La Grande Blanche

Date: 03/04/2008
Mode: Bottle
Source: Brick Store Pub

Appearance: hazy dark yellow, wispy white head,
Aroma: musty malt aroma with a spicy earthy character followed by slightly sweet citrus,
Flavor: sweet orange flavor is well restrained by a dry wheat character, light earthyness,
Overall: big yet balanced,
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Date: 04/15/2008
Mode: bottle
Source: brick store
Score: 3.5 to 3.7

strong fruity esters are making a huge impression this time around,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 7/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 9/10
Score: **4

Bottle… Hazy yellow ale with a small, fizzy, white head. The yeasty, fruity nose offers cookie dough, warm bread and a whisper of clove. Medium to full-bodied with modest carbonation. The flavor is a merger of fruitcake and cookie dough. Sweet, bready, candied finish.

(750ml bottle) Pours a hazy golden body with a medium white head. Aroma of orange, wheat, coriander, toasted grain, and apple cider. Flavor of orange, lemon, wheat, yeast, and clove.

Pours a hazy amber with a rocky white head. Smells of ginger, coriander, wheat. Tastes of citrus, coriander, dough. Meh.

Tap at Blind Tiger. Hazy yellow straw coloured brew. Aroma is quite citrusy and and fruity with just a touch of coriander and some light berry sweetness as well. Quite fruity and wheaty smelling. Flavour is somewhat unusual, with less of the coriander that is typical and more of the yeast fruitiness than I was expecting. Light cherry and a bit of strawberry and even a kiss of wildness. A little bit of tartness and some nice yeasty spiciness as well. This is not at all what I was expecting and it is surprisingly subtle. Lingering fruit and soft tart/sweet finish.

Pours a hazy light straw body with a billowing head that does intricate Belgian lacing. The aroma has wheat, banana. coriander, clove, and a lemony tartness. Very creamy mouthfeel yet leaving a peppery feeling on the tongue. Tastes of wheat and banana and warm spices and has a developing citrus zest bitterness. Kind of a dry finish. With its un-Wit characteristics and its hefty ABV, I’m surprized that this isn’t listed as a Batch 8000 Belgian Strong Ale.

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Hazy "dirty" dark golden liquid with a smaller off-white head. Nearly sickeningly sweet scents of raisins, candi, and rotting pears. There is a little more depth in the aroma, but I don’t care to look for it anymore. Sweet flavors all over the place in the flavor as well. Start has some melon and citrus. Quite bitter in the finish and really dry and bitter with an iron twist in the linger. I’m only a few ounces in and this is close to being one of less than a dozen actual drain pours. I make one more pour and will try and slog my way through this. Actually the it seems to "mellow" a tough as it warms. Still syrupy sweet, but some of the volatiles seem to be driven away. This is, at best, a poor strong golden, and certainly no Grand Wit.

Bottle. Head is initially small, frothy/fizzy, white, mostly diminishing. Body is hazy medium yellow. Aroma is lightly to moderately malty (toasted grain, husks/cereal), lightly to moderately yeasty (mold, basement), with notes of buttered popcorn (diacetyl?), pear syrup, cotton candy, squash. Flavor is moderately to heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly to moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly to moderately bitter. Medium to full body, velvety/syrupy texture, lively carbonation, lightly alcoholic. Pretty awful stuff. No aromatic resemblance to a witbier, some nasty odors in there instead. A syrupy-sweet, clumsy mess of a beer.