Reflets De France Blonde
Brasserie Duyck

Pours clear pale yellow with large rocky white head that fades a white layer, scarce patchy lacing. Aroma is mix of herbs (dominating), spice and fruity citrus notes, some weak yeast. This is my first Saison and the complex mix seems both strange and intriguing.

Taste is fruity hops with weak spiceand some sourness; herbal sweet finish and bittery citrus aftertaste. Mouthfeel is light with low warming alcohol.

As I wrote above, my first Saison and I am impressed. Luckily i bought a sixpack.

Brasserie Duyck "Reflets De France Bière de Garde"
65 cl brown glass swing-top bottle, "À consommer de préférence avant fin: 23/04/19 L8113 2107"
2.62€ Carrefour City, Batignolles, Paris, FR

Notes via stream of consciousness: It pours a surprisingly clear, just slightly hazy amber colored body beneath a short head of white foam. Despite the fact that there are plenty of tiny bubbles rising from below the head still seems to be dwindling. The aroma expresses some grainy, lightly caramelish malt and just a hint of herbal and grassy hops. The flavor is fuller, and the malt comes through nicely, but there's also some sugar in there that cuts down on it, meaning it's not rich, or at least not as rich as most of the bière de garde that I'm familiar with. Still there's some wheaty character to it, and the hops come through as well, again somewhat moderate but noticeable, and I think with some added spiciness. There's some additional fruitiness that I didn't find in the aroma, mainly apple, but fuller, perhaps what we might call "orchard fruits" with a hint of soft peach added in. It's got a median bitterness, and it finishes dry with just a touch of malt and spice lingering. At 6.0% abv that certainly can't be from the alcohol, so is there spice added? Or is it from the yeast? In the mouth it's medium-light in body and gently effervescent and crisp - no flaws there. It's really quite well balanced and refined. So, overall, I'd have to say it's a quite pleasant beer, one that would serve you well with a meal, but not one that's quite so full of flavor that you'd look to it as an after dinner drink on the back porch in summer or by the fire in winter. Still, it's quite well done and you can't exactly fault it for anything beyond its limited head retention.
Review# 6,086

A northern French beer, readily available in the Brittany area.

Pours a golden clear body, with very little head, which does seem flat after a very short period.

Aroma is a hint of malt and hop, but not really a great deal going on.

Taste is similar, pleasant and mildly malty, but no a beasty on the taste buds.

Goes down pretty well, easy drinking brew.

Overall, this is not a great beer by any means. It is 'ok' and certainly worth drinking if offered, but don't go out of your way.

 

 

 

 

A nice blond beer from north of France. It's tastes fruits but i could not say which ones (maybe citrus and herbs). The carbonation is low. Really refreshing. Overall i think it's a better choice than its sisters : Jenlain Blonde and even Jenlain Or. One more thing. The price is decent!

Pours a clear, pale gold with a big, thick head. Very nice lacing

The smell is very citrusy and fruity. Lemons, limes, oranges. Slightly hoppy smelling with a bit of the sourness you might expect from a saison.

Taste: Citrus fruits like orange and lemon matched well with a sour funky flavour. Hopped in restraint, but still quite bitter and well balanced. Good lasting aftertaste and finish.

Mouthfeel: Quite creamy, medium bodied, with a pretty sharp carbonation.

I bought this as a six-pack of small 25 cl bottles at a supermarket in Paris. I'm not into these little bottles, nor did the packaging make it look too appealing, but the reputation of Reflets de France products and a commitment to try every beer possible made me go ahead. It was also stocked in the "good beer" shelf, with Jenlain, La Goudale, Ch'ti, 3 Monts, Chimay, Duvel, etc., which put up my expectations a bit.

Pours with very little head...what bubbles do form fizz out rapidly and do not persist. But the color is a nice, deep gold. The smell and taste has some citrus notes, otherwise very similar to many biere de garde blondes (i.e. good clean medium malt balanced perfectly with mild hops). Carbonation is weak on the tongue, but the generally well-balanced flavor makes up for this.

This is an amazingly drinkable beer, and quite suitable served ice cold a summer day in France, which I think is the basic idea with this offering. As a seasonal blonde from France, this one is worth trying out.

Initially I pulled a lot of wheat aromas similar to a Bells Wheat 4 but those aromas made way for more interesting straw/barn yard notes and lots of spices. One could market this in America as “Hennepin Light.”

The pour showed a bright, meadish gold with a beautiful, albeit thin lacy head. The taste matched the aromas.

MF is very light, surprisingly light but I don’t mean this in a bad way.

I drank a lot of this in France and never stopped enjoying it. It may be labeled like the Walmart of brews but hey, it’s cheap and it’s good.

This beer, a very discrete new beer from the fellas at Duyck appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary at the shelves, and the label seemed more like a supermarket 'party beer' than a genuinely pleasant brew.

The pour seemed to reflect this as well and my experiences with Bières de Garde weren't the best before. Still, the spiced up smell and taste, a combination of herbs and spices, and malt, some carbonation and a slight bitterness at the end make it a very, very nice new discovery that I drink ever more often (its cheap and good). Didnt expect this. Pleasant.