Grimbergen Blonde - Brouwerij Alken-Maes

JudgeRoughneck

Louisiana

3.35/5  rDev -9.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 3

APP- Dense but low rocky white head w/ thick sticky lace above a copper colored beer. Crystal clear but luster lacks brilliance.

NOSE- The beer opens with a melange of apple, nut, banana, lemon, marmelade, white grape, pear, hint of basil, floral hop, and big hits of sweet Belgian malt with bread and cake characters. As it breathes and warms the banana in particular begins to dominate. The aroma is complex but unrefined. It is not cohesvie. I find it a little overwhelming to the senses, though it is classically Belgian.

FLAVOR- Flavors sweep over the palate and coat it with sweet caramel and toffee malt flavors lavered over fruit-cocktail in syrup with some vanilla in the finish. It would be very pleasant except for alcohol is hot and highly distracting. Minty-herbal hop flavor lingers in long finish though the beer is not very bitter.

MOUTHFEEL- This is Grimbergen's downfall. The beer is medium bodied with a slick, thick, syrupy, maltiness that gets torn in half by sharp alcohol and leaves a long medicinal? astringent finish.

OVERALL- Enough redeeming qualities to interest me in the rest of the brewer's line-up, but won't be revisiting this one any time soon. Reminds me very much of the "Devil-themed" Belgian Golden Strong ales, which aside from Duvel and a few US interpretations, I usually don't dig.

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2012 03:41:52 | More by JudgeRoughneck

mdfb79

New York

3.89/5  rDev +4.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

From 06/09/13 notes. Had a bottle of this on the train from Provence, France, to Paris. Poured into a cup on the train. Best by date of 03.14 on the bottle, 33cl bottle.

a - Pours a somewhat hazy yellow-orange color...it looks a lot like apple juice. Has two inches of fluffy white head and moderate lacing and carbonation evident.

s - Smells of bananas, cloves, spices, apples, yeast, bready malts. Nose is very nice; lots of bananas and Belgian style notes.

t - Tastes of spices, bananas, peppers, earthy notes, yeast, cloves, bready malts, and toasted malts. Taste has more spice and bananas to it; nice, but a little too much spice for me so a small step down from the nose.

m - Medium body and moderate carbonation. Body is smooth and creamy. Very nice.

o - Overall I liked this one quite a bit; at this point, the best new beer I had on the trip. Nice nose full of bananas and smooth and easy to drink. Would have it again.

Serving type: bottle

06-14-2013 20:00:49 | More by mdfb79

utopiajane

New York

3.25/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

Poured clear and brilliant blonde with a white head of creamy foam that stayed well. Bubbles streaming up this one’s a real looker. The foam finally fell to some outrageous thick lace. Nose is light, positively gay with brett, Belgian yeast and some apple. Malt opens up as it warms with a little nut, bread and grain. Slight vinegar smell at first and then floral. Taste is more malt than the nose with plenty of biscuit, bread and caramel beside a tart sour apple. Yeast takes a backseat, there’s a touch of booze and it’s chewy with almost no bitterness. Finishes wet and without much aftertaste except for a very mild slick hop resin on the tongue. Very light and delicate. Goes down very sweet and has a thin body. For some reason it just doesn’t feel like beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 09:13:33 | More by utopiajane

patre_tim

China

4.25/5  rDev +14.2%

06-07-2013 15:29:56 | More by patre_tim

Miha

Slovenia

4/5  rDev +7.5%

06-01-2013 20:23:26 | More by Miha

clarknova

Germany

3/5  rDev -19.4%

06-01-2013 18:00:16 | More by clarknova

cannunzi

Florida

4/5  rDev +7.5%

05-29-2013 19:23:10 | More by cannunzi

BlackSpark

Portugal

3.75/5  rDev +0.8%

05-25-2013 23:06:36 | More by BlackSpark

larbush

Illinois

4.25/5  rDev +14.2%

05-25-2013 21:13:44 | More by larbush

desint

Belgium

3/5  rDev -19.4%

05-24-2013 11:06:18 | More by desint

randomNBGD

Serbia

4/5  rDev +7.5%

05-22-2013 19:13:36 | More by randomNBGD

ChaseBacon

New York

4.25/5  rDev +14.2%

05-21-2013 13:30:40 | More by ChaseBacon

davemathews68

Ohio

2/5  rDev -46.2%

05-16-2013 02:44:30 | More by davemathews68

jkball01

Kentucky

3.25/5  rDev -12.6%

05-13-2013 16:37:04 | More by jkball01

Keegan

Germany

3.5/5  rDev -5.9%

05-11-2013 16:59:00 | More by Keegan

Bill235

Ohio

3.5/5  rDev -5.9%

05-11-2013 00:35:14 | More by Bill235

NightINgale

Quebec (Canada)

3.25/5  rDev -12.6%

05-10-2013 01:49:56 | More by NightINgale

pkenkman

Estonia

4/5  rDev +7.5%

05-08-2013 19:12:54 | More by pkenkman

Darkmagus82

Montana

4.2/5  rDev +12.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from bottle into a snifter

Appearance- The beer pours a light to medium golden color with a rather large billowy white head. The head fades relatively quickly leaving a medium level of lace on the sides of the glass.

Smell- The aroma of the brew is sweet of a citrus and light fruit aroma of apple and pear. There exists with these smells some nice noted of a banana as well as a moderately strong yeasty smell. Hints of a lightly boozed and vanilla aroma also are there, creating a rather pleasant nose overall.

Taste – The taste begins malty and sweet with a strong presence of orange citrus upfront. As the flavors advance some yeasty and more banana flavors come to the tongue and are quickly joined by some lighter spice flavors of coriander and clove. Toward the end the of the taste the sweeter fruit flavors dwindle and an alcohol flavor mixed with some notes of vanilla hit the tongue producing, for an only 6.7 % abv brew,. a surprisingly boozy triple like flavor is left to linger on the tongue.

Mouthfeel-The body of the beer is on the thinner side with a carbonation level that is on the average side. The slightly thinner feel is actually rather nice of the sweet citrus and boozy flavors for the brew ,minimizing the former and complementing the later quite well.

Overall – This is a Belgian style blond I rather like. It finishes on the drier side with more triple like characteristics all while maintaining a relatively smooth but warming flavor throughout the taste. Quite tasty.

Serving type: bottle

05-04-2013 01:33:21 | More by Darkmagus82

pperez38

California

3.5/5  rDev -5.9%

05-02-2013 10:33:41 | More by pperez38

BDF2000

Virginia

5/5  rDev +34.4%

04-30-2013 20:03:29 | More by BDF2000

randylangford

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +7.5%

04-26-2013 22:51:44 | More by randylangford

Radome

Spain

3.86/5  rDev +3.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Served from a 33 cl bottle into a goblet.

A - Beer is a medium golden color and very clear. Head is white, thick and fluffy. It is made up of exceptionally tiny bubbles, which also constantly rise in streams from the bottom of the glass. A very attractive beer.

S - The aroma is dominated by yeast esters--fruit and bubblegum. The fruit comes across as fresh pineapple to me. Otherwise clean and plain. I really don't get any malt or hops, just fruity gum; reminds me of Juicy Fruit brand.

T - The taste is a bit more complex than the aroma. There is some light malt and grain, along with grassy hops flavor. The pineapple and bubblegum are still there, but fainter than in the smell. A hint of alcohol.

M - Medium to heavy body is appropriate for the flavors and alcohol. Light to medium hops bitterness, some light alcohol burn. The carbonation is noticeable but seems smooth due to the tiny size of the bubbles.

O - This is a pleasant, well-made beer. It is not as complex as the best examples of Belgian pales, but it is simple and drinkable while having many of the tastes and aromas you'd expect.

Serving type: bottle

04-20-2013 21:16:06 | More by Radome

WEBBEER

Pennsylvania

4.25/5  rDev +14.2%

04-17-2013 22:37:14 | More by WEBBEER

intoxabroad

British Columbia (Canada)

3.5/5  rDev -5.9%

04-13-2013 11:58:24 | More by intoxabroad