St. Bernardus Blanche (Witbier)

Nice wheaty citrus aroma with a great sweet spicey yeasty flavor. A nicely balanced well made beer.

Long lasting small white head tops a muddy dirty dark yellow body (looks like the by-product of someone who’s been drinking too much St-Bernardus ABT 12). Citrusy nose with some bretty notes. Taste is very fruity (peach, mango, watermelon) and somewhat grassy. Thick malty and yeasty body with a doughy feel/taste. Hopping reminds of some classic pils although it only shows-up quickly in the finish. By witbier standards this is a pretty heavy beer (densely fruity). One of my favorite witbier.

Bottle. Very bright lemon on the nose upon opening the bottle, with some orange added upon pouring. Pours a murky orangeish-tan with a very minimal head that lingers about. Not much in flavor at first, but some mild yeast and some citrus come forth towards the end, with possibly some vanilla or mocha as an aftertaste. The second swallow gave me a very small taste of grape bubblegum. Slighty above average as far as Belgian wheats go, but not too bad.

From a 11.2 oz. slender brown bottle with a best before date on the back label, 31.12.06. Poured a cloudy pale, dull orange hued golden with a foamy white head that settled into a thin lacing. Aromas of yeast, coriander and light spices, orange zesty and sweet malty with small whiffs of alcohol. Good carbonation and a crisp, dryish and smooth light bodied mouthfeel. Delicious witbier taste, dusty earthy yeast, mild spices, clove and coriander, a soft bitterness from the hops, a mix of orange zest and lemon juice, subtle sweet maltiness and a dry yeasty and citric finish, very good drinkability. This witbier is one of the better ones I’ve had, quite quaffable.

Cloudy pale yellow gold hue, with a white head, leaving laces, yeasty nose, with wheat malt, spicy coriander, citrus fruitiness of orange, tangerine in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a juicy yeastiness and lactic, wheaten character, with a milky fruity accent of oranges, with a touch of spicy coriander, leading towards a smooth wheaty lemony finish.

Very small, fizzy, off-white, head. Fully dimished with a hazy, kind of funky yellow color. Aroma was light malt and bread, light hops and light yeast. A tiny bit of banana and pineapple. Small aroma compared to many witbiers.Light to medium body that was kind of watery. Not nearly as good as I had expected and hoped. Needed bigger aroma and more carbonation.

Pale yellow color, very cloudy. White head, not lasting much. Aroma of bread, wheat, yesast, with some citrus notes, not as much as expected. Flavor is not as much acidiand spicy as usual in the style. Some citrus, a hint of clove. very refreshing in summer.

Bottle purchased on my Michigan trip. Very interesting aroma - heavy yeast character, sweet lemon - pretty funky stuff, not exactly what you would expect in this style. Still trying to decide if I liked it or not. Cloudy yellow, with a very small white head. Taste: stale malt, tangy lemon, lots of yeast (house yeast? I knew I was drinking a St. Bernardus on first sip - and smell really). Hmm, this is nice, but coming from these guys, I was expecting a heck of a lot more than just another standard Belgian.