Steenbrugge Blond

Brewed by Brouwerij Palm
Style: Belgian Ale
Steenhuffel, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

Pours clear blonde with a thin off-white head that lasted just a few seconds. There is a sour fruity aroma and a rustic fruity pale malt flavor with some carbonation and a bit of spice.

Bottle. Pours a golden color with a small off-white head. Has a fruity malty aroma. Fruity malty yeasty flavor with hints of caramel. Has a fruity malty yeasty finish.

Blond opacity with off-white head. Aroma is spicy herbal hops, sweet grass, light yeast and subacid fruits. Is initially sweet but finishes with tart, astringency. Body is a little watery with a dry vinous quality. Reasonably good for the style but definitely won’t become a regular for me.

Small head that disappears before the first sip. Nice orange color with small bubbles visible through the glass. Fresh malty taste, finishes clean. Good!

Bottle. [thank you Søren/Feldthaus]
Pours fairly dark orange golden, with a small, fizzy, white head that settles as a thin film. Aroma is malty, somewhat doughy, a spicy note (of something like bog myrtle), light fruity yeast. Medium carbonation, light but slightly grainy mouthfeel. Flavour is light sweet, some caramel, light cardboard, oranges, fair bitter aftertaste. Okay with a slight spicy touch.

UPDATED: NOV 16, 2010 330ml bottle (Alko, Helsinki)
Clear orange, brief large head. Herbal aromas, a little sweet and floral, not untypical for the abbey blond style. Lovely retronasals - masses of aromatic sweet esters. Crisp carbonation, and quite thin palate, doesn’t feel like a 6.5% beer at all. Alas there’s something a bit gritty and cardboardy about the taste, and I even got a little bit of glue or solvents occasionally. Covers the alcohol pretty well, but I’m split on this one currently, the gruut isn’t often to my taste. With yeast added it becomes a bit hazy, and the fruitiness of the retronasals is amplified. Or was that just the fact that I’d not had a sip for a few minutes. Cardboardy aspect gone too, and the hops come alive with a real bite, accompanied by a fairly long finish. Definitely add all the yeast, and definitely drink this slowly, so that every mouthful gives you a fresh bite. 6:3:7:4:13=3.3
Rerate: 330 ml bottle (Drink Bar, Tallinn) 6-:3:6:3:11=2.9-
A bit duller, no life at all. Simple, sweet and malty. Hops too subdued, no crispness either from them or from carbonation. Bearable Belgian ale.

Pours a clear golden color with modest white head. Aromas of must, cloves, apricots, and rose. Taste of medium sweet, lightly tart belgian fruitiness and spice, honey notes, and a mildly bitter finish of earth and pear. Lively carbonation, light-medium body, and prickly texture with a slightly sticky finish. Relatively standard golden ale. The sweet malt in the initial taste borders on sickly, though the bitterness on the finish definitely helps with drinkability. Aging might be good to dry it out a bit.

Bottle at home. Clear golden pour, thin white head. Aroma of spices and sweet malts. Flavor is spicy sweet with some fruits and quite malty. Creamy texture, average carbonation.