostHighway

Maine

4/5  rDev -1%

11-28-2011 13:19:07 | More by LostHighway