Saint-Germain Page 24 Réserve Hildegarde Blonde

Brewed by Brasserie Saint-Germain
Style: Bière de Garde
Aix-Noulette, France

Huge white coarseish head. Faintly hazy yellow body. Earthy floral peas aroma with fruity milky Belgian yeast notes. Very harmonic. Dry-sweetish lemony earthy floral pea taste with milky soapy honey notes. Mid-bodied. Mild mouthfeel. Dry floral metallic earthy milky aftertaste with pea notes. Nice, balanced, easy to drink. (0.75l bottle, wine monopoly. This is a merge of two separate ratings.)

750 ml bottle. Slightly hazy, orange golden body with a big, nice foamy white head. Aroma is citric fruity, spicy, grassy and floral. Flavor is light malty, fruity, spicy, floral and nice balanced between sweetness and bitterness. Feels really light and quaffable, my bottle was suddenly just empty, still a nice and balanced flavor. Pretty high carbonation.

Botte from Vinmonopolet. A good pick for once. Hazy gold, nice pop of the patent cork. Saison-like, a lovely blend of barnyard, sourness and fruit. Keep them coming!

This is really a different kinda blonde. More voluptuous, more outgoing, blooming - and perhaps just a little overconfident? No head to speak of, bubbly and quickly fading. Medium carbonation. Color reminds me of a plain, slightly misty lager and does nothing to impress me. The taste of sweet fruits (the banana keeps haunting me) is meagerly balanced by an underlying sourness. Or is it bitterness? I can’t quite tell, as the flavor seems to be a bit of both, but hops are certainly in on it. Nevertheless, this is a decent beer, deceptively beckoning in its initial sips as it’s drinkability did not - in my view - justify the 0,75 litre bottle. Its fruitiness and outgoing nature somehow became a bit too overpowering, and - unfortunately - pulls the Hildegarde Rèserve a bit down on my scale, as I prefer my blondes to be somewhat more balanced. Nice try, though, and extra points for creativity. It’s not unlikely that I’ll try a second date with Hildegard sometime in the future. But not for a while.

750 ml bottle. Hazy golden colour. Meidum-sized white head. Floral hops and wheaty. High carbonation level. Nice and mellow malt flavours with a strong wheaty note. Initially it feels a little like a witbier, but this beer is definitely stronger, and the yeast is slightly more characterful. More esters and more fruity. Spicy, from hops and yeast. Finish is dry and bitter. Very nice.

750 ml swingtop bottle, now available in Norway at Vinmonopolet. ABV is 6.9%. Pale golden colour, just a slight haziness, big white head. Nice aroma of "Belgian" (French, actually) yeast, with spicy / peppery notes. Some fruit and grass too. The flavour is first crisp and moderately spicy / peppery, leading to a fruity moderate sweetness, ending in a moderately hoppy and spicy finish and aftertaste. A truly enjoyable bière de garde - will buy again.

Bottle, 75cl. It pours a hazy, pale golden-orange body under a decent white head leaving lacings. Quite lovely spice touch in the aroma, citrusy with a pleasant grainy imprint. Yeast notes and a suiting barnyard hint. Really refreshing and quenching with a nice blend of pale malts and citrusy hops. Quite sweet, but that just suits the beer, and the finish is as dry as it should be. Some yeast and a fine bitterness also find it’s way down the throat. Medium to full body, slightly warming and pleasantly carbonated. This was a nice surprise after too many mediocre French beers. 090919

Bottle from Cave à Bulles. Hazy golden with a rich offwhite head. Good herbal and grassy hop nose. Spicy flavours, solid maltiness kept in balance by good bitterness. Peppery. Very well-made and interesting.