Trappist Westvleteren Blond
Brouwerij Westvleteren (Sint-Sixtusabdij van Westvleteren)

Bottle 0.33L.
Cloudy golden body with an average, creamy, white head, fully lasting with very nice lacing; some lees are evident.
Complex aroma: moderate malty (cereals) and hoppy (citrus, flowers) and light yeasty (cardboard) with notes of spices (cloves) and fruits.
Flavour is mainly acidic and sweet with some bitterness in the finish.
Light-to-medium body with watery-to-oily texture; average carbonation; some astringency in the finish.

 

Got a bottle from Sterk, Amsterdam. A very good blonde.

 

 

 

I'm glad I finally found this Blond and my Westvleteren trio is now complete.
I also went on their website for the first time (well done) and am starting to see the brilliance of this abbey's reticence with the public. Their reserve is genuine, but it is presented in such a way (perhaps by coincidence) that it employs a key marketing strategy: uniqueness. While the Trappists are unique (and they also employ that brilliant strategy), Westvleteren may be the most unique... or maybe #2 after Orval, your choice.

For this Blond, I'm less impressed than their darks; but still impressed. Looks are only slight above average. Smells are mostly malt with a clear clue that hops are in there. They are in the Tastes, almost in the attack and certainly by mid-palate they dominate. Now, some people like this. But I'm not one of them, but I still don't deduct much because of the Trappist trademark. Medium-mouthed. But the hops do interfere. While Blond was good enough with the appetizers, Blond was not intended and should not be used as a table ale. (Most Belgian Blonds are table ales on my table.)

Overall marks because Westvleteren is who they are.

 

Poured from a 330mL bottle into a Westvleteren XII mini goblet. Pours a cloudy gold with a dense two fingers worth of white foam head. Big Belgian yeast aromas on the nose. Spicy almost peppery with clove, light banana and citrus as well as as some doughy bread. Taste follows with less spice and more citrus. So good. Not a super in-your-face Belgian yeast flavor profile. More subtle but still present and still flavorful. Funny to say a ~6% beer is a sipper but I’ve always felt these Belgian ales are and this is no exception. The bold flavors imparted from the yeast keep me at least from being able to down this quickly. Full mouthfeel with a creamy finished. Ample carbonation to it. A brilliant Belgian blonde.

 

Poured from an 11.2 ounce bottle into a tulip glass, the date on the bottle is "03/04/25" which I understand to mean April 3, 2025, the brewery recommends drinking within 3 years of bottling so this means the beer was brewed on or about April 3, 2022, I purchased this as part of a mixed six pack from Westvleterenshop.com for USD $203.51, beer $139.00, shipping $52.99, tax $11.52. I purchased on 6-19-24 and received just eight days later in the mail on June 27, 2024.

APPEARANCE: in a word spectacular, almost gave this a 5, pours a gorgeous hazy, gold color with two-fingers off-white head, excellent retention, the head slowly dissipated until a complete cap remained throughout, heavy lacing on the glass, higher carbonation.

SMELL: a beautiful nose as well, initially sweet pears and lemon then bread.

TASTE: the taste follows the nose, initially sweet fruits like pear and lemon then bread and an earthy hop finish, very complex for the style, the taste really lingered in the most wonderful way.

PALATE: medium body and higher carbonation really made this beer show out.

OVERALL: This beer is ranked number one for the style, this ranking is well deserved, I did not rank high because of scarcity or hype, it's just a beautiful beer and better than any other I have had in this style, it's not worth what I paid for it but it was either this or hop a plane to Belgium and that would be even more expensive, I have now had all three beers from Westvleteren. I liked the Blonde the best, the Dubbel was a close second and the famous Quad Westvleteren 12 the least among them, but still an excellent beer to be sure. I may never have these beers again but I'm so glad I had the opportunity to try them.

 

Look- Color has a foggy golden hue with two fingers of fluffy white head. Very tight bubbles that slowly dissipate. Stunning pour. 5

Smell- Light spice and fruity notes. Some lemon and earthiness as well. 4

Taste- Very mild hops and slightly bitter finish. Light clove and lemon citrus notes. 4.25

Feel- Perfectly carbed with a nice tinglely bite. Crisp with a medium body. 4.50

Overall- Light and crushable. A well balanced and clean beer worthy of being one of the best examples of a belgium blonde. 4.25

 

 

Bought at De Bierkoning shop in Amsterdam and drunk in a boat tour through Amsterdam channel.

Hazy yellow with a nice head.
The aroma of grains, yeast.
Taste of bready notes and oaky notes along with touches of citrus fruit.
Really great balance with medium carbonation.
A light body with a smooth feel.

Good beer!

 

Hazy yellow with a nice head.
The aroma of grains, yeast.
Taste of bready notes and oaky notes along with touches of citrus fruit.
Really great balance with medium carbonation.
A ight body with a smooth feel.