Radermacher Rader Blonde

Brewed by Brasserie de l’Abbaye du Val-Dieu
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Aubel, Belgium

Serve in Lager glass, Shaker, Tumbler

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A hazed golden pour with a white head. A really huge herbal gin aroma which really dominates the nose. Some hints of banana and bread, a bit of yeast, and some apple sweetness. The flavor is decently sweet from the bread and mild sugar flavors. There’s a ton of gin to it which is very herbal, makes for a pretty interesting beer.

330 ml bottle a dark golden yellow colored beer with a white head aroma malts yeast fruits bread and hops flavor malts citrus spicy fruits and hops

A hazy yellow colored beer, with a white head. The aroma of soap, notes of fruits with malt. The taste of cleanser with some sweet fruits. The aftertaste is unwelcome sweet notes.

pours slightly hazy (with floaters) light golden with a decent white head, some retention. fruity, booze, gin, herbs, hay. hint of acidity and oak. some sweetness, booze, faint malts, corn. fizzy, light body, no finish.

33cl bottle @ home. Clear golden color, small white head. Smell malts, sweetness, herbs, cooked vegetables. Taste malts, lightly sweet, lightly herbs. High carbonation, low to medium body.

Aug 2010: Dumpy brown 33cl bottle, picked up in Antwerp at some random beer shop I stumbled across while walking the wife. I poured the beer into my ’Forbidden Fruit’ chalice (only because the beer is supposed to be flavoured with a Juniper Berry distillate!). I poured the whole bottle in, I wasn’t going to, intending to leave the sediment within the bottle, but I missed the ’cut off point’ and hey presto, out came the grist. The beer would have been a clear but dull orange, old gold colour. It still was, but without the clear body, because of the floating particles i’d allowed out the bottle. The head was a deep blanket of white foam which stayed throughout the tasting. Juniper beeries aren’t supposed to smell of Wiltshire Ham are they? Well this beer did (smell of cold cut, cured Ham), unless my nose lost the plot completely. The swurling sediment slowly began to settle and I took my first sip. Forget the hammy smells, this is a sour berry beer, lemon and limes too! Really interesting Blonde this one, you’d never guess the flavours from the smell, well I was fooled anyway. Real Gin and Tonic style feel to it. What a pity the wife is in London at a West End Show tonight, she’d have raved about this beer. Different and well made, I’ll suprise my good lady next week (in Brugge) if I see this on any beer menu. Edit bit: I did find it in Brugge and the wife did rave about it!

Hazy gold with a fizzy white head. Earthy with a pine-like flavor and a touch of hops. Lots of yeast, juniper, pepper, lemon.

13/11/2011 33cl bottle @ home - BB: 2/06/12 (2011-638)

Clear yellow blond beer, big aery off-white head, pretty stable, adhesive with nice lacing, some large flakes floating around, sediment that had come off the bottom. Looked pretty disgusting. Aroma: sweet, candi sugar, bit stale, some ripe fruits, banana. MF: lots of carbon, light body. Taste: sweet, bit of banana, alcohol (at 6.5%? way to go), little bitter. Aftertaste: a little bitter, some spiciness, bitter oranges.

Poured from bottle into it’s original snifter glass. Golden colour with a soapy head on top. Spicy, fruity aroma. Flavour is a bit disapointing, dryness of cranberrie and some metallic finish. Perhaps I had a bad bottle because it also had flakes of sediment instead of the regular murkyness down in the bottle. Too bad.

Golden coloured with a head that should hold longer, but sticks nice to the glass. Smell is light sour, fruity, yeast and spiced. A bit watery taste, spiced, yeast, a bit fruity.