Tartan 479
Dragoon Brewing Co.

Love a good, basic Belgian pale ale. This one is lighter on the Belgian yeast notes, but man does it have a fantastic malt profile, the pils malt in particular screaming its dried barley malt goodness. Not often you commend a brew for its malt characteristics, but so it is with this bad boy. Excellent.

 

A Belgian Blonde Ale, benefiting the Tucson Fire Honor Guard. Served in a tulip, the beer has a pale gold color, lightly hazy, with a thin bit of white foam for a head. The smell is of lightly sweetened malts, very estery, yeasty, without much hop balance.

Tastes like a very traditional example of a Belgian Blonde, reminds me of a Leffe but with a little more flavor intensity. There is much of the same, moderately sweet, banana ester character in the taste. It's kind of one dimensional and the finish doesn't give much change. Alcohol seems low. Light to medium body with appropriate carbonation for style.

A nicely crafted Belgian Ale, it's just very unremarkable. I would have preferred some kind of spicy, dry, or hoppy balance but it's very straightforward. Quite drinkable overall, but not interesting enough to have more than one. Worth a try, especially if you like Belgian Blonde.