Mélusine
Brasserie Mélusine

Cloudy straw with a super long lasting compact cap. Honey dew and fruity esters in the nose. Sweet, fruity honey flavors mix with tart wheat and citric hops in the taste.

A good honey ale. Definitely worth a try.

 

750ml bottle, cork+cage closure. Served @ 8°C into a thick walled Hoegaarden style tumbler.

Poured with a very lively head. Head had no longevity, no lacing. Yeasty aroma, good citrus notes in the flavour... malty finish. Pleasant if unremarkable drink.

Unappealing thick orangey dishwater appearance.

Beer bottle (33cl.), tasted in 2003.

Appearance : orange color, with white foam head (not persistent).
Smell : malty notes.
Taste and mouthfeel : fruity, spicy, and yeasty, with nice notes of lemon and orange.
Drinkability : an average beer in the style Belgian Pale Ale.

Got this bottle from the Dram Shop, a fantastic little offie in Crooks, Sheffield. At 6.5%abv., bottle-conditioned in a 330ml slim brown bottle. No freshness info. available, served chilled in a broad-rimmed goblet.

A: dark murky orangey amber hue; fluffy white froth slowly dissipates, resting on lively carbonation.
S: slightly sharp and sticky citric fruitiness, figs, and sour yeastiness on top of a lightly vanilla-ish fragrance, caramely malts, and melted rock sugar; the overall nose is really pleasant albeit not VERY complex, while a faint trace of exotic Chinese green-bean paste (typical of a Belgian Pale Ale) constantly stays at the fringe.
T: a lightly salty-sweet edge of weizen-like exotic yeastiness comes with rather neutrally-flavoured pale+cara. malts, mildly sour edge of citric fruits and boiled root-vegie, underlined by a slowly deepening dryish aftertaste of Goldings hops and a Chinese herbal tail... leaving a chewy mouthfeel in the end, along with a lingering tinge of candy sugar and aromatic malts.
M&D: clean, soothing yet still refreshing texture thanks to the healthy carbonation, medium-bodied; this pale ale is more promising and interesting than the brewery's other pale product, La Cervoise. Although the whole flavour profile is understated, this is still a quality product worth slow sipping. BTW, a Belgian Pale Ale this is, definitely NOT an American Blonde Ale however this term is defined...

Lasting bright velvety head getting nicely creamy on an orange golden active body. The smell is light, malty and kind of grainy but with enjoyable notes of citrus, an enjoyable juicy lemon/mandarine character. The taste is enjoyable, almost doughy, melting smoothly in the mouth. Pretty fruity, with nice notes of lemon and orange. Maybe a little grainy at times, and slightly oily too. Fresh and almost salty. The finish gets slightly grassy. Mouthfeel is very smooth, extremely round, the lasting head giving the brew a velvety character. Quite drinkable.