Van Den Bossche Buffalo Belgian Bitter

Brewed by Van Den Bossche
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
St. Lievens-Esse/Herzele, Belgium

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

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330 ml bottle a golden yellow colored beer with a white head aroma malts spices and bitterness taste spices some fruits bitter and hops

Bottle. Bit hazy pale yellow with a very big white head. The aroma is heavy citrus, light fruit with some yeasty spicy notes. Citric hoppy flavour with notes of caramel and fruit. Long piney bitter finish. The alcohol is very well hidden.

Draught at Moeder Lambic Fontainas. Grassy aroma with something a lot like pot smoke. Hoppy, grassy flavor with light malts. Refreshing and balanced, with flavorful, interesting hops. Love that pot aroma.

Citroen lidt appsi lime gylden lidt skum bitter meget kort Liv tør fad 26/7 delirium

On tap at the Delirium Café. Decent blonde colour, modest head. Okay mix of hops and grains, nice bitter finish. Upper middle of the pack for sure, but not a standout.

Best by date of July 2012; Sampled August 2010
A solid pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces four-fingers of frothy, pale head. The beer is a nice gold hue that shows a brilliantly clear, pale gold color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of green apples, pears and not much else. If you really dig for it some grain notes of dry grass and soda crackers becomes a bit noticeable. The aroma is really quite simplistic in its expressive fruit aromatics.

A touch dry tasting as it first hits the palate, but as it moves across the tongue fruit flavors accentuate a simple grain sweetness. The beer finishes with a linger sweetness and pear / green apple fruit flavor. This beer is amply carbonated which provides a touch of a peppery carbonic bite, though without any real hop character this isn’t enough to balance the fruit and sweetness. There is a touch of dusty grain character here in the finish as well as a touch of spicy yeast character. This is really nice and light feeling, so at least it hits that aspect quite well.

Inoffensive, simplistic, though not half bad, this beer isn’t nearly as bad as I had feared, but it really doesn’t make me want to drink it either. I will say one thing though, the rest of this bottle will be put to good use in my continuous batch of blended malt vinegar.

Bottle. Hazy gold with a thin to medium head. Aroma was quite fruity with a little Belgian yeast. Flavour some yeast, hops, and something I can’t put my finger on, angel tears and mermaid piss perhaps? Didn’t like it.

Pours golden with a medium head: looks like your average lager. Aroma is fresh lemon juice with a hint of bitterness. Flavor is more bitter with some malts and citrus. The alcohol doesn’t taste too much. Pretty decent if you’re not too thirsty.

UPDATED: APR 19, 2011 33cl bottle courtesy of Travlr. Hazy golden with lots of carbonization and a creamy rocky head. Aroma of malt, bread and hops. Lots of bitter hops and citrus notes in the taste. Long citrus bitter aftertaste. Very refreshing beer that is a gift from heaven on this hot summer day!

In short: A sharp, citric, tart and lightly hoppy Belgium blonde ale. Good session beer.
How: Bottle 330ml. Consumed fresh the day of purchase while in Belgium
The look: Cloudy blonde body topped by a large white head
In long: Nose is lightly hoppy (very lightly) with also notes of whip cream. Taste has the basic elements of a Belgian blonde ale, fruity notes of citrus fruits and fruit salad. Good amount of leafy fruity hops, not the noble hops I’ve come to expect from a Belgian ale. Finish is mildly bitter with resinous notes and an aftertaste of lemon and pineapples. Overall very citric and tart. If anything this Belgian Bitter is more tart than bitter. Body is rather full, a bit oily and the carbonation is very lively. Given its name I’m not sure the beer succeeds at what it wants to be but I don’t care, this is a good beer whatever its name. I only had two beer from this small brewery. One was total crap and this one was pretty nice. I’m no math genius but from my experience so far that’s over 1/3rd of bad beer.