Grimbergen Blonde - Brouwerij Alken-Maes

LuckySevens82

Florida

4.22/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

11.2 fl oz bottle.
Pours a golden orange with a bright white head. Retention and lacing are both very nice.
Smell is sweet malts, some caramel, fruity sweet (apples, peaches, pears, strawberries), slight orange, a bit of citrus, and yeast.
Taste is pretty similar to smell, fruity as all get out, some yeast, spices, and the like. Very mild hop flavor.
Mouthfeel is good.
Overall, a really good Belgian Pale. I would definitely have it again.

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2005 02:21:15 | More by LuckySevens82

ybnorml

Rhode Island

4.03/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A clean golden pale yellow beer. Has a big fluffy bright white head and a good brussels lace. The aroma is lightly sweet with a strong apple character with hints of orange peel and spices. In the taste the apple character melts to a honey note on the sides of your tongue. Towards the end there is a nice spicey hop snap before the return of that light candy sweetness on the finish.

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2005 21:49:22 | More by ybnorml

Bierschenker

Belgium

4.53/5  rDev +21.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

The Grimbergen beers are one of my personal favourites. Not the least because it originates from my former hometown Grimbergen. Today Grimbergen has a large Baroque basilica attached to the abbey. It was founded by Saint-Norbertus himself. In the middle ages, the lords of Grimbergen where very powerfull. The original plans showed a huge complex, but It was never completely built. The buildings where sold during the French revolution by the French occupier and the complex was partially demolished. After the French redrew, it was reacquired by the monastic order. As they had vowed when they entered the order, they where to foresee in their own needs. On of them was brewing beer as it was safer in those days to drink beer then water.

The Beer has a clear copper colour. When poured, a lot of effort goes in creating a reasonable head. Which disappears quite rapidly. It has an odour that reminds me of dried ham combined with spices, exotic fruit and citrus. It tastes very light but when it touches the tongue rich aroma’s are released: malt, hop’s, fruit,…
This is a stronger beer, but I thing it is easier to drink than some lighter beers.

Ut Vivat, Crescat, Floreat!

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2005 12:31:04 | More by Bierschenker

PorterLambic

Florida

3.95/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a beautiful amber-orange. Small head develops then drops to a lingering film that leaves sparse lace. Smell is nicely balanced with orange, banana, spice and malt notes present. Taste is more of the same, orange, banana, spice and malt with hops showing up around the edges at first and increasing with the temperature. Fairly smooth with a hint of a hop bite. Medium-full body with a fairly light finish. Very drinkable with a good balance a decent complexity overall.

Serving type: bottle

04-27-2005 17:28:36 | More by PorterLambic

MuddyFeet

North Carolina

3.88/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pretty good brew. Pours pale gold, with a thick and foamy head. The aroma is sweet and syrupy. The flavor is all in the malts. There is honey and syrup. A bouquet of flower hops towards the back end of the flavor. The mouthfeel is slightly high on the carbonation, but not in a bad way. Very full-bodied beer, but in a soft way. Very smooth and easy drinking, this beer does not pound the palate and it is very simple to drink a couple of these.

Serving type: bottle

04-04-2005 00:42:24 | More by MuddyFeet

paterlodie

Belgium

3.08/5  rDev -17.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Best before 07-05. Ingredients say acorbic acid humm; no botle fermentation. Appearance is quiet ok with nice white foam that stays quiet well. Golden and clear beercolor.
Nose is old and muffy with lots of koreander and partly oxidised malts. Taste is not that fresh either, hanging bitterness however not that disturbing cause low dosed. Fruity sournotes cause of coreander and maybe the ascorbic acid. Unfresh, tasted it more often but skip it if its not for a blind tasting....

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2005 19:08:52 | More by paterlodie

Quaffer

Nevada

3.9/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: This beer was a crystal clear, light amber color. Oddly enough, there was no sediment in the bottom of the bottle. Is that common for this beer? The white head rose up to a little more than a finger and then settled down slowly, becoming dense and rocky. It was nice and sticky, leaving solid sheets of lace behind on the side of the glass. There was always a layer of bubbles present over the top of the liquid, though the bead was not very pronounced.

Smell: Light fruits, such as apples and grapes, provided the bulk of the aroma. There was even a light bite to the smell, just like a Granny Smith apple. Light spices hovered underneath, along with some spicy alcohol, hints of hops, and a little bit of warm malt.

Mouthfeel: Fairly light bodied, but with a bit of chewiness. Carbonation was strong and gave the beer a fluffy feel in the mouth. It wasn't rough, though.

Taste: The flavors were delicate and straightforward, but nice. A combination of tart apple and light malt sweetness upfront. Then in the middle arose a floral hops bitterness that continued on through the finish. The aftertaste was a combination of light sweetness and a non-bitter floral component that was different from the floral hops that was evident previously.

Not overly complex and definitely not an ass kicker, but still a nice beer. I think I even like this one better than the dubbel.

Serving type: bottle

03-04-2005 00:39:42 | More by Quaffer

medic25

Connecticut

3.25/5  rDev -12.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured a clear yellow color, think white head that quickly dissipated. Fairly pleasant odor, a little yeasty. The taste was fairly light, lacking much complexity, and didn't linger too long on the palate. Other than a touch of bitterness on the palate, the flavor quickly disappeared. Not a terrible Belgian, but definitely not in the upper tier (and definitely not worth the $11.99 I paid for the six-pack!!!).

Serving type: bottle

01-29-2005 07:16:35 | More by medic25

watermelonman

California

3.2/5  rDev -14%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

This arrived with a nice golden color with a medium sized head that faded a bit. There's just a line or two for lace.

The smell was a fairly good combination of light malts and citrus tones. The taste was a bit lighter than expected, with those same flavors present. The mouthfeel was definitely too light. This beer just needs more substance.

Serving type: on-tap

01-13-2005 04:44:38 | More by watermelonman

tavernjef

Minnesota

3.33/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Clear pear yellow color with lots of carbonation bubbles at the start eventually fading to soft supple bubbling, starts with a firm finger high cap of white sturdy foam that drifts off leaving a thin skim and a fluffy collaring. Lacing coats the glass nicely in thinner curtains.

Aroma of dulled citrus and white grapes and a soft plastic phenol touch underneath.

Flavors are kinda mild, touches of fruityness hint to a spartic citrus notion along with a white wine aspect with a fluffy insueing yeasty softness that carries some spice of clove and white pepper. Small traces of alcohol and phenols slip by quickly as it trys very hard to stay kinda fruity and dry. Which it kinda does but withstands no real finishing qualities, it just sort of disappears on ya.

Feel is weakened and thinnish, borderline watery with only a small nudge of dryness, fruityness, and carbonation which gathers a bit of strength as it gets past mid way and developes more but decreases again in the finish. This is an appoachable brew but lacks a bit of ompff and character; I think I'll skip it over in future buying sprees.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2004 19:13:34 | More by tavernjef

CharlesRiver

Connecticut

4/5  rDev +7.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Same 11.2 oz. bottle that is pictured to the right. Poured carefully into my chalice, oh wait, no need to pour that carefully. This beer doesn't appear to be bottle conditioned. No sediment in my bottle.

Pours out golden-orange in color with a good size white fluffy head. Small stems of bubbles make their way to the top. The smell is spicy and citrusy. Overall seems on the sweet side.

The first thing I noticed about the taste was the carbonation and the sweetness. Overall well balanced between sweet, citrus and spice (think pepper). Flavor kind of drops at the end into something a bit dry.

Overall a solid beer that I would have again.

Serving type: bottle

11-05-2004 23:12:13 | More by CharlesRiver

ALESwhatCURESya

Wisconsin

4.15/5  rDev +11.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Purchased for $1.59/bottle

Poured out a golden color with a ultra fluffy, filmy head that just stuck to the glass. There was solid and constant bottom carbonation. The aroma is very reminiscent of a belgian wit with heavy wheat tones. I can pick up a little clove as well. The taste is pretty solid with a tart beginning and a crisp finish. The semi-high ABV is nicely hidden but noticed when it warms your stomach. This is a very nice anytime beer at a resonable price!

Serving type: bottle

10-20-2004 23:47:53 | More by ALESwhatCURESya

Billolick

New York

3.88/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

11.2 ounce bottle, nice label, with an eagle and sort of stained glass looking. Pours clear, light and golden. Not much head, lower carbonation, tiny bubble film light and wispy lacing. Nose is pineapple and some yeast. Notes of bublegum, more pineapple, lemony and fairly refreshing. Would go great with a warm waether salad. Ffairly light bodied and a tad thin. Less complex then the top notch pales also lower in alcohol. Less interesting then hoped for, still a tasty and pleasant drink.

Serving type: bottle

09-25-2004 23:43:36 | More by Billolick

ADR

Pennsylvania

3.18/5  rDev -14.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Clear (I was expecting bottle conditioned) darker yellow with a nice head of 1/2 of an inch. Laces well, spidery with good cling though. Aroma is lightly astringent, unripe pineapple with some yeast and lime. Flavor starts decently full, adequate body and carbonation, with sense of esters, some sugary sweetness, and citrus fruit. The brew loses an impression of more sturdy malts about halfway through the mouth and settles into an overly sourish quality, with a loss of texture at the close. Somewhat quaffable but it loses its drinkability at the finish, not settling great with me at the end.

Serving type: bottle

07-12-2004 15:08:48 | More by ADR

cokes

Wisconsin

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

Clear honey topped with several inches of wet, white froth.
Nose ripe with apples, pear, pineapple, clove and musty, doughy yeast.
Begins generous with fruit. Tropical with papaya and mango, candified. The apple and pear traits develop and linger. Doughball yeastiness arrives. Turns weizen-esque with fat bruised bananas and loads of cloves. Plenty peppery too. Regresses to the apple-pear combo then exits with a brief, drying grassy hop snap.

It should be noted that this seems to lose nuance and pizzazz as it sits. By the end, it's all honey-covered pears, pizza dough, ghostly booze, and cloves. Strikingly similar to Leffe Blonde...and that is not all that favorable a comparison.

Medium bodied, with, perhaps, a few extra pounds tacked on. Steadily carbonated up front but still a touch sticky, and even more gooey as the CO2 leaves.
Akin to a Tripel-Weissbier cross. Too bad that bottom fell out. I liked this quite a bit up front.

Serving type: bottle

06-27-2004 23:44:10 | More by cokes

Boto

Connecticut

3.68/5  rDev -1.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

50cl can: This beer has a dark golden color to it, with maybe a hint of orange. There is a strong white head. There is a somewhat sweet aroma, with hints of yeast and spices. The taste is along the same lines. A bit of citrus also. It is a bit more than medium bodied. Comperable to Leffe.

Serving type: can

06-05-2004 19:04:39 | More by Boto

Bourre

France

3.88/5  rDev +4.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours an orange-yellow color, with a nice dense head that quickly fades. The smell is interesting: sweet, citric, yeasty and very fruity.


The taste is enjoyable, fruity and sweet, with grapefruits getting more present in the end. Very citric, zests of lemon. Wheat is fairly noticeable too. I had problems to define the aftertaste that's kind of spicy (pepper?). After reading other reviews, I have to agree to a certain extent with the winy apple flavor that one person mentioned. I thought this took off from the beer's drinkability, but the way the hops appear in the beer is still interesting: the bitterness is enveloped in a fruity wave. The mouthfeel is very round and smooth. A good cheap beer here in France.

Serving type: can

04-15-2004 18:28:00 | More by Bourre

clvand0

Kentucky

3.95/5  rDev +6.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

I was expecting a lot out of this beer and it just about lived up to my expectations. Pours a light yellow color with a moderate head and leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma is not too strong, but it has a spicy and wheaty feel. The flavor is very smooth and has hints of pepper and a strong wheat character. I enjoyed this beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2004 20:15:24 | More by clvand0

CRJMellor

Arkansas

3.23/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Pours a yellow golden hue with a nice head. Aroma is heavy wheat, small amount of oily hops and some light malt. Cloudy or chill hazed (not sure which).

Taste is very dominated by the wheat. making it almost a Hefe or a weiss. After intial rush of wheat the tasts kind of peters out with no malt or bitter notes coming through.

Somewhat disappointing for the style and for the taste.

Serving type: bottle

12-21-2003 14:03:41 | More by CRJMellor

Andreji

Colombia

3.93/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

A nice wheaty beer.

A transparent caramelly pour (perhaps a dim lighting) that isnt cloudy as I expected.

The smell, soft but with some fruity and rather malty/wheaty presence that isnt all that fulfilling but provides a preview to the beer.

The taste in itself is very soft and the predominance within is of the wheat which gives off a weiss-like base for the sweeter brew which in turn has no nasty aftertaste or many hops to it either. its nice though, but not top notch.

Serving type: on-tap

09-21-2003 12:14:48 | More by Andreji

Mitchster

Michigan

4.18/5  rDev +12.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bought and drank this in Venice, Italy. I paid about 1.50 Euro for it. Brilliantly-clear dark-yellow forms a pillowy white head atop small to medium sized bubbles with very good retention and beautiful lacing. Carbonation is moderately strong. Aroma is fruity and phenolic with ripe bananas and cloves, and a distant peppery guava note. Mouthfeel is initially spritzy, yet soft with a medium-light body, crisp finish, and leaving a light coating upon the tongue. Taste begins with some spicy flavor hops and carbonated acidity, followed by cloves and bananas with a delicate pale malt presence with a distant crystal/munich malt note. The finish is semi-dry, very crisp and clean with a prolonged lingering banana sweetness on the back of the tongue and a well-balanced spicy hop bitterness. The ferment and brewing water is extremely clean. As it warms, it remains pleasant and enhances the fruitiness and drinkability. A very nice beer, tasty and easy to drink. Alcohol is imperceptable and there is a very brief metallic note.

A very solid Abbey Blond. Light in body with traditional characteristics and very good drinkability. Best served at cellar temperature. This brew appears filtered. I wonder what it would be like bottle-conditioned? Drinking it here in the States takes me back to Europe. Damn, they've got it good over there!

Serving type: bottle

04-28-2003 04:43:42 | More by Mitchster