White Blonde
Mikkeller ApS

 

330ml bottle - so, a sort of blend of witbier and Belgian blonde ale, then?

This beer pours a typical De Proef bullshit experience, i.e. a glass full of teeming puffy, foamy, and somewhat creamy off-white head, with a centimeter or so of hazy medium golden yellow brew at the base, which waits, and waits, and fuuuuuuuuucking waits for the former's dissipation, eventually leaving some admittedly awesome random lace forms around the glass, for our collective patience, and all.

It smells of bready and crackery pale malt, a weaker wheaten cereal note, lightly phenolic Belgian yeast, some muddled citrus and apple-forward pome fruitiness, ethereal white and black peppercorns, an indistinct hard water minerality, and some generic greenish hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy pale malt (one that still dominates the wheat contingent), mixed earthy spice, testy apple and muddled citrus fruity notes, a hovering, if benevolent yeastiness, some fading wet mineral character, and more tame, but worth mentioning, leafy and weedy green hoppiness.

The bubbles are quite even-handed in their pleasantly-rendered frothiness, the body a solid middleweight, and somewhat smooth, as the yeast, spice, and generic hops all extract a minor tithe here. It finishes off-dry, a lingering mutt-ish malt character taking umbrage with what I just wrote, it would seem.

Overall, this is one of the better versions of the typical Belgian style that I have endured from Mikkeller's contract brewing 'prowess'. A nicely supportive and tasty maltiness goes a long way in sublimating the yeast, spice, and, I can't believe that I'm saying this, but yeah, hops. Brave new worlds, indeed.